Response time is among the most impactful factors in cybersecurity incident costs. The quicker teams can contain and resolve an issue, the more likely they will stop it before it causes much damage. However, prompt responses can be challenging to achieve in this industry.
Many organizations face employee shortages, and security workloads tend to be high. As a result, there are too few people available to complete mission-critical tasks, leading to inefficiency. Thankfully, improvement is possible, even if hiring more staff isn’t. Here are five ways cybersecurity teams can shorten their response time.
1. Automate Wherever Possible
Automation is critical for optimizing incident responses. Artificial intelligence can recognize and contain suspicious activity as soon as it arises. As a result, enterprises using it save an average of $2.22 million in data breach costs.
AI-enabled, real-time network monitoring will directly shorten response times, but other forms of automation are still valuable. For example, automating updates can keep defenses up to date while freeing time in security professionals’ schedules.
Any data-heavy or repetitive task is an ideal candidate for automation. In all its forms, this technology reduces workloads so cybersecurity teams have the time and resources available to notice, investigate and manage security incidents, even with a small workforce.
2. Create a Formal Response Plan
Uncertainty and indecisiveness are the enemies of efficiency. By contrast, when all parties know their responsibilities and have a list of steps to follow, they can act quickly to prevent the worst outcomes.
An official incident response plan should cover how to detect and classify a situation, how to communicate it, what each team member should do and how to follow up afterward. It should also include contingency steps to account for various scenarios. Outlining goals to strive for is ideal, as it helps guide any non-specified actions.
3. Consolidate Tools
Workflow silos and a lack of transparency are other barriers to efficient response times in cybersecurity. Consequently, using an all-in-one platform instead of several separate security tools has a significant impact. It’s part of why 88% of security professionals prefer a platform approach over individual products.
Consolidating software-as-a-service apps eliminates the inefficiencies of switching between tools. It also makes it easier to track various factors across a network, allowing cybersecurity teams to find and respond to potential threats more quickly.
Tool consolidation can mitigate risks from third-party vulnerabilities. While thoroughly vetting SaaS providers is still critical, working with only one vendor instead of several can reduce attack surfaces and streamline security and compliance.
4. Enable Quick, Clear Communication
Relatedly, businesses should address their communication channels when accelerating incident responses. Quick, effective replies are essential when identifying and responding to an issue, but many teams struggle in this area. Though employees spend over 70% of the workweek exchanging information, 84% of businesses still suffer from miscommunication.
Switching from asynchronous channels like email to real-time ones like instant messaging for time-sensitive or mission-critical alerts is a wise solution. Workers across departments should also have specific protocols for reporting various issues, including who to contact and which channels to use. Standardizing communication and dividing it among platforms based on sensitivity will enable more efficient collaboration.
5. Embrace Ongoing Improvements
Incident responses always have room for improvement. As such, security teams should regularly review their response plans, communications protocols and workflows to see where they may need to adapt.
Tracking average response times and the incidents’ results provides valuable data on where inefficiencies lie. Even when standards improve year-over-year, IT leaders should look for opportunities to streamline workflows.
Teams should also assess whether current measures are still relevant to the threats they face. Only 21% of companies today have implemented anti-insider threat measures, despite many people saying these are a prominent risk. That gap will result in slow responses to insider incidents, and routine reassessments are the only way to catch such vulnerabilities.
Faster Response Times Mean Fewer Losses
These five steps will help security teams of any size accelerate their average incident response times. When that happens, data breaches will cause less damage and result in lower costs. This optimization will only become more pressing as cybercrime grows and the security skills gap worsens.
As the Features Editor at ReHack, Zac Amos writes about cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and other tech topics. He is a frequent contributor to Brilliance Security Magazine.
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