Planning
Building an AI breach response plan
You probably have an incident plan already. The work is adding the places AI data lives, the suppliers behind them and one named person who decides on reporting.
Last reviewed against legislation.gov.uk, National Cyber Security Centre and OWASP GenAI Security Project. Sources
Why extend it
What the NCSC says
The NCSC wants organisations to hold a suitable response plan for incidents involving AI, and suggests asking staff how they would handle a serious security incident involving a machine learning tool [3]. Its secure AI development guidelines list incident management processes under secure deployment [4].
A useful test question
"How would you respond to a serious security incident involving an ML tool?" The NCSC offers it as a way to find out whether staff know what to do [3].
The parts
What goes in
This outline fits most organisations. Each part should name a person, not a team.
An inventory of AI use
List the AI tools in use, who uses them and what data goes in. You cannot scope a breach in a tool you did not know existed.
A map of data stores
Note where prompts, chat history, outputs, keys and training files are kept. In the DeepSeek case the database held conversations and secret keys side by side [7].
A decision owner
One person with the authority to decide on reporting. The target runs from awareness [1], so waiting for the next scheduled meeting is a risk in itself.
Supplier contacts
Security contacts and contract terms for each AI supplier. A supplier acting as processor has to alert its customer promptly once it knows [1], which only helps if the alert reaches someone.
Rehearse it
Make it real
For leaders, the NCSC's guidance is to know where their data, models and software come from, and to question suppliers about their own security [3]. Turn those points into the agenda for a table-top exercise.
See also the first response steps and working with suppliers.
Keep reading
Read next
Reporting
When and how a personal data breach involving AI tools must be notified under UK GDPR, what the notice contains and what to record if you do not report.
Read the guide
Telling people
When individuals must be told about a personal data breach involving AI tools, what the message should say and the exceptions the law allows.
Read the guide
Supplier breach
What to do when an AI supplier reports a breach affecting your data: questions to ask, the processor's duty, and how to protect your own timeline.
Read the guideHow CyPro can help
Need a hand working through this?
Finding out whether an incident reaches you is one job. Checking your own systems, tightening access and briefing the board are several more. CyPro's responders and consultants can take any of them on.
Incident response
If you may already be compromised, our responders contain it, preserve the evidence, find out what was touched and get you running again safely.
More on cypro.co.uk
24/7 security monitoring
Our SOC analysts watch your systems day and night for the signs of an attack in progress: unexpected processes, new outbound connections, logins that do not fit.
More on cypro.co.uk
Fractional CISO for the board
A senior security lead who advises the board on what to fix first, what to accept and what to tell customers, and owns the decision record.
More on cypro.co.uk
Penetration testing
A focused test of your systems and the controls around them, so you know they hold before an attacker finds out for you.
More on cypro.co.uk
Hardening and segmentation
Our consultants put the controls in place that limit the damage when something is missed: firewall rules, network isolation and tighter admin access.
More on cypro.co.uk
Vulnerability scanning
Find every internet-facing system you run, including the forgotten ones, and see which are still on a vulnerable build.
See the scanning service
Talk to a specialist
Worried this affects you?
When data has leaked through an AI tool, its logs or its storage, the early decisions shape what you must report and to whom. An incident response team helps you contain the exposure, establish what was involved and prepare your notifications.