Technology Advisor Blog

What to do after a cyber attack requires fast, strategic action to protect your business and stop further damage. A well-planned response can mean the difference between a brief disruption and a complete business shutdown that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Your response in the first 24 hours shapes your recovery path and impacts your ability to resume operations. This guide outlines the proven recovery methods that have helped businesses survive attacks and rebuild stronger, plus practical steps to prevent future incidents from harming your operations. You'll learn exactly which actions to take, who to call, and how to minimize both financial losses and operational downtime.

Small Business Cybersecurity Mistakes That Lead to Breaches

You might think that as a small business, you're not a target for cyber attacks. But the truth is, any company can fall victim to a cyber attack. Most attacks these days are non-discriminate, with millions of emails sent out and someone inevitably clicking on them. Cyber criminals often don't even know who's clicking on their malicious links. Small businesses become low-hanging fruit for cyber criminals because they often lack the necessary defenses. This is largely due to the mistaken belief that it won't happen to them.

The Challenges of Cybersecurity for Small Businesses

Small businesses are busy, have limited staff, and face stress and downtime. Cybersecurity can feel like just one more expense in the budget. But after working with many local businesses and being called in after serious events, I can tell you that cybersecurity spending becomes non-negotiable. The top priority becomes preventing it from happening again.

"If I could go back in time, I would have spent a fraction of what the recovery cost us."

 Prevention is affordable. Recovery is painful.

The Importance of an Incident Response Plan

One of the mistakes small businesses make is not having an incident response plan in place. What to do after a cyber attack is something worth thinking about before you have one. It will be one of the worst experiences you ever go through, with immense stress and financial impact. Take a few moments to create an incident response plan ahead of time.

Password Management and Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Another mistake small businesses make is not having any password management in place at all. Creating strong passwords is left up to employees, who may or may not use strong passwords or multi-factor authentication. They could be reusing passwords everywhere. Training gaps and creating a culture of cybersecurity awareness are crucial.

Here's an example: we recently got called into an incident where an employee clicked on something in an email, knowing they shouldn't have. However, nothing happened right away, so they thought everything was okay. With cybersecurity awareness training, they would know that there's often no immediate evidence of a cyber incident. There's typically a lag time. They would also have known that they should speak up, even if they initially thought the incident looked insignificant.

Preventing Cyber Attacks Before They Happen

Obviously, preventing cyber attacks before they happen is ideal. In cybersecurity, there's the concept of "left of boom" and "right of boom." The "boom" is a cyber event. "Left of boom" includes measures like:

• Cybersecurity awareness training
• Creating an incident response plan with a list of phone numbers for everyone in your group
• Having a strong password policy
• Implementing a strong security update policy

Consider this case: we recently got called into an event at a firm of about 30 people in the greater Boston area. When asked what they had in place before the incident, they said they assumed they were getting security updates and had antivirus. Assuming you have security updates is a mistake. You should be checking that on a monthly basis. Additionally, antivirus alone isn't nearly enough in this day and age.  "Right of Boom" was very expensive in this case.

The Importance of a Comprehensive Cybersecurity Approach

Small businesses often push back on cybersecurity spending, saying they can't afford various measures. However, a comprehensive approach to security is what will help keep you safe. Relying on just one point of protection is akin to having a great lock on your front door but no locks on any of the windows.

"Now, we train our staff, monitor our systems, and sleep a lot better at night."

Peace of mind is the real ROI.

The Consequences of a Cyber Event

In a cyber event, people often realize their backups weren't as bulletproof as they thought. Not all backups are created equal.

Here's another example: in the case of the 30-person company we were called into after a ransomware attack, they figured they could recover all their files with their backup. However, they discovered that their backup had been completely wiped away by the bad actors. Cyber criminals have figured out this cat-and-mouse game.

The post-incident "right of boom" involves incident response and insurance. Some businesses sadly wind up going out of business after an event. Sometimes people find out their cyber insurance policy doesn't have as much coverage as they thought or that even with insurance offsetting some of the financial risk, they still have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

There are many smart things you can do to prevent cyber attacks before they happen. Don't make the mistake of thinking it won't happen to your small business. Invest in a comprehensive cybersecurity approach to protect your company.

What to Do After a Cyber Attack: A Recovery Roadmap

When your small business experiences a cyber attack, having a plan in place is essential. One key recommendation is to have cyber insurance, not just as a line item on your main business owner's policy, but as a separate, comprehensive cybersecurity plan.

