28 May How Long Does it Take to Recover from a Cybersecurity Event?

A “cybersecurity event,” defined otherwise as an instance where company infrastructure is impacted by outsider intrusion, is a situation no SMB wants to encounter. But in today’s technologically driven environments avoiding that outcome is difficult, if not impossible. Technology is part of our daily lives, from simple banking apps to SaaS suites helping us manage our business tasks. With all that valuable data floating around, a focused cyber attack will inevitably happen.

That’s no reason for alarm, however. A proactive approach towards cybersecurity and resilient IT helps reduce the impact of a breach or prevents it entirely. Even small organizations can safely manage attack events or intrusion attempts. It’s only a concern when a breach event is successful. When that happens, you enter the downtime and recovery phase, creating a bigger question: how long does recovery take?

Cyberattack Recovery: What to Expect

First, let’s clarify there is no one single answer. Recovery depends on the scope and type of attack. Small events average a few hours to days in terms of recovery and downtime. But larger-scale attacks, including those affecting large enterprises, can take weeks, even months, to recover from.

As mentioned, it also depends on the type of attack. Some examples include:

• Ransomware attacks
• DDoS or DoS
• Victimization caused by phishing, vishing, social-engineering scams
• Human error or internal leaks
• Malware intrusions

These are only a handful of attack types but all can lead to downtime. Recovering from them is a matter of time, resources, and preparedness (or lack thereof).

For example, ransomware is one of the costliest breach event scenarios because of its downtime period. In the event of a successful ransomware attack, victims must negotiate with the attackers, allot the demanded capital, report the event, and analyze the level of damage caused by the attack. While the FBI recommends never giving in to the demand of ransomware attackers, organizations have limited options. And, even if they do ignore the demands of ransomware gangs, recovery periods are still a characteristic of the breach event.

Improving Recovery Time

One of the best ways to create consistent recovery periods – and shorten them – is to develop a comprehensive recovery plan. Improving recovery time involves addressing several things: what led to a breach event, what backup options you have in place, and the training you have established to recover.

Said recovery plans vary. Each business and enterprise is different with its own unique needs, so not all recovery plans are the same (or need to be). Forming a recovery plan, however, does take time. It requires understanding your enterprise from the inside out, knowing the resources you have available at your disposal, what training needs to be applied, and your overall financial capital. Though it can seem slow and painstaking to achieve, the end results are well worth it. Given a post-breach environment is costly and recovery periods can lead to extensive downtime, you’re securing the financial future of your business by investing in healthy recovery methods.

Once more, consider your brand protection too. Customers and business partners don’t want to work with an enterprise that has frequent downtime events and is a risk to private data. An unsafe reputation is often more devastating than a cybersecurity emergency since you are less likely to have return clients.

So, while the question of “how long does it take to recover” still varies, your business is a larger determinant in said recovery periods. You can have plenty of capital with numerous IT experts within the company, but it won’t matter without a strong, digestible BDR plan.

How Can I Make a BDR Plan

Now we arrive at an important question: how do you establish a strong BDR plan? Backup disaster recovery is a fundamental part of keeping your downtime low.

Let’s assume you understand the immediate needs of your business and IT. That is to say, you know the hardware and software you’ll need (or already have), what your total available budget is, and what risks there are to your total infrastructure.

First, set up a list of goals and what you want to achieve. Keep common risks in mind, such as phishing scams or virus attacks.

When you have a bigger idea of the risks your business faces, you can start developing recovery plans for a variety of scenarios. Hardware failure, ransomware, even natural disasters – these are all part of recovering from downtime (and a cybersecurity event).

What resources you use depends on financial capital and what needs protecting. Some enterprises have more capital at their disposal, while SMBs need to be prudent to avoid over-budgeting. It’s also a wise idea to invest in comprehensive training and awareness modules for your staff since cybersecurity is a full effort – not just an individual one.

Even with the best intentions, however, dealing with recovery periods caused by cybersecurity breaches is no easy task. Even large organizations struggle to return to normal functionality. That’s why it’s also recommended to utilize the resources and knowledge of a third-party provider.

Bytagig is an example of an MSP, boasting wide expertise with access to a variety of options perfect for an SMB.

For more information, you can contact Bytagig today.