As many organisations are recognising and experiencing first-hand, cyber attacks are no longer a matter of if, but when.

The regularity of cyber breaches highlight the increasing sophistication, stealth, and persistence of modern cyber attacks that organisations are facing today. The loss of intellectual property, customer data, and other sensitive information – as well as resulting business operations disruption – can cause severe financial and reputational damage.

You may not predict the next cyber incident, but you can make sure that you are prepared when it does happen. A robust cyber incident response strategy includes pre-planning, incident response and broader crisis management. Being prepared requires you to create and maintain an environment that enables a timely and effective response to a cyber incident.

Considerations for executives and senior management

Cyber incidents are a fact of life for many companies. 100 percent security is never feasible, and aiming for it is not sensible from a business perspective. If an incident occurs, what would be your first immediate action? What are the key considerations you need to be thinking about?

Successful cyber incident response involves a combination of critical first steps, stakeholder communications, and enacting a well prepared and regularly tested response plan. To accomplish this the following should be considered:

• Do I understand what my critical business data assets are?
• Are you confident that it hasn’t already happened in your business?
• Am I confident in my organisations ability to detect, manage and respond to a data breach effectively?
• Do I have a clear view of the ramifications on my businesses reputation?
• Have I properly considered regulatory requirements such as the requirement to disclosure privacy breaches?

How we can help

KPMG’s global cyber incident response professionals have the capability and experience to respond both locally and internationally. From pre-planning, through development of crisis management, to a robust incident response service, KPMG can assist you by preparing for an attack and effectively responding should it occur.

KPMG cyber professionals have experience in investigations, digital forensics and recovery which can help you mitigate risks, understand what happened, secure evidence, and support internal, legal and/or law enforcement enquiries.

KPMG’s Cyber Response services encompass:

• Incident response maturity assessments.
• Proactive breach assessments and threat hunting.
• Incident response plan development and testing.
• Incident response assistance.
• Post-breach reviews.