Understanding Cyber Insurance Coverage

These plans often have sublimits, so even if you think you have a million-dollar policy, it may only provide $50,000 of coverage for a specific event like a business email compromise. In the event of a cyber incident, which is a crime, the insurance company will conduct forensics. Firms like Ekaru, which act as a full managed IT department for many businesses, often work as "boots on the ground" to assist.

Activating Your Incident Response Plan

It's crucial to activate your incident response plan immediately. Many small businesses mistakenly believe they are not a target because they don't take credit cards or have backups, but the reality is that no one thinks they will be a victim until it happens.

Your incident response plan should include:

• Protocols for communication when all your computer systems are down
• Personal cell phone numbers listed somewhere accessible
• A clear communication plan to keep your team informed and prevent chaos
• Designating a point person and establishing who is authorized to talk to outside parties
• A plan for contacting your insurance company

Be careful not to overwrite data right away, as it will be needed for forensics. Systems will typically be isolated offline and brought back one by one as they are cleaned and deemed safe.

Common Small Business Cybersecurity Mistakes

One of the biggest small business cybersecurity mistakes is thinking that you won't be a victim of an attack. In reality, it's a 50-50 chance. Another mistake is not fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness among your team.

Consider this scenario: if an employee clicks on a malicious link, they may be afraid to report it or not understand the potential consequences, even if nothing appears to happen immediately.

The Importance of Investing in Prevention

In every case where a business has been brought in for help after an attack, they immediately want to implement the cybersecurity safeguards that were previously recommended. Until a business directly experiences a cyber incident, they may view these safeguards as an unnecessary expense.

However, the conversation changes completely after experiencing the pain, downtime, financial loss, and stress of an attack. While there's no way to completely eliminate cyber risk, the money spent on preventing attacks before they happen is a relatively low-cost item compared to the potential hundreds of thousands of dollars it can cost to recover from an incident.

The number one lesson businesses learn after an event is that investing in prevention is well worth it. Don't wait until it's too late to protect your business from cyber threats.

Professional Support Networks for Cyber Incident Response

What should you do after a cyber attack? First, understand your insurance coverage benefits. Typically with cyber insurance, there will be a breach response team. They will often call in a company like Ekaru for the boots on the ground to help you, but they would work in coordination with your insurance requirements to ensure that everything is followed according to protocol.

Isolate and Stop Further Damage

At that point, you want to isolate and stop further damage, so typically the entire network will be shut down. That can cause business interruption, and you may be looking at one to two weeks or more of complete business shutdown. You have to think about your employees and all the fixed expenses that you have in your network.

Understand Regulatory Compliance Requirements

There are many regulatory compliance requirements to consider:

• If you are in healthcare, you are subject to HIPAA
• The defense industrial base is regulated by CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model)
• Non-banking financial institutions are subject to FTC safeguards

It is important to study these requirements carefully well before you have an event. For instance, there are different requirements for reporting if systems are encrypted or not. If somebody loses a laptop with sensitive or protected information on it, your reporting requirements will be different if that laptop is fully encrypted. Understanding this ahead of time can help you manage your liability.

Forensics Investigation and Incident Response Planning

Typically, the experts will bring in a forensics investigation team. The first question people want to know is how did this happen. If you don't have the proper protections in place ahead of time, such as video recording of events, you may be completely flying blind and the incident response is going to be a lot more expensive.

We encourage folks to have everything organized ahead of time in an incident response plan:

• Understand the regulatory compliance requirements
• Know who your insurance company is, how to contact them, and what protocol to follow
• For some larger companies, part of that plan will include public relations and what you are going to say to your clients so they don't completely lose faith in you

Data recovery specialists may come in, and then often we are called in to help get the entire network set up and running again.

The Consequences of Not Being Prepared

We heard about a situation where an entire system was shut down because one piece of equipment on the network was breached. They used that to launch an attack on the entire network. The damage and downtime were so severe in this case that the owner had to shut down the entire business. It was not recoverable at that point. That's a really painful thing for people to realize.

There are so many things you could have done ahead of time to prevent such devastating consequences. Don't wait for a breach to get serious about cybersecurity. Talk about smart and affordable protections that actually make sense for your business and put them in place.

