How an Incident Response Plan Can Save Your Business from Ransomware

The narrative around ransomware remains clear. Attacks are occurring at alarming rates.

Organizations of all sizes, regardless of persona and/or industry vertical are being targeted. And cybercriminals are evolving in both sophistication and speed.  

So, regardless of how much time and money you spend on detection to prevent ransomware threats, the odds of a successful attack on your organization in the coming months/years are incredibly high.  

You’ve got your backups, and you’ve got your disaster recovery plan, but to REALLY stop the looming threat of ransomware, you need an incident response plan (IRP).  

What is an Incident Response Plan (IRP)?

An incident response plan is a set of documented procedures, instructions, and/or steps that help IT teams detect, respond to, and recover from network security incidents such as ransomware. The response of an organization towards an incident is a key player in deciding the ultimate impact of that incident.

According to a survey conducted by Ponemon, 77% of respondents say they lack a formal incident response plan implemented across their organization, and almost half say their plan is either informal and/or nonexistent. Of the ones that do have IR plans, only 32% describe their initiatives as “mature.”

What’s even more alarming is when you consider that 57% of organizations say the length of time to resolve cyber incidents is getting longer, and 65% say the severity of the attacks they are experiencing is increasing.

In the recently held webinar titled “How an Incident Response Plan Can Save Your Business from Ransomware,”

‍HYCU’s own Dave Byers, Senior Field Technologist, and Randy Kerns, Senior Strategist with Evaluator Group discuss these 3-key initiatives needed to implement a successful incident response plan (IRP):

1. Recognize – Understand the unique challenges ransomware poses to your backup and recovery strategies.

2. Response – Build a ransomware-ready incident response plan for your organization.

3. Evaluate – Figure out a solution that can meet your diverse data protection needs.  

Let’s take a deeper look at each of these initiatives.  

1^st initiative = RECOGNIZE

You hear us talk about it all the time and we cannot emphasize it enough, but when it comes to ransomware and the likelihood of your organization becoming a victim, it’s truly only a matter of “if” and not “when.” And, with attacks continuing to cripple companies every 11 seconds globally, time is not on your side.  Challenges such as not having WORM-based immutable backups or the inability to protect the integrity of ALL your applications are just a few of the headaches that IT must deal with.  

Recognizing and understanding the unique challenges ransomware poses to your backup and recovery strategies and the need to implement an IRP is your first defense in combating the scourge of ransomware.

2^nd initiative = RESPONSE

Once you’ve fully grasped the complexities that ransomware possesses to your backup infrastructure and the sense of urgency it requires, the second step is to build a ransomware-ready incident response plan for your organization. Naturally, an effective IRP should align with your organization’s broader data protection mission by establishing sets of procedures and policies that can help identify, eliminate and successfully recover from a ransomware attack.  

3^rd initiative = EVALUATE

If you’ve checked the boxes next to the first two initiatives, the last step in the IRP implementation process is evaluation. Every ransomware situation is different in terms of network capabilities, security capabilities, and most importantly backup and recovery capabilities. Find a solution that can meet your diverse data protection needs.

“You would be surprised how many people overlook the power of backup to protect themselves in the event of human error, a ransomware attack, or a data breach. Having an incident response plan will allow you to become much better prepared to deal with these situations should they arise.” - Dave Byers, Senior Field Technologist at HYCU

HYCU R-Cloud is ransomware protection for those who aren’t down with downtime!

A ransomware-ready backup solution helps companies recover from attacks and prepares them to feel confident in their disaster recovery plan. When searching for a ransomware-ready solution for your organization, partner with HYCU.

HYCU is an award-winning, multi-cloud backup and recovery solution. With HYCU R-Cloud, companies can deploy cloud backups in minutes and recover data with just one click. The simple interface and native tech integration provide data resiliency and help organizations manage their workload.

To experience HYCU for free, schedule a demo of HYCU R-Cloud today!

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