Over 2,200 cyberattacks happen in the United States each day as a result of the switch to remote work. That translates into one cybersecurity incident every 39 seconds.
To combat these cyber threats, organizations are adopting incident response service solutions.
Specifically, businesses are trying to mitigate cyber risk and quick security breach response using retainer based contracts.
In this post, we’re going to reveal 7 ways incident response retainers raise cybersecurity resilience.
So if you’re looking to protect your assets, increase data security, and prevent major damage, you’ll find this article useful.
Let’s begin.
What are incident response retainers?
An incident response retainer is a cybersecurity policy that gives you access to resources to deal with the before and aftermath of cyber attacks. Outsourcing security to an incident response service provider means that you retain experts to deal with cyber incidents with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantee.
Why should you consider incident response retainers?
The simple answer is: incident response preparedness.
If you’re like most organizations in the United States, then your business reflects the gaps in the current landscape of incident response:
- Only 57% of organizations have a fully documented incident response strategy and playbook.
- Out of those organizations, only 55% of incident response policies are integrated into standard operating procedures.
- One in two organizations feel that there is a skill shortage of experienced cyber security professionals to deal with incidents and threats.
- 70% of organizations have at least one professional on retainer to assist with cyber attacks and breach response.
- 30% of all organizations have no professionals to assist them in dealing with cybersecurity and breach threats at all.
Together with the switch to remote work and the adoption of cloud-based software, many consider incident response a way to mitigate cloud security, as well.
So whether you’re looking to raise cyber resilience, there is a clear need for you to have a robust incident response plan and a retainer on call.
Benefits of Having an Incident Response Retainer
Having an incident response retainer in place helps you to prepare for cyberthreats and gives you a definitive policy to respond quickly to a threat to your security, infrastructure, networks, data, or systems.
Here are 7 other ways incident response retainers help raise the cybersecurity resilience of your organization:
#1 Less chance of a security breach
Retaining an incident response service provider isn’t just another service that you need. It’s also a strategic plan to counter cyber threats and improve the overall security by filling up any cybersecurity gaps that your organization may have.
And having that at your disposal means there is a lower chance of a security breach to begin with.
#2 Lower costs
Despite the operational expenses of retaining an incident response team or professionals, it’s significantly lower when compared to the costs of a successful security breach.
In most cases in the aftermath of a breach, you need to raise both operational and capital expenditure to overhaul your entire cybersecurity defense strategy and assets.
#3 Predictable costs
Having an incident response service provider on call gives you the ability to better manage your IT budget and overhead. That’s because you pay a retainer fee rather than a service fee per intervention or project.
#4 24/7 incident response experts on call
Because you don’t hire an incident response team contract-by-contract (but you permanently retain them), you get 24/7/365 security for your organization. (And the peace of mind that goes with it.)
#5 No onboarding or integration
Retaining an incident response team rather than hiring them eliminates the need to onboard cybersecurity staff. It also means that the incident response provider will use their own tools and technology to do the job. So there’s no need to integrate any tech stacks.
#6 Mitigating risk
Retained incident response providers are professionals. That means you receive their full expertise in best practices, digital forensics, defense security, and regulations. This can help you to get more bang for your buck, as they can help you to improve your cybersecurity policies and strategies.
#7 Flexibility with the retainer
How you retain incident response retainers is always up to you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If you’re not comfortable with retaining a team full-time most service companies can accommodate your needs by providing flexible retainer hour usage.
How to retain an incident service provider?
If you’re looking to retain an incident service provider right now, look no further than Demakis Technologies.
Our team of cybersecurity professionals is on call 24/7 all year round, and can help you get the best service for an unparalleled peace of mind.
CONTACT US to get in touch with a security professional who can walk you through what we can provide you and the first steps you need to take.