Playbook for Incident Response to Threats Against Ransomware Attack

Action Steps for Threats against Cyber Attack

Description of Crisis

A cybersecurity event is a cybersecurity change that may have an impact on organizational operations (including mission, capabilities, or reputation)

Scenario: A ransomware attack, locking business-critical data and disrupting services essential to PSP’s operations

Action Steps

Pre-Crisis

Before the crisis hits, the organization ("ABC Company") should make sure to:

Explain to the crisis management members the threat (ransomware, phishing, etc) and how it works.
Establish a cybersecurity event response guideline.
Maintain up-to-date critical contact information (service providers, additional resources, third parties intervening during a cybersecurity crisis, etc).
Identify alternative methods of communication in case virtual meetings are not possible and business units if emails are unavailable (conference bridge, physical command centre, etc.).

During-Crisis

The crisis management team should consider the following while managing the crisis:

Rely on the cyber event response team to obtain updates on the situation (technical response);
Gather information on the cyber security incident;
Follow cyber response guidance described in the Cyber Event Response handbook;
Assess the impact on operations (current and imminent):
- Identify which critical systems and data are affected;
- Identify what critical operations are or will be interrupted;
- Communicate with affected business units
- Determine if BCPs and manual workaround should be activated
Assess the impact on employees (if HR data is impacted);
- Identify what types of HR data have been affected
- Identify which employees have been affected
- Provide support and, if needed, offer credit bureau services to affected employees
- Communicate with affected employees and explain to "ABC Company" action plan.
Assess the impact on suppliers and partners (If suppliers and partners are affected)
- Identify what types of data have been affected
- Identify which suppliers/partners have been affected
- Communicate with affected suppliers/partners and explain the "ABC Company" action plan.
Assess legal and regulatory impacts;
Identify objectives for success (e.g., recovering operations, data, etc.)
Communicate with relevant authorities
If needed, communicate with a third party to help manage the situation
If applicable, liaise with a cyber insurance supplier;

Post-Crisis

Once the objectives for success have been met and the crisis has been resolved:

Identify gaps and action plans to improve IT security and awareness
In a post-event report, identify what went well and what went wrong in the crisis management response and establish action plans.
Communicate the post-event report to relevant stakeholders.

More Information About Crisis Management Courses

To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the CM-300 Crisis Management Implementer [CM-3] and the CM-5000 Crisis Management Expert Implementer [CM-5].