5 pitfalls that can delay cyber incident response and recovery
The responsibility of cyber incident response falls squarely on the shoulders of the CISO. And many CISOs invest heavily in technical response procedures, tabletop exercises and theoretical plans only to find out that when an actual breach strikes the organization is not as prepared as it should be.
Every event is unique and can introduce unforeseen complications, and the chaos of the moment can quickly derail even the best laid plans. But CISOs can improve their team’s response and reduce damage by avoiding these common pitfalls:
Pitfall #1: Inadequate cyber incident response planning
Many organizations still lack a well-defined incident response plan. Some view incident response as simply the process of removing the attacker and restoring systems. But incident response is far more than just a technical exercise: it must consider business impact, reputation management, financial losses, regulatory penalties and legal ramifications.
Planning must outline specific roles, escalation paths, communication strategies and post-incident review processes. Additionally, an effective cyber incident response plan should be regularly reviewed and tested to ensure it aligns with evolving threats and business objectives.
Relying on a static, outdated plan is nearly as bad as having no plan at all.
Pitfall #2: Ineffective tabletop exercises
Tabletop exercises are a fundamental component of incident preparedness as they allow responders from across an organization the opportunity to experience a simulated attack scenario and test the effectiveness of their response. Many businesses outsource these exercises to third-party facilitators who provide generic, template-driven scenarios that might not align with the organization’s unique structure, industry, regulatory environment or threat landscape.
For tabletop exercises to be truly effective they must have internal ownership and be customized to the organization. CISOs need to ensure that tabletops are tailored to the company’s specific risks, security use cases and compliance requirements. Exercises should be run regularly (quarterly, at a minimum) and evaluated with a critical eye to ensure that outcomes are reflected in the company’s broader incident response plan.
Without these considerations, tabletop exercises risk being a mere checkbox activity rather than a meaningful contributor to response readiness.
Pitfall #3: Ineffective or delayed information sharing
While the CISO might own cyber incident response, event response isn’t solely the responsibility of the security team. In major cyber incidents effective coordination is necessary across multiple business functions, with key representatives assuming a role in the response.
One of the most common failures in incident response is a lack of timely information sharing. Key stakeholders, including HR, PR, Legal, executives and board members must be kept informed about the situation in real time. Without proper communication channels and predefined reporting structures, misinformation or delays can lead to confusion, prolonged downtime and even regulatory penalties for failure to report incidents within required timeframes.
CISOs are responsible for proactively establishing clear communication protocols and ensuring that all responders and stakeholders understand their role in incident management. These steps can include defining notification timelines for internal and external stakeholder groups, establishing dedicated communication channels for response updates and ensuring accessibility to critical documentation and decision-making guides.
Pitfall #4: Security gaps in response
Incident response requires rapid, secure and multi-channel communication among responders and stakeholders. Yet many of the communication tools and platforms organizations rely on – such as email, corporate chat platforms and mass notification system – are tied to the same corporate infrastructure that may be compromised during an attack. This creates a significant risk of eavesdropping, data leaks and even further exploitation by attackers.
Out-of-band communication capabilities are critical for safeguarding response efforts and shielding them from an attacker’s view. Organizations should establish secure, independent channels for coordinating incident response that aren’t tied to corporate networks. Predefined backup systems can be used for sharing sensitive response data while out-of-band communication channels allow for protected communications.
CISOs and response teams should not assume that business or crisis management tools have built-in security. Every communication and collaboration tool used during an incident should be vetted and tested for resilience against cyber threats, and cross-checked for potential unauthorized access.
Pitfall #5: Manual processes that trip up timely response
Many organizations still rely on outdated, manual processes for incident response. Legacy binders with call trees and generic scenarios may not account for modern attack tactics, resulting in delayed or ineffective responses.
To improve efficiency, organizations should embrace automation and dynamic incident response playbooks. These playbooks can provide step-by-step guidance for specific event types and automate alerts and actions based on predefined thresholds. Embracing automated capabilities can enable rapid decision-making and orchestration across the organization.
By replacing static documentation with interactive and automated response mechanisms, businesses can significantly reduce their response time and mitigate potential damages more effectively. This approach also provides a single source of (up-to-date) truth, eliminating the risk of responders referencing outdated binders.
Embrace automation for simplified cyber incident response
Incident response is more complex than ever. Traditional policies and procedures can’t meet the challenges that today’s evolving attack scenarios present. Even with the best preparation, the chaos and pressure of an actual attack can lead to errors and delays.
To improve readiness CISOs must dig deeper to identify key weaknesses and unique considerations in their incident response strategies. Incident detection and response receives a significant share of a company’s security investment, but incident preparedness is just as critical (if not more so). While proactively addressing common pitfalls, organizations not only improve their incident response effectiveness, but also strengthen their overall resilience against cyber threats.