Hacking seems a nightmare for any organization and this is the reason why every organization is living in a fear in today’s cyber world. Every day we see news related evolving hacking attacks and sophisticated techniques that has spread out havoc.
Organizations should have tightened security for their network and server infrastructure; if not then organization could be on fire due to unwanted cyber attacks. Many organizations have belief that their organization is small and have less important data on their server, but it is a totally myth. Hackers always in search of data whether you are small or big company. Once your organization is hacked, business goodwill, customers’ data will be at risk. However, do not afraid too much because this article will help you regarding major actions should be taken when organization have fallen victim of cyber attack.
Steps to Respond & Recover System from Hacking:
Find out the Real Incident:
It is necessary to find the actual position of hacking. How hackers have infiltrated the system, this will give a broad idea about the breach. By penetrating into the incident, IT dept will know about the infected machines and the types of data accessed during the breach. Get an idea about IP address used in the attack and type of attack. In addition, apply admin tools like traffic logs and system log messages that rest in routers and firewalls. Check traffic logs to investigate and classification. You can take help of security consultants as well internet service providers, security Software Company or web hosting provider.
Contact Right People:
Above all, it is wise to contact FBI and local police and inform them about the hacking incident. After that, the company has to call legal officer, if the breach includes corporate critical data or any trade secrets. If the personal information of customers is breached, there will be compliance teams who need to coordinate with the affected customers as per law and regulations. Furthermore, you can contact for cyber insurance attorney to guide about the legal issue. Organization has to alert state authorities about the breach.
Stop the Flaw and Restore the System:
Once professionals identify the problem, take the infected machine offline. Prioritize the infected machines to be restored and cleaned. Change the password of the affected and non-affected systems, applications, and users. If necessary, shut down the website during cleanup process and reformat the infected systems to restore the data. If there is a flaw in any application, it should be quickly patched by the software developer and notify to customers, partners. Also, limit the access of systems connected with the internet.
Let it be publicly:
There are different state laws related to inform the customers about breach and apart from that, there are provisions of federal department of Health and human services for breach investigation. It depends upon the type of attack and the damage reported in breach will decide whether to inform customers, relevant authorities, and partners. It is a matter of law whether to disclose the fact about breach or not. Companies have fear that if the news leaked, it will make bad impact on customers’ mind. Therefore, if customer or partner data was compromised, company has to inform them about the data breach. While informing to customers and partners, the company should always state about ongoing necessary actions against data breach.
Learn Lessons:
After restoring the website, the IT team should discuss about the loopholes and its remedies. The team should focus on where they gone wrong and how you will prevent potential breach in future. If there is need to change in security plan, then the team should adopt changes. Make sure that software and application is set on auto updates and if possible then keep computers separate that deal with financial or banking transactions. In addition, do analysis security defenses and data backup frequently as well set up logging and tracking on network devices to get idea about potential breach. Notify customers and partners if any modification or updates are required on their side. Even creating a disaster recovery plan and employees training is a good option to fend off future disaster.
Conclusion:
To get back online speedily, you need to follow the above given steps that will help you to restore your system easily. Hackers are using smart techniques to infiltrate organization’s system therefore, companies have to mull over strong defenses to save their goodwill as well customer’s hard-earned money. It is better to wake up early, which will make you more productive and alert against possible dangers.
