What to Expect in the First 24 Hours after a Data Breach with a Managed IT Provider
- Joel Proulx
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
A data breach is one of the most stressful situations a business can face. The first 24 hours are critical. What you do or fail to do during this period will shape the outcome of your data breach recovery strategy. For many companies — especially smaller ones — working with a local managed IT provider can make the difference between quick containment and long-term damage.
Article Summary
The first 24 hours after a breach are critical for containment, communication and protecting corporate continuity.
Avoid common mistakes like DIY fixes and failing to involve professionals, and understand how to handle a cyberattack as a small business effectively.
Partnering with PremCom ensures local expertise, proactive planning and reliable data breach recovery for Buffalo businesses.
What Happens in the First 24 Hours After a Security Breach?
Data breaches cost people more than $452 billion in 2024, which makes the first 24 hours crucial for recovery. The first step is containment. Your provider will immediately launch an IT risk assessment to determine what systems were compromised, what data may have been exposed and how far the attack has spread. Identifying potential cybersecurity threats and creating a remediation checklist is especially crucial for small operations, as they tend to lack the security measures of larger enterprises.
Modern tools like EDR and MDR for small businesses can quickly detect and cut off threats. At the same time, your incident response plan for SMBs should kick in, laying out who needs to be notified, what systems must be prioritized and what steps keep everything running. This also helps protect your reputation by keeping your team focused and ensuring business continuity after a cyberattack.
Yes, You Need to Tell Your Customers: Communicating After a Data Breach
It’s never easy to deliver bad news, but transparency is critical when considering how to talk to customers after a data breach. Customers want to know what happened, what you’re doing about it and how they’re being protected.
A strong cyberattack emergency plan designed with your Buffalo, NY cybersecurity partner includes a communication strategy. Skipping this step is one of the most common cyberattack response mistakes because it can create more damage than the breach itself. Clear, timely communication helps maintain trust while you work through recovery.
Tools Every Business Needs to Recover from Ransomware
In 2024, ransomware attacks rose by 15%, totaling over 5,000 incidents. These attacks hit fast and hard. The enterprises that recover the quickest are the ones that prepare ahead of time. That means having:
Secure, regularly tested backups.
Ongoing IT risk assessments to spot vulnerabilities early.
24/7 monitoring through managed security services.
Access to trusted cybersecurity services.
To put the problem into perspective, more than 422 million records were exposed in data breaches within a single quarter of 2024. This shows that cybercrime isn’t slowing down, and preparation is nonnegotiable.
Local knowledge matters here. With local IT cybersecurity services and small business IT support, you get advanced protection and on-the-ground help when every minute counts.
Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes After a Cyberattack
When anxiety sets in, mistakes follow. Here are five you need to avoid:
Panicking: Quick action matters, but rash decisions can make things worse.
DIY fixes: Trying to “wing it” often causes more damage. Leave uncertain matters to the experts.
Lack of documentation: Without clear notes on what happened, recovery and reporting are harder.
Not involving professionals: A breach is not the time to do it alone. Call in local IT security for Buffalo businesses to make things easier for your business.
Poor communication internally and externally: Confusion in your team and silence with customers hurts your credibility.
How to Build a Cybersecurity Emergency Plan With Your Managed IT Partner
The best way to avoid chaos is to plan. A Buffalo managed IT provider can help you create a step-by-step incident response plan for SMBs that includes:
How to spot and contain an attack.
Who to contact at each stage.
Internal and external communication templates.
Steps for data breach recovery.
Long-term business continuity after a cyberattack.
With the right plan in place, you can respond with confidence and control. A well-structured disaster recovery plan can also help save money by reducing downtime, avoiding regulatory fines and limiting the long-term financial fallout of a breach.
Is Your Business Ready for a Cyberattack?
Most small entities aren’t as prepared as they think, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be. Working with managed IT services in Buffalo gives you access to expertise, advanced tools and local IT cybersecurity services designed for the realities of small to mid-sized companies.
Cyberattacks aren’t going away. However, with preparation, a trusted Buffalo managed IT provider and a clear cyberattack emergency plan, you can face the first 24 hours with resilience.
At PremCom, we specialize in helping locals build the protection they need. From proactive risk assessments to data breach recovery, our team provides hands-on support and expertise to keep Western New York businesses moving forward. If you're ready to strengthen your defenses and prepare for the unexpected, connect with PremCom today and put the right plan in place before you need it.
