According to an Accenture Cybercrime Study, only 14% of small businesses have a cybersecurity or incident response plan in place, meaning the other 86% risk a messy, expensive scramble if something goes wrong.
The reality is that most breaches aren’t discovered right away, and when they finally surface, there’s usually panic: Who handles it? Who needs to be told? What systems should be checked first? Without a plan, precious hours get wasted just figuring out where to start.
The good news? An incident response plan doesn’t need to be complicated. Even a simple one-page document can make a huge difference. For example, yours could include:
- Who calls IT first (or which provider you reach out to)
- Who communicates with staff or clients so the message is clear and consistent
- Where the backups live and how to restore them if needed
Having even this much written down can save you hours of stress and keep your team calm if the unexpected happens. And once you’ve got the basics, you can refine it over time instead of scrambling during a crisis.