Proactive Incident Response Retainer 

Introduction

No matter your industry, your organization’s size or budget, you will come face-to-face with real cybersecurity threats. This reality is unavoidable and a consideration that every business needs to make when examining their digital security infrastructure and practices. A proactive retainer is proven to be a cybersecurity essential within today’s current environment.

Acting as if your organization is immune to a security breach, or will handle those issues when “you cross that bridge,” is both precarious and costly. The digital landscape is constantly evolving with ever-mutating tactical threats, resulting in an environment that is difficult to predict. Due to this, organizations need to hold a proactive approach to cybersecurity, compared to a reactive mindset.

Every 39 seconds there is a cybersecurity attack. The risk of a cyberattack is all but guaranteed for any business operating in today’s global economy.

Therefore, the investment in a proactive cyber incident response retainer is one of the best overarching business decisions a company can make. 

With roughly 95 percent of all security breaches being the result of human error, organizations need to account for this by working to take preventative measures in an effort to best reduce harmful exposure.

A proactive incident response retainer is not only a cybersecurity essential but a necessary lifeline for any business. Just one successful breach can result in a variety of issues that can derail daily operations, lead to significant financial losses, leave sensitive data unprotected, destroy company reputation, and more.

The Problems With a Reactive Retainer Approach

Due to the complexity and frequency of modern cyberattacks, a reactive retainer makes little sense given the goals and objectives of most organizations. In addition, nearly any company is handling a variety of highly sensitive data sets along with demanding customer expectations. By employing a reactive approach, businesses are taking a passive stance on a problem that requires ongoing monitoring.

Problems specific to a reactive retainer include:

• Potentially longer times to detect breaches
• Greater chance of operational disruption
• Slow adaption to evolving cyberattack trends

Organizations that take a reactive approach also commonly run into the issue of scrambling to find a cybersecurity provider once a breach is detected. This can result in delayed action, further network damage, and increased financial losses. When a business finally finds a partner to tackle their cybersecurity concerns, they are paying a premium price for these unplanned incident response measures.

A Cybersecurity Essential: A Proactive Retainer

In order to maximize productivity, potential, and security, a proactive retainer is a cybersecurity essential for any modern business. It can be thought of as “breach insurance,” working to keep you protected around the clock as new cyber threats may hit your digital environment.

With a proactive retainer, an organization is enlisting the continued monitoring, support, and response action of a dedicated team of experts. With this approach, the hired cybersecurity team gets to know an organization on a personal level, helping identify existing or potential new exposure threats, educating business personnel, and more.

A proactive retainer is a cybersecurity essential because it cuts out the hassle and worry attached to a reactive retainer. Through this approach, an organization can count on:

• Having 24/7 network monitoring
• Security awareness training
• Penetration testing
• Threat hunting solution management

With a proactive cybersecurity retainer, businesses properly match the risk associated with today’s digital environment. By offsetting the dangers posed by cybercriminals, organizations are able to operate with greater confidence, increased scalability, and enhanced functionality. In a time when market competition is intensifying by the day, investing in a proactive IR retainer is a cybersecurity essential that should be budgeted for with zero hesitation.