Pratum Blog

Newton’s Law of Motion says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I feel like this is sometimes our approach to information security. An incident occurs and we feel the need to take immediate action to counteract what just occurred. If you’re a science buff, take a deep breath. I know I’m misapplying Newton’s law here. But seriously, how many times have you thrown some people, money or other resources at a problem without fully thinking through the issue? It’s natural to have somewhat of a knee jerk reaction in the wake of an information security breach.

Sometimes though, our best course of action is to take no action at all. Things are going to happen. Sometimes they hurt. Bad. That doesn’t always necessitate a full-on response though. Sure, sometimes we have to put on some window dressing for management, investors, clients or the media to placate them. However, as information security professionals we have a duty to assess risk and mitigate it with a proportional response.  We need to take a deep breath and think through our response. Take the emotion out of it and base your decisions on risk and reward.

I’m not advocating for you to cover up and ignore an incident that needs attention. I’m saying take a deep breath and respond appropriately. The one who rushes into battle is likely fighting in his last.


The information we track while users are on our websites helps us analyze site traffic, optimize site performance, improve our services, and identify new products and services of interest to our users. To learn more please see our Privacy Policy.