At 2 AM, the ransomware alerts started firing. By 6:30 AM, dozens of systems were encrypted.
The IT manager tried to direct tasks while troubleshooting servers. The sysadmin disconnected systems randomly, cutting off unaffected machines. A helpdesk technician deleted ransomware notes, thinking they were malware files.
No one knew who was in charge. Critical forensic evidence vanished. The business stayed offline for two weeks.
This company had:
- Security tools
- Backups
- A documented incident response plan
But when it mattered most, they descended into chaos.
They’re not alone. A lot of business leaders admit they lack a formal, consistently applied incident response plan. Despite investments in cybersecurity tools, few organisations have the operational clarity to act decisively under pressure.
Ten Most Common Mistakes That Turn Incidents Into Full-blown Crises
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No Clear Incident Leader
The absence of a designated incident lead is the fastest way to lose control. In a crisis, someone must coordinate, direct and own decision-making.
Fix: Assign a clear incident commander role with predefined authority. Everyone should know who that is before the crisis begins.
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Undefined Roles & Responsibilities
Without clearly mapped roles, teams either duplicate effort or drop the ball entirely.
Fix: Use a simple responsibility matrix that spells out who isolates machines, who communicates with stakeholders and who makes the call on escalation.
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Never Practising the Plan
A plan on paper means nothing if it’s never been tested. Most teams discover their gaps during a real incident, when there’s no time to adjust.
Fix: Run tabletop exercises and time-boxed drills. You’ll surface unknowns long before they become liabilities.
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Prematurely Wiping or Reimaging Systems
The instinct to “clean up fast” often destroys evidence. Once you wipe or rebuild a system, forensic trails are gone.
Fix: Pause, preserve, document. Isolate systems. Leave files untouched. Capture logs before taking remediation steps.
Additionally, think beyond immediate cleanup. If you need to restore critical business functions without losing evidence, consider reallocating workloads to unaffected servers, leveraging standby infrastructure, or migrating temporarily to a different cloud provider. This allows operations to resume safely while investigators preserve compromised systems for analysis and law enforcement.
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Ignoring Built-In Security Capabilities
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint includes automated investigation and remediation that can contain threats before humans even respond. Most organisations don’t enable it.
In many cases, these capabilities are already available under existing licensing—such as Microsoft 365 E5—meaning you could gain immediate security benefits without additional spend.
Fix: Use what you already have. Activate built-in automation to shorten time to containment and preserve critical data.
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Lack of an Out-of-Hours Response Plan
Cyber attacks don’t follow office hours. Without clear escalation and alerting after 5pm or on weekends, threats smoulder unnoticed.
Fix: Put in place a lean out-of-hours protocol. It can be as simple as an SMS alert and a response rota.
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No Pre-Approved External Support
When a breach happens, calling your cyber insurer or DFIR vendor shouldn’t require sign-off or procurement steps.
Fix: Pre-load contacts, contracts and approval paths. Make it easy to bring in external help without delay.
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Poor Communication During a Crisis
Conflicting updates, internal confusion and insecure channels can make reputational damage worse than the incident itself.
Fix: Define a communications lead. Use secure platforms. Prepare templates for stakeholders, customers and regulators.
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Overestimating Readiness Because of Tools
Security tools don’t equal preparedness. They’re only effective when embedded in a process that people have rehearsed.
Fix: Focus less on tool coverage and more on decision-making discipline. Performance comes from leadership, not licenses.
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Failing to Learn from Incidents
Incidents pass. The lessons often don’t stick. Without a structured debrief, you’re likely to repeat the same mistakes next time.
Fix: Treat every incident and every drill as an opportunity to learn. Capture root causes and adjust your plans as well as playbooks accordingly.
From Chaos to Command: Where Resilience Begins
The real difference between teams that recover fast and those that flounder isn’t budget or headcount. It’s structure. The presence of clear roles, fast decision-making and rehearsed behaviours changes everything when systems go down.
At CyberOne, we help organisations build that structure before they need it. Whether it’s enabling automated response inside Microsoft Security, training incident commanders or simulating realistic breaches through tabletop exercises, we ensure teams don’t meet their plan for the first time during a real attack.
If you’re ready to stress-test your incident readiness and build response muscle memory where it matters most, join us this September for our next session on how real businesses detect, contain and recover from major threats—with lessons you can apply immediately.
Survival starts before the breach.
Find out how to respond with clarity, not chaos.
👉 Register for “Cyber Crisis: Are You Ready to Respond & Recover?” – 4 September 2025, 10:00 UK time