Incident response plan for small business:
What you need to know

An incident response plan is a structured guide that helps your team detect, contain and recover from cybersecurity threats like ransomware, phishing or data exfiltration.

Think of it like a fire drill: everyone knows who to contact and what to do. For small businesses, it’s a critical tool to minimise downtime, protect sensitive data and avoid panic during a crisis.

Yes, constantly. Cybercriminals see SMEs as easier targets due to smaller budgets, limited security tools or the false belief that “we’re too small to be interesting.”

💡 Tip: “Small fish in a big pond” thinking is dangerous. Hackers actively look for low-hanging fruit. That’s businesses with poor protection.

A small business IR plan should include:

• How to detect a threat: Set up alerting from antivirus, email and login systems
• How to contain damage: Define who can isolate devices or shut off network access
• How to eliminate the threat: Patch, clean or rebuild affected systems
• How to recover safely: Prioritise key systems (e.g. payroll, email) and validate restoration
• Who to communicate with: Have internal, legal and external contact lists prepared
• How to learn from it: Run a post-incident review to refine the plan

🧩 Use one page per step to keep the plan actionable.

Look for these signs:

• Unusual login attempts (especially after-hours)
• Users getting locked out
• Missing files or slow system performance
• Alerts from customers or vendors
• Antivirus or email filter flags

Quick Win: Ensure your email, firewall and antivirus tools have alerting turned on and logs enabled.

Maintain a contact list with:

• Your internal IT lead
• Any cybersecurity partners (service providers, consultants, CloudGuard)
• Legal or compliance contacts (e.g. DPO, data protection officer)
• Senior stakeholders: CEO, finance, communications

🕒 Pro Tip: Include after-hours mobile numbers. Incidents don’t follow office hours.

1. Stay calm. Rushed decisions can make things worse.
2. Contain the threat. Disconnect affected devices or disable compromised accounts.
3. Notify key contacts. Use your IR plan chain of escalation.
4. Preserve logs and evidence. Don’t wipe or reformat—logs are vital for forensics.

📍 Example: If an email account is hacked, disable access in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, then alert your Managed Services Provider (MSP). That’s assuming they haven’t already flagged it first. If they haven’t, it may be time to ask what they’re actually monitoring.

Delays of even 30 minutes can worsen the impact. Your plan should include:

• After-hours escalation contacts
• What to do if your IT lead is unavailable
• Pre-approved actions (e.g. “IT may isolate devices without prior approval”)

⏰ Preparedness doesn’t clock out at 5pm.

No. You can start with:

• A simple shared Google Doc (or similar) for your plan
• Built-in alerts from Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
• A basic escalation flow with mobile numbers and roles

Remember: It’s not about complexity. It’s about clarity.

You’re not alone but the key is to act fast:

• Contain the damage immediately
• Contact an expert (SOC, MSP, cybersecurity partner)
• Document what’s happening – who saw what, when
• After recovery, use this as your opportunity to build your first IR plan

📌 “No plan” doesn’t mean “no chance” but you’ll need to move quickly and get help.

Run a tabletop exercise:

• Gather 3–5 team members
• Pose a scenario: “Our file server has been encrypted. What do we do?”
• Walk through roles, decisions,and communication
• Write down confusion points and update your plan

🎯 Aim to run this at least twice per year. Or our IR Experts can run them for you.

Yes. Automation tools can help you:

• Automatically disable compromised accounts
• Isolate endpoints from the network
• Collect and store logs for analysis
• Send alerts to decision-makers

But IR still requires people. Automation supports humans. It doesn’t replace them. That was our thinking behind Ansel, our AI security analyst.

• IR (Incident Response): Stop the attack as it happens
• BCP (Business Continuity Plan): Keep operating even under disruption
• DR (Disaster Recovery): Bring systems back to full health afterward

🧠 All three are part of a full resilience strategy but an incident response plan is your frontline defence.

It depends on your sector and location:

• GDPR (EU/UK): Breaches must be reported within 72 hours
• DORA (Finance): Requires formal IR capabilities and reporting
• Healthcare/Utilities: May face stricter industry-specific regulations

🧾 Talk to your legal advisor to confirm your specific obligations.

• Having no plan or using one with outdated contacts
• Thinking they’re “too small” to be a target
• Failing to act quickly or escalate incidents
• Skipping post-incident reviews
• Poor internal and external communication

🛑 Avoid panic, silence and overconfidence. Preparation pays off.

You can:

• Use this FAQ guide as your starting point
• Ask your IT provider, MSP or CloudGuard for tabletop testing support
• Book a free chat with our cybersecurity experts

🧩 You don’t have to go it alone. Partnership accelerates readiness.