The phrase “data breach” is enough to send shivers up any business owner’s spine. Unfortunately, data breaches are common – companies, both big and small, experience a breach of confidential data that causes financial and reputation loss. The question is, what do you do in this situation? In this article, you’ll learn how clever businesses manage a data breach, so you’ll know how to act if it ever happens to you.
They Turn to Professionals
Smart business owners know not to handle a data breach themselves – that could prove catastrophic. Instead, they seek the assistance of professionals to help them with the battle. That might include a legal counsel, HR, and the IT department. If you don’t have these professionals already on your side, it’s time to hire them. For example, having professional IT support Coventry by your side can make a world of difference – they’ll be able to help you understand vulnerabilities and patch them up after a data breach.
They Prevent Further Data Loss
If a data breach has already occurred, the main focus should be preventing any further data loss. If particular machines have been affected, take them offline. If credentials have been stolen, update all passwords across the company. Acting fast is key here! However, you should never destroy any evidence, as you might need it further down the line when pursuing legal action.
They Notify the Correct People
Business owners can’t keep quiet when there has been a data breach. Instead, they need to inform the right people. There are particular laws about this, so it’s essential to familiarise yourself with those to understand who to tell. As a general rule, you should always notify the individuals whose personal information has been breached.
They Patch Up Vulnerabilities
Data breaches can happen to any company, but they happen for a reason. If it’s happened within your business, that means that there’s a vulnerability. At this stage, the intelligent thing to do would be to patch up all vulnerabilities, from your network to your service providers.
They Handle Public Communications Well
Some data breaches gain attention from the public. The smartest businesses know how to handle this well – they understand that stalling isn’t always a good idea and that being open, transparent, and honest is typically the best strategy (especially if it’s going to get out anyway). To handle public communications well, it’s a good idea to craft a public statement and ensure everyone within the company is on the same page.
They Learn from It
A data breach doesn’t have to be the end of the world. That doesn’t mean you should forget about it – the smartest businesses take data breaches and use them as a lesson going forward. The last thing you want is for it to happen again. Understanding how it happened means being able to stop it from happening again in the future. Plus, you can learn from your attack response, refining it to handle the attack better if it occurs again.