Delving into the Merits of Prepaid Incident Response Services
In the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity, incident response (IR) retainers are gaining traction among organizations as a vital security measure. These service agreements, established between an organization and a cybersecurity vendor, consultant, or service provider, ensure agreed-upon IR services in the event of a cyber incident.
One such service is the Arctic Wolf Incident360 Retainer, a unique offering that provides full end-to-end IR coverage for one cyber incident. This includes the removal of threat actors, root cause analysis, and restoration of affected systems, along with proactive incident readiness activities like IR planning and tabletop exercises to prepare organizations for potential cyber incidents.
The Arctic Wolf Incident360 Retainer offers several benefits, including a discounted, flat hourly rate for incident coverage, access to an insurance-approved IR firm, response times for scoping calls at the time of incident, and access to IR planning and readiness tools.
Organizations with a higher risk profile or less security maturity often find security posture hardening guidance to be a key component of an effective IR retainer. Access to security experts for consultations on security posture hardening measures is another benefit.
Compliance with certain regulations (depending on the organization's industry or location) is another advantage of having an IR retainer. It's worth noting that an IR retainer is not the same as cyber insurance and should not be treated as such.
There are two main types of IR retainers: prepaid retainers and no-cost retainers (also called zero-dollar retainers). Prepaid retainers allow organizations to prepurchase "hours" of promised IR service over a defined time, while no-cost retainers offer organizations a set scope of services and a service-level agreement without the need to pre-purchase blocks of hours.
Access to IR planning activities, documents, and procedures is a benefit of utilizing an IR retainer. A clear service-level agreement is another key component of an effective IR retainer.
The benefits of IR retainers are numerous. They offer cost efficiency and/or certainty through having the terms and hourly rate of the IR services engagement decided beforehand. Rapid incident analysis and containment is another advantage.
The importance of IR retainers is reflected in the statistics. Almost half of the organizations that implemented a comprehensive IR retainer saw premium savings of 10% or more. Furthermore, 88% of organizations have purchased an active IR retainer, according to The State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report.
Moreover, 32% of cyber insurance carriers require an IR plan or IR retainer for coverage, according to the Arctic Wolf Cyber Insurance Outlook 2024. This underscores the growing recognition of IR retainers as a crucial component of a robust cybersecurity strategy.
Lastly, availability 24x7 is a key component of an effective IR retainer, ensuring that organizations have support whenever they need it in the face of a cyber incident.
In conclusion, IR retainers are becoming increasingly common among organizations as they seek to bolster their cybersecurity defences and respond effectively to incidents. With their wide range of benefits and growing acceptance among cyber insurance carriers, IR retainers are a valuable tool in the fight against cyber threats.
