Cisco’s post argues that incident response is often misunderstood as a “purely technical” cleanup—find malware, isolate systems, restore backups—when real incidents are usually much messier. Using the Colonial Pipeline ransomware case as a cautionary example, it explains that the headline event is frequently just the final act: attackers may have been inside for weeks or months, using legitimate admin tools (PowerShell, RDP, standard Windows commands) that don’t look like obvious malware until something triggers a large-scale impact. At the same time, legal and regulatory deadlines (like breach-notification timelines) start immediately, pulling people and attention away from containment and investigation.

The article’s main message is that engaging a professional incident response team should be viewed as the start of an ongoing partnership, not a one-off “break glass” purchase. It claims retainers are cheaper and faster than emergency engagements during major global events (when responders are triaging demand), and that pre-established relationships help responders act quickly because they already understand your environment and critical dependencies. It also stresses that “recovery” isn’t the end: sophisticated attackers often leave multiple persistence mechanisms, so missed backdoors or altered settings can bring them back—meaning forensics, evidence handling, executive assurance, and hardening work continue well after systems come back online.

Source: https://blogs.cisco.com/security/engaging-cisco-talos-incident-response-just-beginning