Incident Response

Under attack?
We respond immediately.

Senior-led incident response when every minute counts. Containment, investigation, and recovery — handled by engineers who have done this before.

What We Cover

Every threat vector, handled

From ransomware to insider threats — our team has the experience and tooling to respond decisively.

Ransomware Response

Rapid containment, negotiation support where necessary, and systematic recovery of encrypted systems. We stop the spread and get you back online.

Business Email Compromise

Account takeover investigation, damage assessment, and forensic analysis of compromised mailboxes. We trace exactly what was accessed and by whom.

Data Breach Response

Forensic analysis to determine scope and exposure, combined with regulatory notification support including ICO reporting where required.

Malware & APT Investigation

Deep-dive forensics into advanced persistent threats. We identify malware families, map lateral movement, and remove every trace of persistence.

Insider Threat

Evidence preservation, access audit trails, and legal-ready reporting. We handle the technical investigation while your legal team handles the rest.

Supply Chain Compromise

Third-party breach assessment and exposure analysis. When a vendor is compromised, we determine what it means for your organisation.

How We Respond

Structured response, from minute one

A proven methodology that brings order to chaos. Every engagement follows this framework.

01
Hour 0–1

Triage

A senior engineer assesses scope, identifies the threat vector, and determines containment options. You have a clear picture within the first hour.

02
Hour 1–4

Containment

Isolate affected systems, cut off attacker access, and preserve forensic evidence. The priority is stopping the bleeding without destroying what we need to investigate.

03
Day 1–3

Investigation

Forensic analysis across affected systems. Root cause identification, lateral movement mapping, and full scope determination. No guesswork — evidence-driven analysis.

04
Day 3–5

Recovery

Restore operations systematically. Implement emergency security controls, validate system integrity, and bring services back online with confidence.

05
Day 5–10

Reporting

Full incident report with timeline, root cause, impact assessment, and actionable recommendations. Regulatory reporting support where required, including ICO notification.

A Real Story

It's January. Tax season.

This is a composite of a real incident — anonymised, but accurate. The firm became our client six months later. But the damage was already done.

01
Friday, 6:47 PM

The call nobody wants

Staff report they can't open files. A ransom note appears on every screen. The practice management system, document store, and email server are encrypted. HMRC self-assessment filing deadlines are three weeks away. 2,400 client tax returns sit locked behind AES-256 encryption.

02
Saturday morning

The scramble begins

The managing partner calls their IT provider — a break-fix outfit who've never dealt with ransomware. They check the backups. They're on the same network. Also encrypted. The firm starts calling incident response providers. Most can't start until Monday. Some won't take clients without a retainer.

03
Monday – Wednesday

48 hours lost to ramp-up

An incident response team arrives on Monday. They spend the first two days just understanding the environment — no documentation, no network diagrams, no asset inventory. While they map the infrastructure from scratch, 2,400 client tax returns remain inaccessible. HMRC deadlines don't move.

04
Week two

The second blow

Systems are slowly restored from partial off-site backups. But forensic analysis reveals the attackers had access for three weeks before detonating the ransomware. Client personal data — names, addresses, UTRs, financial records — may have been exfiltrated. ICO notification is now required. Every affected client must be informed.

05
The aftermath

The real cost

Eleven days of total downtime. HMRC reasonable excuse applications filed for every affected client. £180,000 in incident response, legal, and recovery costs. Three major clients leave within the quarter. An ICAEW investigation is opened into the firm's data handling practices.

The Difference

Same attack. Different outcome.

The difference between catastrophe and containment isn't luck. It's preparation.

Without a retainer
First response
Hours searching for help
Environment ramp-up
48 hours learning your systems
Containment
Day 2–3
Backup validation
Discovered they're compromised
Total downtime
11 days
Data exfiltration
Unknown for weeks
Regulatory exposure
Full ICO investigation
Total cost
£180K+ reactive
With a Rhentech retainer
First response
30 minutes — pre-agreed SLA
Environment ramp-up
Zero — pre-onboarded
Containment
Hour 2–4
Backup validation
Tested quarterly, confirmed clean
Total downtime
1–2 days
Data exfiltration
Detected and blocked early
Regulatory exposure
Managed notification, clean evidence
Total cost
Retainer fee — a fraction of the alternative

Which company do you want to be?

The Retainer

What the retainer includes

Preparation is not a cost. It's the difference between a contained incident and a catastrophe. Here's what you get.

Pre-agreed SLAs

Guaranteed response within 30 minutes, 24/7/365. Your incident goes to the front of the queue — no scrambling for availability when every minute counts.

Environment onboarding

We document your infrastructure, network topology, critical assets, and key contacts in advance. When an incident hits, there's no ramp-up time — we already know your environment.

Quarterly readiness assessments

We test your backups, review your detection capabilities, and update your incident response playbook. When an attack comes, you know your defences work — because we tested them last quarter.

Annual tabletop exercises

Simulated incident scenarios with your leadership team. Practise decision-making under pressure — who calls the ICO, who briefs the board, who talks to clients — before it's real.

Priority access to senior engineers

The same senior consultants who know your environment are the ones who respond. No handoff to a junior team. No explaining your setup from scratch under pressure.

Regulatory preparation

ICO notification templates, evidence preservation procedures, and legal coordination frameworks — ready before you need them. When the clock starts on your 72-hour reporting window, you're not starting from scratch.

Prepared beats reactive. Every time.

Whether you need immediate help with an active incident or want to put a retainer in place before something happens — talk to us. Initial consultation is free.