Preparing for a Cyber Incident

26.01.23

Blog, Cyber

Figures from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey show that 39% of UK organisations identified a cyber attack in the last 12 months. Clearly, no organisation handling sensitive public information can afford to be complacent.

Being proactive is the best first step to reduce the chance of an attack breaking through your security and, if it does, limit the fallout.

When a cyber attack happens, things often move quickly and snap decisions must be made. Any hesitation or wrong choice, and there is a risk of irreparable harm to any organisation and its reputation.

One of the best ways an organisation can prepare for a cyber incident is by taking a proactive approach and implementing a formal incident response plan.

In partnership with CyberScotland, the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland has created a Cyber Incident Response Pack, which provides practical advice to businesses on handling a cyber-related incident. The easily digestible pack includes longer-length advisory pieces on reputation management and legal considerations, best suited for small and medium businesses or charities that don’t have in-house incident response teams. It also contains checklists and editable documents which centralise the important contacts businesses must speak with when experiencing a cyber incident.

Jude McCorry, CEO of the Cyber and Fraud Centre, said, “It’s no longer an option to create an incident response plan and then leave it to gather dust; with the threat of a cyber attack higher than ever, businesses must be proactive when it comes to protecting themselves.”

Of course, help is never far away if an organisation is the victim of cybercrime or financial fraud. The Cyber and Fraud Centre offers a free Incident Response helpline on 0800 1670 623. The Incident Response team will provide expert guidance to get you back to secure operations. Or, if you are concerned about your organisation’s security in general, call our free helpline to confirm you have the right processes in place. Our Incident Response service, led by former Police Scotland Cyber Investigator Mike Smith, has supported over 200 public, private and third-sector organisations since it launched in 2020 in partnership with the Scottish Government and Police Scotland.

Strengthening digital security must include regular cyber exercising or testing an organisation’s response to an attack. As any cyber security professional will admit, it’s not a question of “if” an attack will occur but “when”. No organisation is immune.

Exercise in a Box, developed by the National Cyber Security Centre and delivered by the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, is an ideal way for organisations to safely test defences in the face of an attack without putting any data at risk. These free, practical workshops simulate real-life scenarios, such as what to do in the case of a sensitive data leak, a ransomware attack or a digital supply chain attack.

Over the past two years, almost 2,000 individuals from over 550 Scottish organisations across the public, private, and third sectors have attended at least one workshop and safely tested their response to a cyber attack.

Jude McCorry added: “There is no denying that the ongoing pressure facing everyone from a cyber perspective has been relentless in recent years. Just as we see one organisation recover from the grips of a cyber incident, another is targeted. It is also now believed that cyber criminals have targeted more than three-quarters of public sector organisations, and, closer to home, we have seen this play out with large-scale attacks on SEPA and SAMH. We don’t want to see more Scottish organisations fall victim to these attacks, and that is why upskilling and awareness programmes like ‘Exercise in a Box’ continue to be so vital. I implore anyone who believes they could benefit from becoming more cyber-resilient to attend an in-person or virtual Exercise in a Box session.”

The roadshow will focus on discussing key cyber security topics, including incident response, cyber exercising, and training employees on the basics of cyber.  Find out more >