Cybersecurity Glossary
Mean Time to Respond
The average time between noticing a problem and having it contained.
What Mean Time to Respond means
Response time covers the practical work: isolating a device, revoking sessions, resetting credentials, deciding who to call. It is a test of preparation rather than of technology, because almost every step is faster when it was written down beforehand.
Why Mean Time to Respond matters for small businesses and nonprofits
Small teams usually lose this time to decision making rather than to the work itself. Who is allowed to take a machine off the network, who calls the insurer, who tells the client. Answering those three questions in advance cuts the time more than any product.
What to do about Mean Time to Respond
- Write the first hour on one page, printed, with names and phone numbers
- Give one named person the authority to isolate a device without asking permission
- Rehearse it once a year with a scenario, and fix whatever the rehearsal breaks
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The average time between noticing a problem and having it contained.