Cyber security attacks are commonplace now, no matter how big your company is or what industry you operate in. Data breaches, malware, and ransomware attacks can cost businesses millions of dollars and stunt growth for years. Worst case scenario, these attacks - especially if customer data is leaked - can irreparably damage your business’s brand reputation or simply make it impossible to continue operating. Being aware of these facts might make running a business seem like a daunting prospect, but there are solutions to bolster your cyber security and keep cyber incidents at bay. From firewalls to secure access service edge software, companies like Sangfor can help your business secure its networks and data points. However, because of the nature of cyber security threats, there is no all-encompassing solution to keep your company's digital assets secure.
Incident response plans and disaster recovery plans are two of the most effective solutions you can put in place to reduce the impact of a cyber-attack. The differences between them are subtle, however, and the two are often incorrectly used interchangeably. This blog will go into detail about what each incident response and disaster recovery plans are, as well as how your business should utilize them moving forward to help drive success.
What is an incident response plan?
Many people believe that an incident response service or plan has the sole purpose of containing a cyber security incident after it has already breached your network. However, truly effective incident response teams operate under the philosophy that it's always better to prevent something negative entirely than have to fix it after the fact.
This is the first and foremost goal of a proper incident response plan or team. They will implement a series of defense measures and your company's cyber security systems as watertight as possible to prevent any form of cyber incidents. In the vast majority of cases, this preventative approach is successful and keeps your business data and networks secure. However, there are times when new strains and types of malware or ransomware get past your companies cyber security defenses. This is why incident response plans have 3 major phases of operation: pre-, mid-, and post-incident.
Pre-incident
As we've just mentioned, preventative measures are the first line of defense of cyber incident recovery measures. An incident response team will first audit your business’s current cyber security systems, spotting weak points and vulnerabilities. Think of them just like white-hat hackers in that it's always better for you to discover these weaknesses rather than malicious hackers.
With this analysis in mind, you will be advised to draw up a plan or template that fixes or bolsters these weak spots in order to prevent attacks occurring through them or lays out a strategy to quickly and effectively contain them after they do.
Mid-incident
In the event that a cyber security incident does take place, your incident response plan will come into effect. An incident response plan will help identify, isolate, contain and nullify the threat as well as minimize or mitigate any potential impact caused by the breach.
Post-incident
This is the step that the cheaper, less effective, and more budget incident response teams will neglect. Cyber security companies like Sangfor, however, place great importance on this step. In the post-incident phase, we will help you analyze the attack, better understand how it occurred, and ensure that these vulnerabilities will not be the source of future cyber security incidents. In this sense, the post-incident phase directly feeds into and complements the pre-incident phase, forming a cyclical cycle.
What is a Disaster Recovery plan?
Disaster recovery plans focus on a slightly different service and focus on the data center side of things and as a countermeasure for data breach related incidents. Disaster recovery plans focus on helping you recover any lost data, applications, or documents that you may have lost during the entire process of suffering a cyber security incident or natural disaster.
The plan will help lay out exactly what needs to be done should this happen and get your business up and running with normal operations as soon as possible. In this sense, a disaster recovery plan has similar objectives to an incident response plan.
Should my business choose an incident response plan or a disaster recovery plan?
Both fall under the umbrella term of a business continuity plan, and the answer is not one or the other, but both. Businesses that want to be as robust, reliable, and strong as possible in the digital era should have response and recovery plans set in place and tested regularly to be able to fend off potential cyber incidents without suffering catastrophic damages.
Get in touch with Sangfor to learn more about bespoke cyber security services for your business needs
Sangfor can help your business with business continuity plans of all sorts. Our comprehensive cyber security solutions cover all aspects and can make your business completely prepared for any potential cyber security incident. Forward-thinking businesses with these kinds of cyber security solutions implemented in their processes are the businesses of tomorrow.
Get in touch with Sangfor to learn more about bespoke cyber security services for your business needs.
