16 Reasons Why You Need Cyber Exercises for Your Teams

Why do you need cyber exercises for your teams?  Because there is a lot to do to prepare to be cyber resilient in a data breach or a major security incident.

Top Data Breaches Last Year

Here are 16 questions to answer before your first breach occurs.

Let’s start with a data breach using a phishing attack on your business and ensure that you have the answers to the following questions prior to this potential major cyber incident.

1. What steps are necessary to recover from a cyber security incident (list all of them)?

2. Who on your team will determine how to accomplish this list you created?

3. What is the priority of the most critical assets to recover?

4. Who will be the incident commander and how will they coordinate the recovery? (Note: your cyber insurance team may take the lead).

5. What tools will be needed?  (Note that cyber criminals use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in their tools too).  A brief list of tools could include:

   1. Applications, software, hardware, AI, ML, databases, policies & procedures, playbooks, training, contingency plans, etc.

6. What physical security controls will you need?

7. Can you trust your backups to fully recover your critical data for the business?

8. Who will communicate with employees, customers, social media, news outlets, regulators, State and Federal agencies?

   1. Which third company will you need on retainers for communications?

9. How much cyber insurance do you need?

10. Will your company survive the attack?

11. What reporting is mandated globally?

12. Do you pay the ransom, extortion or blackmail and who makes this decision?

13. Who is authorized to pay with cryptocurrencies globally?

14. Who will contact local, state and federal agencies and do you have those contacts information?

15. Who will be doing the additional forensics and help desk support?

16. What legal firms are on retainer for support, attorney-client privilege, and class-action lawsuits?

Make the training educational and fun.  How you train is how you perform.  We may pray for the best, but we need to train for the worst-case scenarios.  It is important to be ready for anything that comes your way as a business. 

Dumas Cyber Security can help you be successful and recover your business.  Contact us now.  Consider practicing with your teams yearly with cyber security exercises onsite or within an external cyber range.