When a cyber incident hits, time is everything. Yet many organisations still find themselves on the back foot when it happens. “Where are the Disaster Recovery Plans?”, “How bad is it?”, “Who’s got access where?” and often the more important question… “How can we get back to normal?” Or often known as Business As Usual (BAU).
Recent findings from Microsoft’s Digital Defence Report 2025 show that more than half of all cyber-attacks are now driven by extortion and ransomware.
At the same time, regulators across the world are tightening rules on how fast businesses must report an incident – in some cases within just a few hours.
Incident Response is Business Critical.
We know that a cyber breach often doesn’t just disrupt IT systems. It halts operations, damages reputation, and can cost millions. Yet too often, response plans are outdated or untested. When people are unsure who does what, precious time is lost.
Incident response today is not just about technology… It’s about leadership, decision making, and communication under pressure. Being ready means knowing your risks, rehearsing your plan, and having the right people to call when things go wrong.
Why an Incident Response Retainer Makes Sense
An Incident Response Retainer ensures that when an incident occurs, expert help is available immediately. No waiting, no scrambling for support, no guesswork.
With a retainer in place, your response team already understands your environment and can get straight to work. It also gives you cost certainty and confidence that you’ll meet any reporting deadlines that apply to your industry or region.
Many retainers also include readiness reviews and practice exercises, so your in-house teams are better prepared before an incident happens.
How Are We Taking This Further Than Before?
George Chapman, from Prism Infosec’s Incident Response team, explains why it’s vital for cybersecurity consultancies to invest in their own tooling as well as commercial platforms.
“Adversaries study the same tools defenders rely on, and even legitimate Red Teamers need to understand them to test detection effectively. No matter how much effort goes into disguising how these tools work, attackers often know their limits. That’s why at Prism InfoSec, we’re always innovating, developing our own internal technology to complement our trusted commercial solutions, not only for incident response but across our wider security operations.”
Prism Infosec’s Internal Incident Response Tool
This in-house capability gives Prism InfoSec’s responders and consultants a genuine edge, allowing faster analysis, richer context, and tailored reporting within minutes of an alert or even a test concluding. Developed by our own engineers and technical consultants, this tooling allows our team to see exactly what’s happening, act decisively, and recover more quickly when every second counts.
Takeaway
The organisations that handle incidents well may not be the ones with the biggest budgets, they are however, the ones that prepare properly. A tested plan and a trusted partner can make all the difference between quick recovery and lasting damage.
We help businesses prepare, respond, and manage cyber incidents. Our Incident Response Retainer Service provides round-the-clock expert support, readiness planning, and peace of mind.
At Prism Infosec, our expertise in Incident Response is independently validated and we’re proud to now hold both NCSC Assured Provider status for Cyber Incident Response (CIR) and be recognised as a CREST Accredited Incident Response provider. This recognition demonstrates that our team meets the highest standards of technical capability, governance, and client assurance when managing and responding to cyber incidents.
For our clients, it means confidence that every response is handled with proven professionalism and high standards.
If you’d like to make sure your organisation is ready for whatever comes next, talk to us today about our retainer service.
