Why Every Business in North America Needs a Solid Incident Response Plan—Before It’s Too Late
- hello373474
- Sep 23
- 5 min read
In the realm of cybersecurity, it’s no longer enough to assume “we’ll deal with it if something happens.” Attackers are faster, regulations are tighter, and customers are less forgiving. What separates companies that survive breaches—sometimes even stronger—from those that suffer lasting damage? A proactive, well-tested Incident Response Plan (IRP).
Below, we dive deeper into what makes an effective IRP, backed by recent data and real-world examples. By the end, you’ll see why building your plan now isn't just smart — it's essential.
What Is an Incident Response Plan (IRP)?
An Incident Response Plan is a documented, rehearsed strategy that sets out:
who does what (roles & responsibilities) when a breach happens
how the breach is detected, contained, investigated, and remediated
why certain decisions are made (e.g. communication, escalation, forensics)
how to restore affected systems and learn lessons afterwards
Ideally, the IRP is updated regularly, tested (e.g. tabletop exercises, simulated attacks), aligned with regulatory / compliance obligations, and scaled to your business size & risk profile.
Why Most Organizations Don’t Have a Good One — And Why That’s Dangerous
Some key stats:
Only ~55% of companies have a fully documented IRP. Nearly half are flying blind in a crisis.
Among those that have one, many don’t update it or never test it. That means when a breach happens, the plan can be outdated, missing key systems, or people who no longer hold the roles designated.
Companies with an IR team plus a tested plan save substantially in breach cost vs. those without: one study found ~$2.66 million lower costs per breach for those with plans & teams vs. those without.
Real-World Examples: With and Without
Here are a few notable North American case studies that illustrate the difference.
Without a Strong IRP
1. Equifax (2017)
Breach exposed personal data of ~147 million people (names, social security numbers, etc.).
Attack vector included an unpatched web portal and password / certificate failures; the breach went undetected for a long time.
Consequences: enormous cleanup costs, penalties, regulatory scrutiny, huge reputational damage. The total cost has been estimated at over $1.35 billion.
2. Target (2013)
Attackers exploited vulnerabilities in network segmentation / third-party access (HVAC vendor) to enter the card-processing network.
Resulted in exposure of 40+ million payment cards and 70+ million customer records.
Costs included settlements, legal, reputational harm — both direct (investigation, remediation) and indirect (lost trust, customer attrition).
These companies didn’t fully fail to recognize security, but their incident response readiness had gaps: delays detecting, unclear roles, insufficient testing & preparation. The delayed, reactive posture magnified damage.
With a Strong(er) IRP
While public examples of companies that saved themselves entirely via flawless incident response are rarer (because many don’t publicize), there are cases where companies mitigated damage largely thanks to readiness.
Company / Organization | Date | What Happened | IRP / Response | Outcome | Key Lesson |
Stellantis (Automotive, USA/Canada) | Sep 2025 | Breach via third-party provider exposed customer contact details. | ✅ IRP activated immediately, customers notified. | Contained quickly, limited data exposed. | Vendor risks must be included in your IRP. |
New York Blood Center Enterprises (Healthcare, USA) | Jan 2025 | Ransomware hit donor systems, exposing 194,000 people’s data. | ✅ IRP executed: systems offline, experts + FBI brought in. | Major disruption, sensitive data exposed. | Rapid response reduces damage, but downtime is costly. |
Allianz Life Insurance (Financial, USA) | Jul 2025 | Vendor CRM breach via social engineering exposed 1.1M+ records. | ✅ Detected in 1 day, FBI notified, credit monitoring offered. | Millions of customers impacted, legal/regulatory risk. | Even vendors must follow your security playbooks. |
What Makes a “Good” IRP — Key Components
Based on research and lessons from real incidents, here’s what separates more resilient companies from the rest:
Component | Why It Matters |
Preparation & Training | Roles identified, staff know what to do — no scrambling to figure out who does what. |
Detection & Monitoring | Fast detection means less time for attackers to move laterally or exfiltrate data. |
Containment Strategy | Ability to isolate affected systems / cut off lateral spread quickly. |
Communication Protocols | Internal stakeholders, customers / clients, regulators all need timely, transparent communication. |
Forensics & Investigation | Understanding root cause to prevent recurrence; also important in legal / compliance response. |
Recovery & Testing | Restore operations securely; verify systems are clean before bringing back; test backup & restore procedures. |
Post-Incident Review & Update | Learn lessons; update plan; ensure full documentation; regularly test / rehearse. |
Also, external dependencies (vendors, third-party service providers) must be included in your IRP (e.g. what happens if a vendor is compromised). Many recent breaches happen via third parties. Preparedness includes vendor management.
What It Costs to Not Have One
Some hard numbers to bring the risk into focus:
Average time to detect + contain a breach globally: ~287 days (212 to detect; 75 to contain) in one IBM report.
Companies without tested IR plans / IR teams can pay nearly double per breach versus those who do: e.g. IBM studies show organizations with IR teams + tested plans have breach costs far lower than those without.
Additional delays: Organizations lacking preparedness take ~9 more days on average to detect, stop, and recover from breaches. That’s 9 extra days of exposure/downtime, which often translates to significant financial losses.
Putting It Into Practice: How to Build / Improve Your IRP
If you decide now is the time (yes, it is), here are steps you should take:
Define governance and roles
Who is accountable (C-level sponsor)
Who leads response (Incident Commander)
Who needs to be informed (legal, HR, operations, communication)
Inventory your assets, risks & scenarios
What data is critical? What systems are most at risk?
What attack vectors have you already seen / could see?
Build detection & monitoring capabilities
Logging + alerting + SIEM / EDR tools
Regular threat hunting and monitoring
Create containment, eradication & recovery procedures
What is acceptable downtime for each system?
Backup / restore plans; alternate workflows if systems are down
Communications plan
Pre-written templates for communications to internal teams, customers, regulators
Who approves messaging
Practice / test
Tabletop exercises
Simulated incidents (ideally “red-team / blue-team” style)
Review & update
After tests, after any near misses, after changes in IT / business environment
Consequences of Ignoring IRP — Not Just Monetary
Regulatory fines / legal liability (especially for personally identifiable information, health data, etc.)
Reputation damage (customers losing trust, churn, market value drops)
Loss of business / contracts (partners often demand proof of security readiness)
Operational disruption (downtime, productivity loss)
Increased cyber insurance premiums or being uninsurable
Final Word + How We Can Help
Cyber threats are inevitable. What differentiates companies that limp along after a breach versus those that bounce back strong is response readiness. Having an Incident Response Plan isn’t insurance — it’s preparedness.
🔧 Coming Soon: Our Basic Incident Response Plan Template
To make the path easier, we at Hawki IT are putting the finishing touches on a basic Incident Response Plan template — designed to help small-to-mid-sized organizations map out their IRP without starting from scratch.
To get early access when it's published, drop us a message. We’ll send the template, walk you through adapting it to your business, and help ensure your IRP isn’t just written — it’s ready.
Because the best time to prepare was yesterday. The second best is right now.
