Gearing up for the forthcoming football season, it’s time to channel that energy into fortifying your business against cyber threats. Just like a football team prepares for the big game, your organization needs a well-coordinated team and plan to tackle any crisis. Knowing what to do when a cyber crisis occurs is one of the most important aspects to resolving operations as quickly as possible and limiting your business impacts. Read on for your playbook for drafting and deploying a top-tier cyber response team and incident response plan.

Having a well-defined and working plan is a must but where do you start? Who do you call? Is it the responsibility of your IT team to know what to do during your cyber event scramble?  Building a winning team starts with a solid draft. You need the right players in the right positions, each with a specific skillset to address various aspects of cyber incidents. Along with your team of internal experts ranging from leadership to IT and data security, to communications, and legal, utilizing the right external partner is key to win.

One of the standout programs that MJ’s cyber team has developed is a process called the Cyber Quick Response or CQR.  We have evaluated and assessed the top cyber coverage panel providers for our client selection process. Our team of experts provide recommendations on which partners align best based on your unique needs to ensure you proactively prepare and remain protected during or after a crisis.

Every great team needs a playbook—a comprehensive incident response plan that outlines roles, responsibilities, and procedures. But what good does a playbook do if you don’t practice? Your cyber response team needs regular training and drills to ensure they are prepared when an incident strikes. The key? A proactive approach.

Some organizations struggle to develop an Incident Response Plan (IRP), rarely practice it via a Tabletop Exercise (TTX) and don’t have an established process for who to call first during a cyber event.  Many will hire an outside IT cybersecurity firm who may try to resolve these issues only to find out the impacts are more significant than they are able to resolve and may jeopardize your coverage.  MJ’s recommended CQR approach proactively selects these resources before an incident. These vetted partners know and understand your organization with a demonstrable ability to respond in a moment’s notice.

These same cyber expert providers can be a significant resource when regulations change for data privacy as well.  Data privacy regulations are dynamically evolving both at the federal and local level and keeping up with how they affect your organization can be overwhelming.  Website design can be the first segway of client exposure that class action firms are exploring daily for compliance and legal action.  Using your CQR experts can help with heading off costly compliance claims and limiting this exposure. When it’s game time, it’s important to be prepared.  

Remember that hackers do not care how big or small your organization is.  They focus on who they can penetrate, exploit, and leverage to get money.  Let MJ help you evaluate your overall cybersecurity baselines and draft your CQR playbook today. Contact us to get started and watch our on-demand webinar on utilizing our CQR process to ensure your business is prepared to tackle any cyber crisis head-on.