Avoiding Small Business Cybersecurity Mistakes

Avoid common small business cybersecurity mistakes by working on preventing cyber attacks before they happen. If you could go back in time, you would likely spend a fraction of what the recovery cost was to you. A lot of times business owners may not even be aware that there were many smart and affordable things they could do. That investment is tiny compared to what an incident response would cost. By taking proactive steps, you'll be in a much better position to protect your business from cyber threats.

Preventing Future Cyber Attacks Through Cultural Change

Establishing a security-minded culture can transform your organization's resilience. Take a moment to consider the culture in your company.

Responding to Potential Security Incidents

What happens if an employee clicks on a link they know they shouldn't? They might be too afraid to say anything because they think they'll be immediately punished. Or, if their laptop doesn't start smoking, they may assume nothing bad happened and decide not to report it.

Many businesses call us ready to do everything right after an incident, which is a very painful and expensive way to learn a lesson. They realize that just a few simple things could have prevented everything, and they don't need a giant six-figure budget to implement them from the start. The key takeaway here is don't wait for a breach to happen.

Investigating the Cause of a Cyber Attack

After a cyber attack, one of the first things people want to know is how it happened. In one particularly memorable case, a single employee clicked on a link and didn't think anything was wrong at the time. That single click led to a multi-week shutdown for the entire company, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and almost causing the business to fail.

How you handle that knowledge is crucial:

• Did you provide security awareness training?
• Did you have a culture of security awareness?
• How would that person have known they were doing something they shouldn't have?

This is where incident response planning comes into play.

The Cost of Not Taking Cybersecurity Seriously

One of the biggest small business cybersecurity mistakes we see is not taking cybersecurity seriously when it's relatively inexpensive before an event happens, compared to the high costs later. Here's an example: We recommend that all our clients at Ekaru implement security monitoring for Microsoft 365 email. If someone tries to log into your account from an unusual location, it will shut it down.

This feature, known as impossible travel, prevents someone from logging in from two different parts of the world simultaneously. Some coordination is required, such as notating with your team where you'll be traveling, so your logins are viewed as safe.

However, when we talk to small businesses, they often balk at the $3 per month cost. Trust me, any business that has experienced a cyber incident or knows someone who has would say that cost is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars and stress involved in a cybersecurity incident, not to mention the existential threat of wondering if your business will survive.

Preventing Cyber Attacks Before They Happen

The key is preventing cyber attacks before they happen. Simulated phishing exercises are a great way to train employees in a fun, non-punitive way. Remember, cybersecurity should never be about catching people doing the wrong thing but rather about working together to protect the company and its clients.

Another crucial step is to regularly review your monthly security updates. You'd be surprised how many local businesses assume they are getting security updates without ever asking for reports or having serious conversations about what protections they have and don't have. Make informed decisions about what you're going to do to prevent cyber attacks before they happen.

The Mindset Shift After a Cyber Incident

The mindset of a business after a cyber incident is completely different from before. You need to look at cybersecurity from a strategic point of view and conduct a business impact analysis to determine the potential costs of a shutdown.

Consider the following:

• What would happen to your clients if your business was completely shut down for two weeks?
• How would you meet payroll?
• What if your cyber insurance coverage has sub limits for different scenarios, such as a business email compromise?

You may not be able to go to the bank for more money in these situations - now is NOT the time to ask for a loan.

After an incident, many businesses sadly realize there were just a few simple things they could have done to prevent what happened.
Let me share another example. In one situation, an employee clicked on a link and had their credentials harvested, but when the attackers tried to access the system, our threat hunting triggers immediately kicked in and isolated the system from the network, preventing a major disaster. For just a few dollars a month, that business was able to avoid a catastrophe.

Taking Proactive Measures

One of the biggest small business cybersecurity mistakes is not understanding that there are many simple and affordable steps you can take to prevent cyber attacks before they happen. Ask questions, learn about your options, complete a business impact analysis, and have an incident response plan in place. These proactive measures can make all the difference in protecting your business from the devastating consequences of a cyber attack.

Strengthen Your Business with Expert IT and Security Support

Your business faces real cyber threats, and we stand ready to help you build strong defenses that work. Our team brings proven experience helping small businesses prevent, respond to, and recover from cyber attacks.

We'll analyze your security setup, spot weaknesses, and create practical solutions that match your budget and operations.

 

You don't have to wait for a breach to get serious about cybersecurity.  Let's talk about smart, affordable protections that actually make sense for your business - before you wish you had! 

Schedule a free consultation today to learn how we can strengthen your security and protect what you've built.   One phone call could save your company from becoming another cyber attack statistic.