Cybersecurity Crisis Management: How Technology Leaders Can Support CEOs During a Cyberattack
Digital infrastructure forms the backbone of almost every organisation, and when a significant cyber incident occurs, it can cripple operations. The consequences are substantial, affecting financial stability, operational capabilities, and the organisation's reputation. With 94,000 attacks reported in Australia in 2023, companies must plan for both business success and cybersecurity failures.
While CEOs may grasp the theoretical implications of a cyberattack, the real-time pressure of decision-making during an incident often reveals gaps in board support and technical knowledge. This is where technology leaders, including CISOs, CTOs, and other key roles, become indispensable, bridging the gap between strategy and execution.
Building a Resilient Team: The Role of Technology Leaders
Cybersecurity doesn’t have to be scary. By surrounding the CEO with the right team and preparing the organisation with a rigorous cyber resilience plan, technology leaders become the linchpin, holding together the organisation’s defences and ensuring the wheel keeps moving even when an attack strikes. Long-term partnerships in cybersecurity are essential for creating a resilient defence. Establishing these relationships ensures that a team of trusted experts is available to guide and support the organisation during critical moments. With technology leaders at the helm, ongoing remediation efforts become effective and prompt, enabling a swift return to normal operations.
Board-Level Support: A Team Game
Cybersecurity is a team effort that requires active participation from the board. Technology leaders play a key role in translating complex technical risks into business language that resonates with board members. By engaging the board in regular briefings and aligning cybersecurity with business objectives, technology leaders can support CEOs in fostering a culture of shared responsibility, where every level of the organisation is prepared to defend against cyber threats.
Breaking Down the Timeline of a Cyberattack: Key Stages Explained
Stage 1: Reconnaissance
What Happens: Attackers gather information about the target organisation, including vulnerabilities in infrastructure, employees, and security systems.
Technology Leaders’ Role: Championing Cybersecurity Culture
Enhance Security Governance: Technology leaders should work with the CEO to review and strengthen governance structures, ensuring alignment with the latest cybersecurity standards and regulations. It is crucial to secure buy-in from the board to prioritise cybersecurity at the highest levels.
Update the Incident Response Plan (IRP): Regularly revise the IRP to reflect new threats and conduct simulations to test the team’s readiness.
Prepare the Team: Provide ongoing training and development to ensure staff are ready to respond effectively.
Given that the average cost of a data breach in Australia hit AUD 4.03 million in 2023, investing in preparedness is not just important; it is essential to safeguarding your organisation’s future.
How NSB Cyber Supports Your Security
NSB Cyber provides CEOs and technology leaders with clear, actionable guidance to help their organisations identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities. With services like cyber briefings, cyber threat profiling, and immersive cyber simulations, NSB Cyber ensures your organisation is always prepared by building visibility, capability, and accountability.
A clearly articulated and actionable cyber strategy is the key to building meaningful cyber resilience. Your strategy should be tracked for progress, measured for success, and reported to the Board, leadership, and operational teams.
At NSB Cyber, we help our clients establish a cyber strategy for the first time or refresh an existing one by combining our extensive cyber experience with an independent, fresh set of eyes.
Stage 2: Weaponisation
What Happens: The attacker creates an exploit, such as malware or a virus, and packages it into a weapon, like a phishing email or malicious code, ready to deliver to the target.
Technology Leaders’ Role: Ensuring Preparedness
Augment the IT Team: Provide support to enhance your IT team by integrating cybersecurity expertise and resources. This includes equipping them with tools and strategies to identify and counter threats before they impact critical systems and offering continuous monitoring and real-time threat intelligence.
Promote Communication: Maintain open lines of communication with the CEO and the board, ensuring they are kept informed of potential threats and the measures being implemented to mitigate risks.
Maintain Defences: Assist CEOs and Executive teams to establish and maintain defences to would-be cyber attackers and be prepared to raise the alarm early and help take confident, defensive action.
NSB Cyber’s Expertise
We focus on foundational security practices, such as vulnerability management, periodic cyber risk reviews, and assessments, to reduce the attack surface and prioritise critical risks. We can assist you in quantifying and managing cyber risk by evaluating the organisation’s overall cyber resilience and conducting targeted reviews on crucial parts of the business or critical processes.
Additionally, NSB Cyber assists in establishing and maintaining third-party cyber risk assessment procedures, which are essential in today’s interconnected business environment.
