How to Improve Your Organization’s Cyber Incident Readiness and Response

Data exposure and exfiltration during cybersecurity incidents continue to increase, posing ongoing readiness and response challenges to organizations. Network infiltrations often go undetected while personally identifiable information (PII), personal health information (PHI), or sensitive corporate data is compromised. In the article below, we outline the stakes of a cyber incident and actionable ways to improve your organization’s readiness for and response to it.

The Impact of a Data Breach

The 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report from IBM illustrates the stakes of a data breach in three revealing statistics:

• 83% of organizations have experienced more than one data breach in their lifetime
• The global average cost of a data breach is $4.35 million for organizations
• In 2022, it took an average of 277 days to identify and contain a breach

Because data breaches are increasingly common, costly, and complex, the ability to respond quickly could help your organization minimize reputational damage and save millions of dollars.

How to Respond to a Cybersecurity Incident

The first step in incident response is to determine which data has been compromised. Next, all PII/PHI must be processed and parsed for proper disclosure to the impacted entities and regulatory authorities. The use of purpose-built data mining software coupled with dedicated incident response teams and tailored workflows ensure the efficient identification and evaluation of data impacted during a cyber incident.

Quickly identifying PII/PHI impacted during an attack is important to notify impacted entities, which is required by data privacy and protection regimes, including GDPR, CCPA, and BIPA. For example, EU data protection regulation under GDPR requires the responsible entity to report any incident involving PII/PHI within 72 hours of detection. Many of these regulations also require organizations to provide a detailed description of the PII/PHI impacted, outlining the approximate number of data subjects, categories concerned, and affected records.

Key Considerations in Selecting a Cyber Incident Response Partner

Given the evolving regulatory requirements for data breaches and the prevalence of cyberattacks, many organizations elect to partner with a company that specializes in cyber incident response. When selecting a partner to support your cyber incident readiness and response, choose a company that:

1. Leverages specialized teams, purpose-built data mining technology, and tailored workflows for cyber incident response. Data mining software offers early insight on the scope and scale of an incident which reduces the cost of data mining matters while ensuring organizations are well positioned to meet reporting and notification obligations.
2. Quickly assesses impacted entities and related data elements to offer early insight with no limits on volume of data, global location, or data composition they are capable of handling. Addressing the growing urgency for insight in hours and days, not weeks and months, is vital.
3. Compiles notification lists to contact entities potentially affected by a breach.
4. Offers a steady and experienced hand at a moment of crisis to help you regain control after an incident occurs.
   

Be certain any potential partners understand the fundamental differences between specialized cyber incident response and eDiscovery. Find a partner who leads with AI/machine learning for increased speed and precision, delivering early insight on scope, efficient handling of tabular data, and deduplication of impacted entities. Additionally, look for a partner with multilingual capabilities who stands ready to follow matters around the globe.

Learn more about KLDiscovery’s services and contact our team to discuss your organization’s needs.