Why DFIR Retainers Are Losing Relevance in Today’s Cyber Incidents

DFIR Retainers: The Missing Piece in Effective Cyber Incident Response

Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) retainers have been widely regarded as an essential part of a company’s cybersecurity strategy. These agreements are meant to provide organizations with the assurance that, in the event of a cyber-attack, they will have experts on hand to investigate, mitigate, and neutralize the threat. However, as the frequency and severity of cyber incidents have increased, the limitations of DFIR retainers are becoming more apparent. A key reason for this is that many DFIR service agreements completely exclude return-to-operations (RTO) recovery services—a critical component of any effective cyber incident response. This omission often leaves companies unprepared to fully recover from an attack and resume normal business operations.

DFIR Retainers: A Misalignment with Real-World Needs

DFIR retainers typically focus on forensic analysis and incident containment. The primary services provided include identifying the source of the breach, understanding the scope of the attack, and preventing further compromise. These activities are undoubtedly important, but they do not address the full scope of what is required to recover from a cyber incident.

The exclusion of return-to-operations recovery services from DFIR retainers is a critical shortcoming. In today’s threat landscape, cyber incidents—especially ransomware attacks—do not merely disrupt business operations; they can bring them to a standstill. A company’s ability to recover swiftly and securely is just as important as identifying the cause of the breach. Without structured recovery plans and expert assistance in getting critical systems back online, organizations face prolonged downtime, potential revenue losses, and damaged customer trust.

The Gap in Recovery Capabilities

One of the most glaring issues with DFIR retainers is that they rarely cover full-scale recovery services. After a breach is identified and stopped, businesses are left to figure out how to restore compromised systems, data, and networks on their own. The forensic-focused approach of DFIR retainers often leaves businesses unprepared for the logistical complexities involved in restoring operations, especially after a severe ransomware attack.

Many companies, during or after a cyber-attack, realize too late that they have a major gap in their incident response plans. They may have a good understanding of how to contain a breach but lack a cohesive strategy for recovery. This oversight can lead to a scramble for external help, often at an additional cost and with no guarantee of a swift resolution.

Some DFIR firms attempt to offer recovery support by utilizing a remote or a project management approach. These two methods lack scale, and introduce additional risk as well as cost run-ups to clients already suffering during the aftermath of cyber-attacks. Moreover, some impacted organizations attempt to utilize disparate IT based organization in various locations attempting to coordinate what sometimes amounts to a major global project that needs to be flawlessly delivered within days.

A lofty goal indeed, yet unrealistic and risk filled. 

Cyber recovery is not just about restoring files from backups. It involves ensuring that the restored systems are free from any remaining malware or vulnerabilities, reconfiguring network security protocols, and, in some cases, re-architecting entire infrastructure components. Without dedicated RTO services, companies may find themselves restoring infected backups or reintroducing vulnerabilities into their systems.

Special consideration must be undertaken to not endanger other critical work streams such as digital forensics and containment. This is precisely the reason pure-play IT firms are not suitable to recover from such events.

The Financial and Operational Impact of Extended Downtime

The costs of extended downtime due to the inability to recover quickly from a cyber-attack can be catastrophic. Lost productivity, interrupted business processes, and damage to customer relationships can all result from protracted recovery efforts. In fact, for many businesses, the real cost of a cyber-attack isn’t the attack itself, but the length of time it takes to recover.

CYPFER estimates based on an analysis of over 700 engagements that the average cost of a breach has been increasing (primarily due to increase in impact) in 2023 and 2024 to approximately $5.7 million, with more than 40% of that cost attributed to lost revenues. Organizations that are able to recovery within 21 to 30 days saw significantly lower overall costs, than those that took longer. The difference is staggering, almost a 70% increase in lost revenues when an incident took longer than 30 days to recover.

This underscores the importance of swift recovery efforts—a service that DFIR retainers, as currently structured, fail to provide. Swift investigations, no matter how rapid or precise do not enable return to operations when recovery is not fundamentally integrated.

The Need for Comprehensive Cyber Incident Response

The limitations of DFIR retainers reflect a broader issue: many organizations are still viewing cybersecurity in silos. Incident response is often treated as separate from business continuity and disaster recovery, when in fact they are intrinsically linked. Effective cyber incident response needs to be comprehensive, addressing not just how to stop an attack, but how to recover from it and resume normal operations as quickly as possible.

Moving forward, companies should seek incident response agreements that include both forensic services and return-to-operations capabilities. Some cybersecurity firms are already recognizing this need and offering holistic incident response packages that combine DFIR with disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

Companies must ask their service providers a simple question:

If I am impacted by a cyber-attack, do you have the scale to bring my operations back within 30 days or sooner? If there is any hesitation, seek alternative expertise.

Conclusion

In today’s cyber landscape, where attacks are not only frequent but also more destructive, the limitations of traditional DFIR retainers are becoming increasingly apparent. The exclusion of return-to-operations recovery services from these agreements leaves organizations vulnerable during the critical recovery phase, leading to prolonged downtime, financial losses, and operational disruption. As the threat landscape continues to introduce new curve-balls, businesses must prioritize comprehensive incident response plans that not only contain and investigate attacks but also enable swift and effective recovery.

CYPFER advises organizations to consider the following components as part of a disaster-recovery plan:

• Recovery support partner
• Legal support partner
• DFIR support partner
• Ransomware advisory partner
• Risk transfer partner (insurance)

CYPFER can deliver these key services under a cohesive retainer that is driven by delivering on-going value. Call us now for more information about our retainer options.