1. Establish a data breach response team
A data breach response team is responsible for investigating and mitigating a data breach. The team should include representatives from IT, legal, marketing, and customer service, as well as other relevant departments.
2. Notify appropriate personnel and agencies
The company should notify the appropriate personnel and agencies as soon as a data breach is discovered. This includes the company’s IT department, legal department, marketing department, and customer service department, as well as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Secret Service.
3. Collect and preserve evidence
The data breach response team should collect and preserve all evidence related to the data breach. This includes computer logs, email records, employee records, and customer information.
4. Identify the cause of the breach
The data breach response team should identify the cause of the breach and take steps to prevent it from happening again.
5. Containment and eradication of the breach
The data breach response team should take steps to contain and eradicate the breach. This may include shutting down systems, removing malware, and resetting passwords.
6. Mitigation of damage caused by the breach
The data breach response team should take steps to mitigate the damage caused by the breach. This may include providing credit monitoring services to affected customers, issuing new passwords, and notifying affected customers.
7. Post-mortem analysis
After the data breach has been contained and eradicated, the data breach response team should conduct a post-mortem analysis to determine what went wrong and how it can be fixed. This analysis should be shared with the appropriate personnel and agencies.