Quick Reaction to Security Alerts Can Save Your Organization 

Many businesses have wisely invested in cybersecurity monitoring tools to receive alerts about possible threats. However, simply receiving alerts is not enough to protect your organization from cyber-attacks because alerts alone don’t stop cyber threats—effective response to them does. And no response can be effective unless it’s fast. 

Why Speed Matters in Incident Response

It can be easy to ignore cybersecurity alerts because they may or may not be a threat. In fact, more than half (54%) of today’s office workers ignore important cybersecurity alerts and warnings due to information overload from digital communication.

However, the longer individual alerts are ignored, the longer it takes to correlate them to determine whether they likely indicate a genuine cybersecurity incident—a genuine threat. When real threats are not responded to in a timely manner, the consequences can be severe and include: 

• Increased attack scope: Cybercriminals may attempt to exploit any delay to expand their attack, move laterally within your network, and compromise additional systems or data.
• Higher costs: Of course, whenever slow response allows cybercriminals to increase the scope of the attack, the costs associated with it become higher as well. 
• Loss of customer trust: Customers may be less likely to do business with you if they feel that you’re unable to respond to the incident fast enough, and regaining their trust isn’t easy. 
• Regulatory fines: Many industries have regulations that require organizations to respond to cyber attacks within a certain timeframe. 
• Erosion of employee morale: Cybersecurity incidents and the ensuing chaos can significantly impact employee morale, especially if personal data or job security is perceived to be at risk.

To avoid these and other consequences of slow incident response, it’s important to keep a close eye on several key metrics, especially the following ones:

• Mean Time to Acknowledge (MTTA): The average time it takes for a security team to acknowledge an alert and begin investigating it.
• Mean Time to Detection (MTTD): The average time it takes for a security team to detect a threat within their environment based on one or more alerts.
• Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR): The average time it takes for a security team to resolve a detected threat.

By improving these metrics, organizations can significantly enhance their cybersecurity posture. Faster MTTA and MTTD lead to quicker recognition and confirmation of threats, allowing for rapid mobilization of your incident response team. Meanwhile, reducing MTTR helps minimize the potential impact of confirmed threats. 

Create an Incident Response Plan to Move From Alert to Resolution Faster 

The importance of a quick reaction to security alerts cannot be overstated. But how can you translate that knowledge into action? The answer lies in establishing a well-defined incident response plan (IRP).

An IRP is a roadmap that outlines your organization’s coordinated approach to identifying, containing, eradicating, and recovering from security incidents. It defines clear roles, responsibilities, and procedures for each stage of the incident response lifecycle.

A solid incident response plan guarantees that during the stress and confusion of a cybersecurity incident, every action taken is calculated and effective. Without a plan, organizations risk making hasty decisions that can exacerbate the situation, leading to increased operational, reputational, and legal risks. 

The implementation of an incident response plan involves several steps:

1. Identify and prioritize assets and determine potential risks: Begin by taking stock of your organization’s critical assets, including identifying sensitive data, its location, and its importance to your business operations. Conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify your biggest vulnerabilities and understand how attackers might exploit them. This will help you prioritize your security efforts and allocate resources effectively.
2. Develop response procedures: Define what constitutes an incident and outline the steps that should be taken upon detection, including procedures for containment, eradication, and recovery, as well as guidelines for documenting the incident, preserving forensic evidence, and communicating with stakeholders.
3. Create an Incident Response Team: Finally, an incident response team should be created. This team should be cross-functional and responsible for understanding the response procedures and mobilizing in the event of an incident.

While an incident response team can be in-house, many smaller organizations are better off outsourcing incident response to a managed security service provider (MSSP) like us at OSIbeyond. 

An MSSP can provide 24/7 monitoring and incident response, as well as access to specialized security expertise and advanced security technologies. This can help organizations respond to incidents faster and more effectively, without the need to maintain a dedicated in-house incident response team.

Conclusion

In the fast-paced world of digital threats, the ability to respond effectively and without delay to security alerts is more than a necessity—it’s a critical component of your cybersecurity strategy. The consequences of delayed responses can be severe, and they highlight the importance of a well-established incident response plan and team.

At OSIbeyond, we can help you create a customized incident response plan and provide you with the necessary resources and expertise to respond quickly to any security threat. Contact us today to schedule a meeting.