You're missing this from your Incident Response (IR) Plan: A Zero Dollar Retainer from an IR Firm
Joseph S. Erle, MBA, CIC, CRM, TRA
Cyber Insurance | Getting Businesses Secured and Insured
Why do Businesses need a $0 Dollar Retainer with an Incident Response (IR) firm?
Picture this: Sarah, a CEO, is sipping her morning coffee when her phone buzzes. It's her IT director with bad news: "We're under attack. Ransomware. Systems locked. What do we do?"
Sarah's heart races. She's heard about cyberattacks but never thought it would happen to her company. Now she's in panic mode, with no plan and no experts to call.
According to IBM, In 2023 the average cost of a data breach was $4.45 million. [1]
But what if there was a way to be ready without spending a lot of money? .
That's where a $0 Dollar Retainer comes in.
What's a $0 Dollar Retainer?
Think of a $0 Dollar Retainer as your company's cyber safety net. It's a deal with a cyber emergency team that lets you call them for help without paying upfront. It's like having cyber firefighters ready to help at any time, 24x7x365.
Why Time Matters
In cyber emergencies, every minute counts. Here's why a $0 Dollar Retainer is so important:
Quick Action: When you're under attack, you can skip the paperwork and start fixing the problem right away.
Statista says it usually takes companies three days to start recovering from an attack. [6]
With a retainer, you can act much faster.
They Know Your System: The cyber team already knows how your company works, so they can jump in and help quickly.
According to the Palo Alto Networks blog post, having an incident response retainer in place allows organizations to prepare for cyberthreats and respond rapidly should a threat actor infiltrate secure data or systems...[7]
4 More reasons for a $0 Dollar Retainer
1. Peace of Mind: You can get expert help without worrying about the cost right away.
2. Extra Help: Some cyber teams offer extra services, like checking your system for problems before an attack happens.
3. Insurance Happy: Some cyber insurance companies want you to have this kind of agreement. It saves everyone money in the long run.
4. Better Planning: These experts can help you make plans for cyber emergencies before they happen.
5. . Improved Legal Outcome:?Breaches open you up to all sorts of legal consequences including class actions and regulatory fines.
According to Baker Hostetler, a leading cyber security law firm, “We are often asked about incident response retainers with a primary forensic firm. When responding to an incident, conducting a forensic investigation is often the first item on the critical path (because facts drive decision making and legal advice). Having a forensic firm on retainer allows you to more quickly engage them, which in turn allows the forensic firm to more quickly obtain and interpret facts that allow counsel to develop a legal strategy and give legal advice.” [9]
One Thing to Watch Out For:
Even though $0 Dollar Retainers are great, remember that the cyber/incident response team might be busy helping other companies too. So, you might not always be first in line for help.
Engaging that firm in other services or putting some money down for a retainer may get you to the front of the line during a widespread cyber crisis.
TLDR - This is A Smart Move for Your Business because it helps you:
The Ponemon Institute found that only 35 out of 100 companies have this kind of agreement with cyber experts. [8]
Now picture the same scenario above where Sarah finds that her system has been compromised, but in this scenario she's already contracted with an IR firm. With the IR plan and IR team in place, she just has one call to make to begin taking back control of the company's systems.
Take Action Today
Get a $0 Dollar Retainer now. It's a small step that can make a big difference when you need help fast.
C3 has partnered with experienced cyber security and incident response firms.? They have zero dollar retainers in place with hundreds of organizations already.? They are happy to work with you on a zero dollar retainer.? What are you waiting for??
Contact us today to get the process going.
Comment below on what you do to get your company or other companies ready for a breach.
If you made it this far, you've become a cyber insurance master, so congratulations. Be sure to subscribe to get more exciting cybersecurity and cyber insurance content. :)
Hungry for more cybersecurity content? Check out the 14 steps to protect your business' data.
You can also reach out to me directly via message here on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected] if you have questions about cyber insurance or cybersecurity.
#cyberinsurance #cyber #cybersecurity #incidentresponse #ransomware #databreach #cloudsecurity
Works Cited:
Senior Security & Compliance Manager | Information Security & GRC | CISSP, CISA, PMP, CIPP/US, GIAC x 4
2 个月Joseph S. Erle, MBA, CIC, CRM, TRA have you seen zero dollar retainers stipulate an SLA for specific time to response? As you mentioned, with a zero dollar retainer, a customer might not be the first in line as the IR company may prioritize those customers that they have working relationships with or have a commited retainer amount(more than zero)
Producer at Trucking Proud Insurance Agency Powered by C3 Risk & Insurance Services License #OL48969
2 个月I would call you