Digital transformation is impacting every facet of how businesses are run, operate, and engage with their clients.
This includes the collection and storage of sensitive client and company data that represent a significant risk for business owners as it makes them a target for cybercriminals.
Making sure you always have updated software and the latest security settings can help reduce the risk of being hacked.
If your business is unfortunate enough to get hacked, there are ways for businesses to quickly recover from an attack.
Some of these include:
- Having an Incident Response Team (IRT)
- Implementing new protections and defenses
- Properly documenting your business continuity plan
- Installing a backup system
Worries about recovering quickly after being hacked are common, but there are many things companies can do to help make this process go as smoothly as possible.
Business owners who prepare for a disaster by having a business continuity plan in place beforehand, are far more likely to be able to quickly get their company back on its feet.
Having an Incident Response Team (IRT)
The use of an Incident Response Team (IRT) is essential to provide a way to quickly recover from cyberattacks.
An incident response team typically has the following three areas of expertise:
- Technical skills such as programming, analysing malware, and reverse engineering
- Business skills such as marketing, management, and public relations
- Legal skills such as litigation, law enforcement, and privacy regulation
It’s up to the Incident Response Team to analyse the potential damage and come up with a plan to achieve a quick recovery.
Implementing New Protections and Defences
Unfortunately, there is no way to fully prevent cyberattacks.
“Business owners need to implement new protections and defences to “harden” their systems.”
Talk with your network administrator to make sure that you are using the best firewall and antivirus software available.
It also helps to install watchdog programs, disable remote access for unused programs that you don’t use often, and keep your antivirus definitions up-to-date.
Along with implementing new protections and defences, make sure to restructure your team.
Think about what areas need to be strengthened and then find new people for the roles.
It’s also important to think about how your company can recover from a disaster. This is where backing up data and restoring it quickly comes in handy.
Having an effective cloud backup & recovery system in place is especially important for any type of business that runs its operations on computers and networks.
Properly Documenting Your Business Continuity Plan
One of the most important things to have in place is a business continuity plan, which should be created and updated regularly.
For many companies, the idea of how quickly they can recover after being hacked might not feel like a high priority, but it should be.
The goal is to think of what would happen if disaster struck. It’s also important to document the steps that should be taken during such occasions and how to access your records in case you need to take them offline for any reason.
Installing a Backup System
A backup system is one of the best ways that businesses can look into recovering their company after being hacked. Having a backup system helps keep data safe and ready for use at all times by storing it either at multiple locations or ideally in the cloud.
Backup software should be tested to ensure that it works properly and there need to be ongoing checkups to ensure that all the data is properly saved in case it gets hacked or corrupted too.
Conclusion
In today’s digital world, there’s no getting away from technology-related risks, but businesses can keep their data safe by following these steps.
By having a solid business continuity plan in place, updating your technology and security settings, and keeping data backed up on multiple devices you can minimize the damage done by cyberattacks and help restore operations as fast as possible.
So, how fast can a business recover after being hacked?
What it comes down to is how prepared you are.
If you take the proper precautions and ensure your business is equipped with robust security systems, you can expect a quick turnaround when it comes to recovery.
If you have no backup systems in place, there is a possibility that your business may never recover from an attack.
Do your best to prepare for the worst and, should anything happen, you’ll be able to bounce back quickly.
