Part 6: Improving Incident Response with Proactive Measures

Written by Team iuvo | Mar 18, 2025 3:00:00 PM

Since 2007, iuvo has partnered with thousands of businesses from different industries, solving complex IT challenges and helping organizations thrive. We’ve seen it all—and done it all.

Over the years, we’ve gathered a wealth of insights and experiences that can benefit businesses just like yours. Now, it’s time to share some of these stories. While the names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality, the challenges, solutions, and lessons are based on experience.

Today’s story is about a company that learned the hard way that reactive security isn’t enough—because when a cyberattack happens, every second counts.

A Cyberattack in Progress

It started with a single email.

The workday was in full swing at a mid-sized investment firm when an employee in the finance department received an urgent message. It looked legitimate—an email from a trusted vendor who was requesting updated banking details. Without a second thought, the employee clicked the link and entered their login credentials.

Within minutes, hackers had access to the company’s financial systems.

At first, no one noticed. IT wasn’t alerted. Security tools didn’t flag anything unusual. But behind the scenes, attackers were already moving laterally across the network, searching for sensitive data.

Then, the CFO received an email he wasn’t expecting—a request to approve a high-value wire transfer.

Something wasn’t right.

The CFO called IT, and within moments, panic spread across the office. By the time the IT team scrambled to investigate, the money had already been transferred.

The attack had succeeded all because incident response was too slow.

Every Second Matters in Cybersecurity

The aftermath was devastating.

The company’s leadership team held an emergency meeting.

"How did this happen?" the CEO demanded.

The IT director explained the problem:

Their security tools were reactive, not proactive. By the time IT was alerted, the hackers had already done their damage. Without an automated incident response in place, every action—blocking the attacker, isolating affected accounts, and investigating the breach—had to be done manually, wasting critical time.

The painful truth was that the attack could have been avoided if the finance employee had recognized the scam from the start, but their employees weren’t properly trained to spot phishing attempts. Additionally, blocking unauthorized devices with conditional access policies would have stopped the attack in its tracks. Even with stolen credentials, the hackers would have been locked out.

iuvo Security Essentials

Determined to prevent future incidents, the company partnered with iuvo to strengthen its security posture.

After assessing their vulnerabilities, iuvo implemented conditional access controls in addition to a proactive security solution called iuvo Security Essentials that was centered around automation, simulations, and staff training. Below, we’ve provided the highlights from the implemented strategy.

✅ Sentinel automation for real-time threat response

Security alerts were now automatically analyzed and prioritized.

When high-risk activity was detected, Sentinel triggered automated responses, such as isolating compromised accounts and blocking malicious access.

Action was taken based on the Sentinel alert, shutting down attacks before they spread so the IT team no longer had to react manually.

✅ Conditional access policies to block unauthorized devices

Even if attackers stole login credentials, they couldn’t access company systems without an approved, company-managed device.

This drastically reduced the risk of credential-based attacks by making sure that authentication tokens were worthless on unauthorized endpoints.

✅ Attack simulations to identify weaknesses

iuvo configured real-world attack simulations to test how the company would respond to threats.

These drills exposed gaps in security controls and allowed IT to refine their incident response playbooks.

✅ Continuous phishing simulations & security training

Employees were regularly tested with phishing simulations to make sure that they could identify and report threats.

Interactive training sessions reinforced cybersecurity best practices, which reduced the risk of human error. This resulted in a company-wide shift from reactive to proactive security.

Stronger, Faster, Smarter Security

With iuvo Security Essentials and conditional access policies in place, the company changed its approach to incident response.

Faster threat containment – automated responses shut down threats instantly, reducing potential damage.

Stronger security awareness – employees became a human firewall, the first line of defense against phishing and cyberattacks.

Minimized downtime – with incidents detected and contained quickly, business operations continued smoothly.

Proactive Security is the Only Security

Cyberattacks happen fast, but a strong incident response plan can stop them even faster.

A proactive cybersecurity strategy—with automation, attack simulations, and continuous training—can make sure that threats are detected, contained, and neutralized before they escalate.

How iuvo Can Help

Is your business ready for the next cyberattack? If you’re not 100% confident in your incident response plan, it’s time to take action.

At iuvo, we specialize in building proactive security strategies that empower businesses to respond to threats in real time—before damage is done.

✅ Automate threat detection & response
✅ Simulate real-world attacks to identify security gaps
✅ Train employees to recognize and stop phishing scams

Don’t wait for a breach to expose your weaknesses.

Contact iuvo today to strengthen your security posture and take a proactive stance against cyber threats.