What to Do After a Data Breach
What is a Data Breach?
There are many types of data breaches or cyber attacks. Some of the most common include:
Phishing is a type of social engineering scam that attempts to obtain sensitive information using email fraudulently.
Ransomware is malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money (or ransom) is paid or some other action is completed.
Baiting is a cyber attack that infects a computer with malware after tricking someone into downloading free music or movies.
How Do You Respond to a Data Breach?
If you have cyber insurance, your provider may offer in-house expertise and services specifically tailored to enhance the cyber response and defenses. When a cyber event happens, your insurance company may have experts who walk you through the proper response steps. If your business is the victim of a data breach and you're wondering how to respond, consider the following steps to help minimize the damage:
1. Contain the Cybersecurity Breach
While you may be tempted to delete everything after a data breach occurs, preserving evidence is critical to assessing how the breach happened and who was responsible. The first step you should take after a data breach is to determine which servers have been compromised and contain them as quickly as possible to ensure that other servers or devices won't also be infected.
Here are a few immediate things you can do to attempt to contain a data breach.
Disconnect your internet
Disable remote access
Maintain your firewall settings
Install any pending security updates or patches
Change passwords
You should change all affected or vulnerable passwords immediately. Create new, strong passwords for each account, and refrain from reusing the same passwords on multiple accounts. That way, if a data breach happens again in the future, the damage may be limited.
2. Assess the Security Breach
If you are one victim of a broader attack that's affected multiple businesses, follow updates from trusted sources charged with monitoring the situation to make sure you know what to do next. Whether you're part of a broader attack or the sole victim, you'll also need to determine the cause of the breach within your specific facility so you can work to help prevent the same kind of attack from happening again. Ask yourself:
Who has access to the servers that were infected?
Which network connections were active when the breach occurred?
How was the attack initiated?
You may be able to pinpoint how the breach was initiated by checking your security data logs through your firewall or email providers, your antivirus program, or your Intrusion Detection System. If you have difficulty determining the source and scope of the breach, consider hiring a qualified cyber investigator - it may be worth the investment to help protect yourself moving forward.
Identify those affected by the breach
You'll also need to find out who may have been affected by the breach, including employees, customers, and third-party vendors. Assess how severe the data breach was by determining what information was accessed or targeted, such as birthdays, mailing addresses, email accounts and credit card numbers.
Educate your staff about data breach protocols
Your employees should be aware of your business's policies regarding data breaches. After discovering the cause of the breach, adjust and communicate your security protocols to help ensure the same type of incident doesn't occur again. Consider restricting your employees' access to data based on their job roles. You should also regularly train your employees about how to prepare for a data breach or avoid a data breach in the first place.
3. Create a Data Breach Notification Response Plan
Notify managers and employees of the breach
Communicate with your staff to let them know what happened. Define clear authorisations for team members to communication on the issue both internally and externally. Remaining on the same page with your team is crucial while your business is recovering from a data breach. You may need to consult with legal counsel to figure out the best way to let your customers know about the breach.
If you have cyber insurance, notify your carrier
Cyber insurance is designed to help you recover from a data breach or cyber security attack. Contact your Zeiler Insurance agent or your carrier as soon as possible to see how they can help assist you with what to do after a cyber attack.
Notify customers
Emphasize your willingness to be transparent with your customers by considering a special action hotline specifically to address questions from affected individuals. Communication can be key to maintaining positive, professional relationships with your patrons.
A data breach can be stressful, but as long as you take the right steps, your business will be better prepared to recover successfully. Moving forward, conduct frequent security checks to help reduce the likelihood of an incident occurring again in the future.
How to Help Prevent a Cybersecurity Breach
The FBI has provided the following additional tips that can help protect individuals and businesses from being victimized by cyber fraudsters:
Do not open attachments or click links within emails received from senders you do not recognize – if you do, report it to your IT department immediately so they can make sure malware not been activated and released.
Do not provide usernames, passwords, birth dates, social security numbers, financial data or other personal information in response to an email or phone call.
Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts.
Ensure your businesses takes time to review and update information security policies, business continuity plans, and data breach response plans and regularly communicates with employees about them.
How to Report Cyber Crimes
If you discover you are the victim of a fraudulent incident:
Contact your IT/security department, if you have one
Immediately contact your financial institution to request a recall of funds
Contact your employer to report irregularities with payroll deposits
Report the attack to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). They’ll forward it to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement. Also, contact your credit card company. Tell them if you’re disputing unauthorized charges made by scammers on your card or if you suspect your card number was compromised.
If you or your organization is the victim of a network intrusion, data breach, or ransomware attack, contact your nearest FBI field office or report it at tips.fbi.gov.
You could also become a victim of identity (ID) theft. Visit IdentityTheft.gov to learn how to minimize your risk.
Dan Zeiler
dan@zeiler.com
877-597-5900 x134