Mastering the Art of Incident Response: From Chaos to Control

Today, it’s not a matter of if your organization will face a cyberattack but when. Imagine this: An employee’s PC starts behaving erratically, displaying an ominous message that files have been encrypted and data exfiltrated. It’s the stuff of every IT professional’s nightmares—a ransomware attack unfolding in real-time. 

How you respond in the first hours, days and weeks can mean the difference between a minor hiccup and a catastrophic meltdown. Drawing on the vast experience of Nuspire’s cybersecurity experts, Mike Pedrick, VP of Cybersecurity Consulting, and Chris Roberts, Chief Strategy Executive & Evangelist, we’ll walk you through the critical phases of incident response, from the initial chaos to the long-term recovery. 

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The First 72 Hours: A Race Against Time

When ransomware strikes, the incident response team must work tirelessly in the first 12-24 hours to keep the company afloat while piecing together what happened. By the 72-hour mark, regulatory and fiduciary obligations come into play. Many states’ breach notification laws require notifying interested parties within this timeframe. 

“There’s blood in the water…somebody is ready to file a class action lawsuit against your organization,” Mike warns. “Trying to hide or downplay the incident will only exacerbate the situation.” 

The key is having a clear, documented process to validate the incident, contain it, eradicate the source and proceed to recovery. But you can’t stop the bleeding if you don’t know where you’re hurt. Understanding your environment and assets is crucial to quickly identify impacted systems and prioritize containment efforts. 

Learn more about navigating the first 72 hours in our on-demand webinar > 

Beyond the Initial Response: Navigating the Aftermath

Once the immediate threat is contained, the real work begins. One of the first challenges is determining the root cause. How did the attackers gain entry? What was the initial point of compromise? 

“Unfortunately, in many, many cases you’re not going to get to root cause,” Chris states. “This frustrates more people than it probably should, especially leadership.” While it’s important to investigate, organizations need to balance analysis time against the need to eradicate the threat and recover. 

Recovery: It’s Personal

Recovery isn’t one-size-fits-all. A manufacturing company reliant on just-in-time delivery has a much smaller window of tolerable downtime than other industries.  

“Recovery means something different to everybody,” Chris explains. “This is where we take a step away from the technology standpoint and focus on communication, collaboration, cooperation and coordination with the business.” 

Mike stresses the importance of aligning IT’s recovery capabilities with the organization’s risk tolerance and business continuity requirements.  

“If the business says they can’t be down for more than four hours, but you know it will take 24 hours to restore service, you have a date with destiny on that 5th hour,” Mike warns. “Torches and pitchforks are coming down the hall.” 

Lessons Learned: Your Future Lifeline

One of the most overlooked aspects of incident response is conducting a thorough post-mortem.  

“If you’re not sitting there with two screens working on tech stuff and one screen with a notes document open, taking screenshots and documenting – you’re not going to remember what happened two, four, 24 hours later,” Chris points out. 

This documentation is critical not just for internal improvement, but also for answering to regulators, law enforcement and insurance providers. It allows you to identify gaps in your response capabilities and should feed into a rapid cycle of testing and improvement. 

Dive deeper into mitigating long-term risks in our follow-up webinar >

Getting Outside Help: Strength in Numbers

Even large, mature organizations turn to external experts to pressure test their plans and provide surge support during a major incident.  

“My favorite outside vendors are the ones that make you better,” says Mike. “It should be a mentorship relationship to some extent.” 

Chris agrees, noting that outside experts provide specialized knowledge and guaranteed response times. But it’s not a “set it and forget it” arrangement – you need to invest in the relationship and ensure everyone understands roles and responsibilities. 

Fortify Your Defenses Before the Next Attack Strikes

The principles shared here can help organizations bring order to the chaos of a cyberattack and emerge stronger. But the time to build that cyber resilience is now, before the next incident unfolds. Waiting until you’re in the midst of a crisis to figure out your response is a recipe for disaster. 

That’s where Nuspire’s Incident Response Readiness Service comes in. Our cybersecurity experts will craft tailored simulations that reflect your unique risks and guide your team through dynamic, interactive tabletop exercises. These aren’t just annual check-box activities – they’re critical rehearsals that ensure everyone knows their role when chaos strikes. 

Investing in proactive preparation today can make all the difference when faced with a real-world threat tomorrow. Take the first step in fortifying your cyber resilience – explore how Nuspire’s Incident Response Readiness Service can help you stay one step ahead of cyber adversaries. 

Learn more about our Incident Response Readiness Service >

Remember, in the digital battlefield, the best defense is a well-practiced offense. Don’t let your first real incident response be your first practice run. Prepare, practice and fortify your defenses now.