How Incident Response Companies Choose IR Tools

An Internet Response (IR) is a company’s organized reaction to managing a cybersecurity breach or event. The objective is to minimize any damage caused by the attack and to prevent any similar event occurring in the future. These IR events are also termed IT, security incident, or computer incident events.

The main purpose of an IR is to limit damage to your company’s infrastructure, network, and data, and to reduce recovery times and expense. The focus is normally viewed more from a business perspective rather than its effect on IT per se. But plans are often great—until they’re not. An IR is essentially an immediate postmortem to ensure that a security plan was implemented correctly and efficiently while at the same time identifying any measures that can implemented to improve the plan in the future.

Following the aftermath of any cyberattack, a company is naturally in a state of turmoil and concern. Scenes of panic are not uncommon as department heads delve into their network sectors to determine any damage that may have been caused. This is similar to the feeling anyone has after finding out they have been burgled, particularly if that burglary took place in the middle of the night and you were asleep in bed, unaware of the attack.

After assessing any initial damage, many companies will turn to third-party Managed Detection or Incident Response teams. These services enter the premises and plant tools on a company’s network with the intent of “sniffing out” any data or network breaches. Many will also be able to identify the source of the attack and apply IP-blocking technology to freeze out any intruders who may still be accessing the company network, even after the breach has been detected.

In common with many of these incident response processes, there are a number of steps that must be taken to maintain your company’s integrity. A number of these steps include

• Prepare: Define your company’s cybersecurity policy focusing on elements of risk, assets, security levels, and build a comprehensive team to manage cybersecurity IR
• Identify: Keep all internal systems under constant monitoring, spot any alerts, and detail a prioritized action list
• Contain: Plan immediate measures to implement in the event of a breach in the short term, with a view to subsequent long-term planning that maintains your company’s operation in the event of any cyberattack.
• Remove: Eliminate any intrusive malware from the network, including all direct and remote endpoints
• Recover: Specify a plan to bring all company systems back online in the most rapid and efficient way possible, while allowing for constant monitoring of any subsequent attacks that may compromise your weakened network structure
• Review: A no-holds-barred analysis of what went wrong, how it went wrong, and how similar incidences can be mitigated in the future

One leading IR provider is BugSec. Companies will contact BugSec in the event of a data breach or cyberattack and it is their job it is to identify what form of attack has occurred and then totally eliminate its negative impact, bringing the damaged network back to full health.

A popular tool used by BugSec is Cynet 360, an IR platform provided free-of-charge to IR providers. With an ability to monitor thousands of endpoint devices simultaneously, Cynet’s product can be deployed in less than 24 hours after which it can be  running 24/7, monitoring files and IP and network traffic while providing full visibility to its operators. Cynet removes all malware implants from surface to core providing the most detailed remediation of any system on the market. Click here to find further details of Cynet 360’s capabilities.

You may feel violated by a cyberattack, but Cynet’s 360 is there to make sure that any subsequent attacks are fully mitigated and thwarted before they can do any damage to your company’s cyber assets in the future.