TL;DR
When an attacker gained access to our admin panel through a compromised team member's credentials, we had 48 hours of intense incident response. Having a plan, clear roles, and good backups made the difference. This is the detailed timeline of how we contained the breach, communicated with customers, and came out stronger.
Hour 0: Discovery
Our monitoring system flagged unusual activity at 11:47 PM on a Thursday. An admin account was accessing customer records in a pattern that didn't match normal usage. Thousands of records in minutes, no pauses, no filtering.
The alert went to our on-call engineer, who escalated immediately. By midnight, we knew we had a problem.
The 48-Hour Timeline
Revoked all admin sessions. Reset all admin passwords. Enabled IP restrictions on admin panel. Took the suspicious account offline entirely.
Reviewed all logs for the past 30 days. Identified the entry point: a phishing email compromised an admin's credentials. The attacker had been in the system for 4 hours before detection.
Determined scope of data accessed. 3,400 customer records were viewed. No payment data (stored with Stripe). No evidence of data exfiltration beyond viewing.
Consulted with lawyer about notification requirements. Drafted customer communication. Prepared internal documentation.
Sent personalized emails to all 3,400 affected customers. Set up dedicated support channel. Published blog post explaining what happened.
Implemented mandatory 2FA for all admin accounts. Added additional monitoring rules. Reviewed all user permissions and removed unnecessary access.
Responded to customer inquiries. Conducted post-mortem. Updated incident response plan based on learnings.
What Went Right
1. We Had Monitoring
The unusual access pattern triggered an alert within 4 hours. Without monitoring, this could have gone undetected for days or weeks.
2. We Had a Plan
We had a basic incident response plan documented. When the alert came, we didn't have to figure out what to do. We followed the checklist.
3. We Communicated Quickly
Within 24 hours, every affected customer had a personalized email. They appreciated being told directly rather than hearing it from the news.
4. We Were Honest
Our communication didn't minimize or hide anything. We said exactly what was accessed, how it happened, and what we were doing about it.
Key insight: Speed of response matters, but accuracy matters more. We could have sent notifications faster, but we waited until we understood the full scope. Half-accurate information creates more problems than a slight delay.
What Went Wrong
1. No 2FA on Admin Accounts
The breach happened because a single password was compromised. If we'd required 2FA, the stolen password alone wouldn't have been enough.
2. Overly Broad Admin Access
The compromised account could access all customer records. Most admin tasks don't need that level of access. We should have had tiered permissions.
3. No Phishing Training
The team member fell for a credential phishing email. Regular security awareness training could have prevented this.
Customer Reactions
We expected backlash. We prepared for angry emails and cancellations. The actual response surprised us:
- 85% thanked us for the transparent communication
- 12% had questions but remained customers
- 3% canceled their accounts
Several customers specifically said our handling of the breach increased their trust. They'd seen other companies try to hide breaches, and our transparency stood out.
The Recovery Cost
Beyond the 48 hours of crisis management, the incident had ongoing costs:
- $4,500 in legal consultation
- ~40 hours of engineering time for security improvements
- ~20 hours of customer support handling inquiries
- 3 customers lost (roughly $300/month in revenue)
Total direct cost: approximately $10,000-15,000. Far less than it could have been with slower response or worse handling.
Permanent Changes
After the incident, we made these permanent changes:
- Mandatory 2FA for all team members, no exceptions
- Role-based access with minimum necessary permissions
- Quarterly security training including phishing simulations
- Enhanced monitoring with lower alert thresholds
- Regular access reviews to remove unnecessary permissions
- Documented incident response updated with lessons learned
How do I create an incident response plan?
Start simple: document who to contact, how to revoke access, where logs are stored, and draft templates for customer communication. You can expand it over time, but having something basic is better than nothing.
When should I notify customers about a breach?
As soon as you understand the scope. Many jurisdictions require notification within specific timeframes (72 hours for GDPR). Even without legal requirements, faster is generally better for maintaining trust.
Should I notify customers if no data was exfiltrated?
If their data was accessed (even just viewed), they should know. The definition of "breach" varies by jurisdiction, but transparency is usually the right call regardless of legal requirements.
What monitoring should I have in place?
At minimum: alerts for unusual login patterns, bulk data access, access from new locations, and failed login attempts. Many cloud providers offer these features built-in.