So you’ve just realized that your systems have been breached. The next few steps you take will be vital to the security of your company. There are some actions you need to take immediately. But even more important, there are actions you should avoid by all means necessary. If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, there is no need to go into full panic mode yet. Luckily, we have compiled 6 Things to Avoid After a Data Breach.

Do Not Avoid Communicating

It’s always in your favor to be transparent with everyone. Do not try to keep this breach to yourself. Not only can others provide wisdom and help, but you don’t want people to be blinded by the effects. As much as you don’t want to admit your mistakes, communicate with everyone and let them know your plan.

Do Not Forget About Your Customers

If your data breach is directly affecting your customers’ experience, you need to pay extra attention to customer inquiries and make sure you are providing the right information for them. Do what you can to make your customers know they can trust you, by putting them first.

Do Not Be Misleading

As we said, it’s important to communicate. And it’s even more important to communicate accurately and honestly. Any trace of false statements when you address the public with your data breach could be harmful to your brand. The worst has already been done. The best thing you can do is to let everyone know that you are working hard to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Do Not “Go With The Flow”

It’s normal to feel panicked after just finding out your systems have been breached. But try not to make any hasty decisions due to this feeling. It’s important to develop a strategy and ONLY take action after you’ve done so. You may think that getting it done as fast as you can is the best way to go, but you need to make sure you do everything right. So never improvise, but carefully plan out every step.

Do Not Quickly Assume Everything Is Over

Even though you have followed all the proper steps to fixing the data breach, the job is still not done. You need to continuously monitor your system to ensure follow-up attacks do not ensue. A common mistake people make is assuming that everything is all fixed and letting their guard down. Avoid this mistake by being proactive and making sure something like this doesn't happen again.

Do Not Forget To Do Your Research

After you put out all the fires, the final step is learning from this experience. Even though you may have fixed the problem now, it would be even worse for the same exact thing to happen again. Make sure to gather all the information you need about the data breach so you know what to do to protect yourself next time.