By simplifying complex security concepts and providing rigorous assessments, our approach simplifies complex security concepts, enabling CEOs and technology leaders to make informed decisions about defensive measures.
Stage 3: Delivery
What Happens: The attacker delivers the weapon to the target organisation via email, social media, or compromised websites. The weapon is then activated to gain unauthorised access.
Technology Leaders’ Role: Ensuring Staff Preparedness
Empower the Team: Implement robust training programs to ensure all employees, including the C-suite, recognise and respond to threats. This pre-emptive approach ensures the CEO can focus on high-level decision-making rather than direct intervention.
Reinforce Board-Level Engagement: Ensure that the board understands the implications of this stage and supports the necessary actions, including approving the allocation of resources to enhance defence mechanisms.
Empower Your Team with NSB Cyber’s Expert Training Programs
NSB Cyber delivers robust cyber resilience services, helping you create internal independence and foster continuous improvement of cybersecurity maturity as threats evolve. Our comprehensive services include cyber governance programs, strategic cybersecurity support, technical resilience testing, maturity and risk assessments, and incident readiness simulations. NSB Cyber provides specialised training to equip your staff with the necessary skills to act swiftly and confidently during an attack.
Stage 4: Operations
What Happens: The attacker gains access to the organisation's infrastructure, increases their privileges, and maintains access, often installing malicious software and creating backdoors.
Technology Leaders’ Role: Oversight and Support
Guide the Response: During an active attack, technology leaders must coordinate the incident response, ensuring rapid containment and minimising damage. The CISO plays a pivotal role, but collaboration across technology leadership is crucial.
Maintain Open Communication: Technology leaders should ensure clear communication with the CEO, board, and other stakeholders, providing real-time updates on the situation and the steps taken.
Support Rapid Containment Efforts: Once a breach is detected, time is of the essence. Technology leaders are critical in guiding the CEO through the containment process. By providing expert insights and recommendations, the CISO and other IT heads ensure that the CEO can effectively support the security team’s efforts. The CISO's guidance empowers the team to act decisively, minimising damage and facilitating a swift and coordinated response.
Facilitate Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Cyberattacks require a response that extends beyond the IT department. The CISO is instrumental in assisting the CEO in facilitating collaboration between different departments, ensuring a unified and comprehensive crisis management approach. By coordinating efforts across the organisation, the CISO helps the CEO ensure that all parts of the business work together seamlessly to mitigate the attack's impact.
Swift Incident Response: Comprehensive Support When It Matters Most
NSB Cyber delivers immediate, end-to-end assistance to manage and resolve cyber incidents, including forensic analysis, threat intelligence, data recovery, and ransomware negotiations. During the operations stage of a cyberattack, swift and decisive action is critical when the attacker has gained access and is actively exploiting your systems.
Having expert support on hand can make all the difference. NSB Cyber provides your organisation with a ‘virtual cyber risk team’ to guide you through the crisis. Our experts bring the experience and specialised knowledge necessary to respond effectively, helping you to contain the breach, mitigate damage, and restore normal operations as quickly as possible.
Whether you need leadership in the form of a virtual Cyber Risk Manager or additional expertise to bolster your existing security team, NSB Cyber ensures that you have the right professionals by your side when it matters most.
Stage 5: Post-Exploitation
What Happens: The attacker completes their objectives, such as stealing data or disrupting operations, and attempts to cover their tracks.
Technology Leaders’ Role: Driving Remediation and Communication
Oversee Remediation: After containing the attack, technology leaders, CISO and internal teams should drive the remediation efforts and manage communication with customers, stakeholders, and the public. Effective communication from the CEO, supported by technology leaders, is crucial to maintaining trust and transparency.
Engage the Board: Post-attack, technology leaders should work closely with the board to review what happened, how it was handled, and what needs to be improved. This engagement ensures that the board is fully informed and invested in strengthening the organisation's cybersecurity posture moving forward.
NSB Cyber’s Crisis Management
We collaborate with your technology leaders, Legal, and Communications professionals to develop effective messaging and ensure alignment with industry best practices. By combining proactive defence planning, clear communication, and strong partnerships, we help your business emerge more resilient after an attack.
Proactive Cyber Defence: Plan, Communicate, Recover
Effective cybersecurity goes beyond reaction: it’s about planning, clear communication, and strong partnerships. NSB Cyber’s expertise ensures your team is prepared, your communication is seamless, and your business emerges stronger. Ready to strengthen your defences? Book a meeting today!
