Cybersecurity for Small Business Series – Part 4
Part 4 - Preparation: Stuff Happens, So Be Ready
In parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series, I talked about the importance of building a strong security culture, understanding your risks, and making sure your people are trained. But now it’s time to be practical. Things can still go wrong, even with the best plans and intentions.
No business can ever be 100% secure. Technology fails, people make mistakes, and attackers only need one lucky break. The real question is, what happens next? Do you scramble to figure out what to do, or do you have a plan that helps you limit the damage and recover quickly?
That’s where preparation comes in.
WHY PREPARATION MATTERS
Preparation is the difference between a bad day and a business-ending event. When something goes wrong, your ability to act quickly can determine how much data is lost, how long systems stay down, and whether customers still trust you when it’s over.
Being prepared is your chance to meet potential disasters with confidence in the middle of uncertainty. It also shows your employees and customers that you take security seriously, not just when things are calm, but when they’re hard. Without a plan, simple events can lead to chaos and unpredictability which ultimately lead to bigger problems.
WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN
An Incident Response Plan helps ensure your business is prepared for a cyber event. For smaller businesses, it doesn’t have to be complicated or account for every possibility. It does, however, need to answer a few key questions:
Who does what? Define clear roles. Who investigates, who talks to customers, who calls for outside help.
What gets priority? Identify the systems or data you can’t operate without and focus your recovery there first.
How do we communicate? Decide ahead of time how you’ll reach people if email or chat is down. Have phone numbers handy.
How do I recover? Getting your business back up and running as quickly as possible takes effort
Even writing this down on one page is better than keeping it all in your head. And it’s not about having the perfect plan, it’s about having one that works when you need it most.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
For small businesses, simplicity is your strength. You may not need a 40-page document, but you should develop a basic plan that you can share and discuss with your team on a regular basis. No matter how detailed your plan is, here are some must haves to include:
Contact List
You don’t want to be scrambling around looking for contact information when there is an emergency. Create a contact list of your key staff, support and suppliers, including lawyers, law enforcement, and IT Support.
In this list, make sure you assign roles and responsibilities for each contact. This list is your lifeline when things go south, so keep it somewhere (securely) where it is available at all times, including printed hard copies in case you lose access to your digital files.
Create and Maintain a List of Your Most Critical Assets
An asset inventory is essential when you are trying to make sure everything is locked down as quickly as possible. You don’t want to leave important systems or information exposed when you are being attacked. Include each device, system, or service you rely on, along with how critical it is to running your business.
Develop a Basic Play Book (instructions on what to do what an event occurs)
Being able to quickly contain an incident is your goal. Having a step-by-step play book will help stop or delay the attack and give you some time to plan your next steps. Some things you might consider are:
· Disconnect the affected device. Unplug it from the network or turn off Wi-Fi to stop the spread.
· Notify the right people. Tell whoever handles your IT or security right away.
· Secure your accounts. Change passwords for email, banking, and critical systems.
· Preserve what you can. Don’t wipe or reset anything yet. This will help during recovery and investigation.
Threat Removal and Recovery Steps
Once you have the attack contained and all of the right people have been contacted, you need to start working on making sure the threat is removed and working towards getting your business back up and running.
This phase of the plan can vary depending on the type of attack, but the goal is to use your asset inventory and go through each asset to make sure it is safe and ready to put back into production. Your IT Support will be essential in this phase.
You will also need to start working with your lawyer to deal with any legal consequences and you will need to develop a communications plan to let customers know what happened.
Other Considerations
Your plan should be reviewed at least annually, and it is always a good idea to try and practice the plan. You don’t want the first time you use your plan to be during an actual incident.
THE PAYOFF OF BEING PREPARED
Preparation doesn’t prevent every problem, but it prevents panic. It gives you control in the middle of chaos, shortens downtime, and helps you recover faster. Most importantly, it turns a potential disaster into a moment of control.
You don’t have to be an expert in incident response — you just need a plan that helps you get the right expertise involved quickly.
FINAL THOUGHT
Cybersecurity isn’t about fear; it’s about readiness. Take a few minutes this week to write down what you’d do if something went wrong. Who would you call first? What would you protect? Where would you get help? The answers to those questions are the beginning of your incident response plan and the foundation of your business’s resilience.
HOW CAN SECURITY MOMENTS HELP?
If you’re not sure where to start, Security Moments offers a number of small business cybersecurity guides, including our Cyber Guide: Incident Response Plan, a simple, step-by-step template designed for small businesses. It walks you through how to document your plan, define responsibilities, and respond with confidence when something goes wrong.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Next week, I’ll wrap up the series with Guideposts: Build Accountability and Trust. We’ll look at how setting clear expectations and simple rules can make security part of how your business runs every day.