In 2018 there were more than a thousand data breaches in the US, with nearly 450 million records exposed.
As a business you have two choices: bury your head in the sand and hope that it doesn’t happen to you, or take proactive measures to ensure that when it does happen, the impact is minimal.
The key to the latter choice is having a strong data disaster recovery plan. That means working to prevent attacks, but also knowing what to do if the worst happens.
Read on to learn the steps you should take after a data breach.
Stop The Attack
The first thing you need to do when you discover a data breach is to stop it in its tracks. To do this, follow the rules of ICE.
I: Identify
You can’t stop a breach until you know one has occurred. The sooner you can identify that you are under attack, the better chance you have of minimizing the damage.
C: Contain
Once the threat has been identified, contain the problem. Isolate the systems that have already been breached to ensure that the hackers don’t get access to the rest of your infrastructure.
E: Eliminate
Once the threat is contained, you need to completely eliminate it before you move on to the next steps.
Fulfill Legal Obligations
If data has been breached then you have an obligation to report it.
Most states require you to report any breaches that contain personal information, but may also require you to report other breaches too. You will also need to notify law enforcement, as well as any business and individuals that have been affected by the breach.
Fix Vulnerabilities
Once you’ve stopped the breach and informed the relevant groups, you’ll need to take steps to stop the same thing happening again.
You should be able to work out how the hackers were able to breach your system, or at the very least where they were able to breach it. You can then take the necessary steps to fix the vulnerabilities that allowed them to access your data.
Only once you are sure that your system is secure should you then consider restoring the data.
Restore Data
The final stage is to restore any data that may have been lost during the breach.
If you have a solid data backup plan then this should be a fairly simple step, which will mean you can be up and running again without too much more disruption. Remember that onsite backup by also be damaged in a breach, so it’s important to keep a copy of your data stored safely off-site.
Are You Looking For Support With Your Data Disaster Recovery?
If you’re looking for support with your data disaster recovery plans then you’re in the right place.
Pegasus’ data backup services and disaster recovery planning secures your data, restores it if a disaster occurs, and makes a game plan for future disasters. We offer continuous backup, instant recovery, offsite storage, and data archiving.
Contact us today to see what we can do for you.
