In today’s business world, the strength of an organization’s cybersecurity is no longer measured solely by how well it prevents attacks, but by how effectively it responds when—inevitably—those attacks occur.

Yet many organizations remain dangerously unprepared to respond to a cybersecurity incident, creating gaps that can magnify the impact of a breach and undermine enterprise risk management (ERM). An improper response plan — or worse, no plan at all — can turn a contained threat into a full-scale crisis, causing devastating financial, reputational, and operational damages.

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, organizations with no incident response (IR) plan or inadequate testing faced breach costs averaging $5.36 million, compared to $3.26 million for those with well-tested plans — a $2.1 million difference.

Why Enterprise Risk Management Fails Without a Proper Response Plan

Enterprise risk management focuses on identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to achieve business objectives. However, without a proper incident response strategy, ERM is fundamentally incomplete. A gap in response planning leaves organizations exposed to prolonged outages, regulatory penalties, and lost customer trust.

The 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report also highlights that over 60% of breaches involve either human error or system misconfigurations — both of which require swift and coordinated response plans to mitigate impact.

24 Essential Tasks to Avoid Improper Incident Response and Strengthen ERM

To prevent catastrophic failures in the face of a cyber incident, enterprises must integrate a robust set of 24 essential tasks into their ERM and security governance frameworks:

1. Preparing for Power Outage – Ensure critical systems can operate during power failures.
2. Annual Business Continuity Policy Review – Keep plans aligned with current risks.
3. Mitigating Cybersecurity Incidents and Newly Discovered Vulnerabilities – Respond rapidly to emerging threats.
4. Annual Incident Response Policy Review – Keep procedures updated.
5. Establishing Reliable Event Detection Processes – Ensure timely anomaly detection.
6. Executing Recovery Plans for Cybersecurity Incidents – Restore normal operations swiftly.
7. Testing Recovery Process – Validate plans with simulations.
8. Preparing a Separate Site – Enable continued operations at an alternate location.
9. Implementing Information Processing Facilities with Redundancy – Maintain uptime during infrastructure failures.
10. Prepare an Incident Response Plan – Clearly define steps for handling incidents.
11. Following Response Procedures – Ensure team adherence during real events.
12. Preventing Expansion of Incidents – Contain threats quickly.
13. Installing Emergency Shutoff Switches for Power – Prevent damage during emergencies.
14. Planning Facility Location to Minimize Physical and Environmental Hazards – Choose secure operational locations.
15. Emergency Lighting System – Ensure visibility during power loss.
16. Integrating Lessons Learned into Recovery Processes – Evolve strategies based on past events.
17. Training Relevant Personnel for Disaster Recovery Scenarios – Equip staff with necessary skills.
18. Defining Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) – Set realistic recovery benchmarks.
19. Approving Incident Response Plan with Management – Ensure executive support.
20. Implementing Incident Response Tools – Deploy effective detection and mitigation solutions.
21. Conducting Incident Response Practice Sessions – Regularly assess readiness.
22. Communicating Cybersecurity Incidents – Manage reputational risk through transparent communication.
23. Analyzing the Collected Intelligence – Use insights to strengthen defenses.
24. Protecting Electrical Equipment and Cables – Secure critical infrastructure.

The Executive Imperative: Making Response Planning a Strategic Priority

Elevating incident response planning to a strategic priority is no longer optional — it’s a business imperative. The 24 tasks outlined above are not just operational best practices; they represent a blueprint for building resilient, risk-aware organizations.

Boards and executive teams must lead the charge by embedding cybersecurity response into the fabric of strategic planning. This includes allocating resources, fostering a culture of preparedness, and holding departments accountable for response readiness.

The stakes are high. Failing to act not only invites financial loss but also regulatory scrutiny and irreparable reputational harm. Regulatory bodies like the SEC, NIST, and ISO 27001 increasingly expect organizations to have clear, tested incident response capabilities.

By integrating these actions into enterprise-wide risk management, leadership can turn a potential liability into a competitive advantage.

Conclusion

In the face of inevitable cyber threats, your enterprise’s ability to respond quickly and effectively may be its only shield against disaster. Enterprise Risk Management is only as strong as its weakest link, and for many organizations, that link is an outdated or nonexistent incident response plan.

By embracing these 24 critical tasks, leaders can move from reactive firefighting to proactive resilience, ensuring their organizations can withstand and recover from even the most sophisticated attacks.

Because when the breach happens — and it will — how you respond will define your organization’s future.