It’s Not Just About Recovery: Why Every Business Needs an Incident Response Plan

An Incident Response Plan isn’t just a good idea; every regulatory agency requires it. At Clark Computer Services, we’ve helped more than a few business owners recover from cyberattacks, and I can tell you with confidence that waiting until after something goes wrong to figure out what to do next is not a plan. Yet, when we talk to business owners about Incident Response Plans, we often get nods and vague affirmations like, “Yeah, we’ve got something like that.” But when an actual incident hits, like a ransomware attack or a phishing scam that exposes sensitive information, the truth comes out: most businesses don’t have a real plan, and even fewer have tested one.

It’s time to fix that.

What Is an Incident Response Plan?

Think of an Incident Response Plan like a fire drill, but for your network. It is a documented set of procedures that your organization follows when a cyber threat or data breach occurs. The goal of the plan is to identify, contain, and recover from an incident with as little damage and downtime as possible.

These plans are not just for large corporations. Small and medium-sized businesses are often the target of cyberattacks because hackers see them as easy marks, with limited staff, minimal security, and rarely having a response plan in place. The FTC notes that cybercriminals often see small businesses as easy targets due to limited resources and weak defenses.

And if you’re thinking, “Well, we have cyber insurance,” be careful. These days, insurance carriers want proof that you had safeguards in place before the breach: no Incident Response Plan, no insurance payout.

Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

In recent years, the average cost of a cyberattack against small businesses has ballooned to over $350,000, and that doesn’t include ransom payments. But these attacks are about more than money. Lost trust can cost you valuable customers, compliance violations (HIPAA, PCI, CJIS, etc.) can shutter your business, and reputation damage can take years to rebuild.

With so many huge payouts, cyber insurance companies have written requirements into their policies intended to improve security controls and verify that systems were compliant before they cover any claim. If there’s no Incident Response Plan, that’s a huge red flag. Claims are getting denied, and business owners are left footing the bill.

The Six Steps of a Strong Incident Response Plan

Every Incident Response Plan we create at Clark Computer Services includes six core phases, based on best practices from CISA:

1. Preparation

This step starts with a risk assessment. We identify security vulnerabilities, assign roles and responsibilities, and document procedures for each type of threat.

2. Identification

When something suspicious happens, such as unusual login activity or files encrypted by ransomware, the response team jumps into action to determine the scope, severity, and type of incident.

3. Containment

This step is about damage control, with the goal to isolate the affected systems, disconnect the compromised accounts, and keep the incident from spreading across your network.

5. Eradication

In order to stop the attack, it’s vital to identify the root cause and remove any threats before restoring operations, whether it’s malware, an open port, or a compromised user account.

5. Recovery

Here’s where the team carefully brings systems back online, monitors them for further malicious activity, and runs tests to confirm the environment is clean. It’s also where having reliable Backups becomes critical.

6. Lessons Learned

Once everything is back up and running, it’s critical to document what happened and how to prevent it in the future. This step isn’t just busywork; it helps improve your overall security posture.

What’s In the Incident Response Plan?

A good Incident Response Plan has a list of internal employees assigned by name with well-defined roles, and direct contact information for internal staff, vendors, insurance providers, and compliance contacts. This structure ensures that there’s no time wasted wondering “who should we call” while your systems are being attacked.

For small businesses, the team could be a few people wearing multiple hats, with an outside IT organization that actually handles the work. That’s okay, but it’s essential to have internal employees listed, even if they aren’t performing the actual work, because it adds a level of internal accountability. No one cares as much about your organization as you and your employees.

Don’t Just Write It, Test It

An Incident Response Plan is not the type of thing that should be written and filed away simply to check a box. Just like other emergency drills, response plans must be regularly tested to ensure they work. Most compliance frameworks, including HIPAA, PCI, and NIST, require regular testing to demonstrate that the plan is effective in real-world scenarios.

Testing can start with a simple scenario: a computer locks up with a ransomware message. What happens next?

If no one knows the answer, that’s a problem we can help solve.

How Clark Computer Services Can Help

We help small businesses create, document, and test Incident Response Plans tailored to their needs. We also assist with risk assessments, backups, antivirus, compliance, and more. If you’re concerned about a potential breach, we’re the team you want on your side, and if you’re not sure where to start, give us a call at 301-456-6931 or email us at support@clarkcomputerservices.com.

Let’s build a plan that keeps your business running, even when the worst happens.