While cyber insurance is recommended as an essential layer of protection for Ontario small businesses, another great way small businesses in Ontario can small business digital liability risk is to implement and maintain a Cyber Incident Response Plan (CIRP).
WHAT IS A CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN?
A Cyber Incident Response Plan (CIRP) is a formal, documented strategy that outlines how an organization detects, responds to, manages and recovers from cybersecurity incidents like:
- Data breaches
- Ransomware attacks
- Phishing campaigns
- Insider threats
- System intrusions
- Malware infections
In an increasingly online business world, having a cyber incident response plan in place is nearly on the same level of importance as having a fire escape plan.
WHAT DOES A CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN DO?
The purpose of a Cyber Incident Response Plan is to:
- Minimize damage and disruption to business operations.
- Preserve evidence for investigation and legal compliance.
- Recover systems and data as quickly and securely as possible.
- Improve defences to prevent future incidents.
- Comply with legal, regulatory, and industry requirements.
WHO NEEDS TO HAVE A CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN?
Any organization that handles sensitive data will benefit from deploying a Cyber Insurance Response Plan.
While our focus here is on small businesses (especially those involved in the financial or healthcare industries), a CIRP also applies to:
- Government agencies
- Educational institutions
- Nonprofits managing donor or member data
HOW TO CREATE A CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN?
Creating a CIRP can be challenging and require a significant amount of time, but it’s worth it!
Here are the steps to create your CIRP:
1\ Preparation
Define roles and responsibilities, such as who is on the incident response team.
2\ Identification
Detect and verify potential incidents and threats unique to your organization.
Track and categorize events into appropriate labels, such as low-risk alert vs. confirmed breach.
3\ Containment
Isolate affected systems to prevent further spread with both short-term and long-term containment strategies.
4\ Eradication
Remove the threat by deleting malware, disabling compromised accounts, etc. and patch any lingering vulnerabilities.
5\ Recovery
Restore systems and services to normal operation and then continue to monitor for signs of reinfection or lingering threats.
6\ Lessons Learned
Conduct a post-incident review and update the response plan and security measures based on findings.
HOW TO REVIEW AND MAINTAIN A CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN?
First thing you should do is assign a dedicated team member (like an IT manager) to oversee the plan’s lifecycle, and ensure accountability for updates and reviews.
Steps to review and maintain a Cyber Incident Response Plan:
1/ Schedule Regular Reviews
Reviews should happen at least annually (quarterly would be even better), or after major changes such as tech upgrades, mergers or finding new threats.
2/ Review for Accuracy and Relevance
Make sure all contact information involved in the CIRP is current (e.g., IT staff, legal, third-party vendors).
Ensure any new system, asset, or data type has been accounted for and that all regulatory compliance requirements (e.g., PIPEDA) are reflected.
3/ Test the Plan Regularly
It would be a great idea to simulate the most common threat scenarios and walk through the response. This will help identify any wrinkles to be ironed out and make sure the team is ready for the real thing should it ever happen.
4/ Verify Tools and Resources
Ensure all tools involved in your CRIP (e.g., logging systems, backup tools, incident tracking platforms) are working as they should and confirm access permissions and escalation procedures are still valid.
5/ Maintain Documentation Version Control
Clearly label the current version of the CIRP so everyone knows which document is the real deal while keeping a change log with details of revisions and dates to make it easy to reverse engineer how the plan has evolved.
Store all documents securely, but make sure they’re quickly accessible during an emergency (e.g., in the cloud and hard copies available offline).
Erie Mutual Insurance proudly serves the commercial insurance, farm insurance, home insurance and auto insurance needs of members throughout Southern Ontario including Haldimand, Niagara and Hamilton.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have about this or any other topic related to your insurance.
