Incident Response · Durham
Incident Response in Durham
Handling a security incident at a Durham organisation, and preparing so the handling is not improvised. The decisions that cost most are made in the first hours — whether to pull systems offline, whether to pay, who to tell — and they go badly when nobody agreed them in advance.
Why this comes up
The problem
There is no plan. If systems were encrypted tomorrow, nobody knows who decides what, who contacts whom, or whether the backups would restore.
What you get
What we deliver
- A plan naming who decides, who communicates, and who is called out of hours
- Contacts held offline, since the plan on the encrypted file server is unavailable
- Containment steps agreed in advance, including authority to disconnect systems
- Backup restoration tested, because an untested backup is a hope not a control
- Reporting obligations mapped — the ICO's 72-hour deadline, plus regulators and insurers
- A post-incident review process that produces changes rather than a document
Want this scoped for your business in Durham?
Thirty minutes, no charge, no sales script. You leave with a written summary of what incident response would actually involve — whether or not you use us.
Working in Durham
North East
Durham's economy is dominated by its university and cathedral, so the commercial base is small and much of the local demand comes from spinouts and suppliers attached to the institutions rather than from independent industry.
Research spinout software and visitor systems, usually on institutional procurement timelines rather than commercial ones.
Sectors we work with in Durham
- Higher Education
- Tourism & Heritage
- Public Sector
- Retail
- Research
What we work with
Technologies and platforms
- Microsoft Defender
- Microsoft Sentinel
- Microsoft 365
Who we work with
Industries we serve
- Financial services
- Healthcare
- Legal
- Manufacturing
- Professional services
Why us
Why Durham businesses choose Asionis
- Projects typically launched within 4–8 weeks
- No long-term contracts required
- All team members UK-based
- Dedicated account manager and development team
- Transparent reporting with monthly performance metrics
- Scalable from startup to enterprise
How we work
- Step 1
Free consultation
A 30-minute call to understand the problem. You keep the written summary either way.
- Step 2
Proposal
Scope, timeline and a fixed price, in writing, before anything starts.
- Step 3
Build
Short cycles with regular check-ins, so you see progress rather than hear about it.
- Step 4
Launch and support
We handle the go-live and stay available afterwards.
Other services in Durham
Looking for the full picture? See our Incident Response services, everything we do in Durham or browse everything we do.
Incident Response in Durham — common questions
- What do we have to report, and when?
- A personal data breach meeting the risk threshold must be reported to the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware, and affected individuals told where the risk is high. Regulated sectors and cyber insurance policies carry their own obligations, often with tighter deadlines.
- Should we pay a ransom?
- Take legal advice before deciding — payment may be unlawful depending on who ultimately receives it, and law enforcement discourages it. Payment also does not guarantee recovery. This is a decision to think through before an incident, not during one.
- What should happen first?
- Containment before investigation, usually — stopping spread matters more than understanding the cause immediately. But disconnecting systems can destroy evidence you will need for insurers and regulators, which is exactly why the sequence should be agreed beforehand.
- Why keep contacts offline?
- Because ransomware encrypts the file server holding your plan, and the phone list with it. A printed copy and offline contacts for your IT provider, insurer, legal advisers and key staff is unglamorous and repeatedly the thing that saves hours.
- Do you work with businesses across County Durham?
- Yes. We are based in Leicester, United Kingdom and work with clients throughout North East, including Durham and the surrounding County Durham area. Most collaboration happens remotely, and we travel for kick-offs and key milestones.
- What kind of Durham businesses do you usually work with?
- Research spinout software and visitor systems, usually on institutional procurement timelines rather than commercial ones. Beyond that we work across Higher Education, Tourism & Heritage, Public Sector, Retail and Research.
- Do you cover the areas around Durham?
- Yes — we work throughout North East, including Newcastle, Sunderland, York. Durham is an urban area of roughly 70,000+, and we take on work across the wider County Durham region rather than the city boundary alone.
Talk to us about Incident Response in Durham
A 30-minute call with someone who would actually work on it. No sales script, no obligation.
- Projects typically launched within 4–8 weeks
- No long-term contracts required
- All team members UK-based
- Dedicated account manager and development team
- Transparent reporting with monthly performance metrics
- Scalable from startup to enterprise