“Quick,” “responsive” and “effective” are just three of the operative words that spring to mind when it comes to an organization’s cybersecurity readiness plan. But with a lack of professionals in place to protect and test an organization’s network, how can any business really know if their cybersecurity plan is enough?
Answering questions like the one above and more was the focus of our most recent #CiscoChat, “Incident Response in a Complex Threat Environment.” Joined by Cisco panelists Harlan Parrot, Dmitry Kuchynski Patrick Thomas and Cisco Champion Jake Gillen, #CiscoChat participants discussed incident response plans, gaps in security strategies and much more.
If you missed the chat, we’ve highlighted a few of our participants’ first-rate responses. You can also view actual Twitter responses submitted during this #CiscoChat.
1. What are the main components of an incident response plan?
Even the most elaborate incident response plan is built on standard frameworks of cybersecurity.
Having a plan in place is the critical first step. Though it seems an obvious concept, less than 50% of respondents to a Cisco survey shared that they use standard tools such as patching and configuration to prevent security breaches.
Realizing that there are phases to an incident can assist in shaping a response plan.
2. How can organizations assess their readiness to respond to security incidents?
Once a response plan is in place, testing its ability to protect a network is the only way to truly guard from cyber-attacks. And our #CiscoChat participants responded to this question with several ideas, starting with the basics.
Having a rapid response team in place is essential was presented as a solution as well, as was garnering support from internal teams outside of IT.
Best bet? Don’t wait until an incident occurs to assess your organization’s response!
3. What common gaps do you see in incident management today?
Talk about a timely question! In a previous blog, we noted that there are multiple studies that show an ever-widening gap in perceptions on security capabilities. Many of our #CiscoChat participants were network security experts and were quick to respond to this particular question.
Answers even came in from the floor at the RSA Conference, which is solely focused on empowering organizations to stay ahead of cyber threats.
This is just a sampling of the questions, conversation, solutions and insights shared during this particular #CiscoChat. Take a look at the recap, share your own answers to the questions we posed and join our next discussion using hashtag #CiscoChat. For more information on Cisco Security Services, check out our page here.
