Quick Answer: eShield IT provides 24/7 incident response services in UAE. Emergency response: remote triage within 2 hours, on-site UAE deployment within 4 hours. Services include ransomware containment, BEC investigation, data breach response, digital forensics, and CBUAE/NESA regulatory notification support. IR retainers available from AED 18,000/year for 1-hour response SLA.
eShield IT provides incident response services across UAE and GCC — available 24/7 for active breaches. Our certified DFIR team contains attacks, preserves evidence, eradicates threats, and restores operations. Typical response time: 2 hours for remote engagement, 4 hours for on-site UAE deployment. Retainer-based IR keeps your response SLA at 1 hour.
Why Incident Response Speed Is Everything
Every minute an attacker remains inside your network, they are expanding access, exfiltrating data, or encrypting files. The IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2024 report found that organisations with an incident response team and a tested IR plan saved an average of USD 1.49 million per breach compared to those without.
In the UAE context, the stakes are even higher. CBUAE-supervised financial institutions must notify the regulator of significant incidents within 72 hours. NESA-regulated government entities have similar mandatory reporting timelines. Slow incident response is not just an operational risk — it is a regulatory liability.
eShield IT Incident Response Services
| Service | What’s Included | Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency IR (Break/Fix) | Triage, containment, eradication, recovery, root cause analysis, post-incident report | Remote + on-site UAE. T+2h remote, T+4h on-site Dubai/Abu Dhabi |
| IR Retainer | Pre-agreed SLAs, priority access to senior DFIR team, quarterly IR readiness reviews, 12 months coverage | T+1h response SLA; AED 18,000–45,000/year |
| IR Readiness Assessment | Review of existing IRP, tabletop exercise, gap report, updated playbooks for ransomware, BEC, and data breach scenarios | Fixed-scope; 2–3 weeks; AED 12,000–28,000 |
| Digital Forensics | Disk imaging, memory forensics, network capture analysis, evidence preservation for legal proceedings | Remote + on-site; UAE court-admissible evidence |
| Regulatory Notification Support | CBUAE/NESA/DESC notification drafting, timeline management, regulator liaison | Included in emergency IR engagements |
Our Incident Response Process
| Phase | Actions | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Triage | Confirm incident scope, affected systems, data exposed; establish IR command channel; assign IR lead | 0–2 hours |
| 2. Containment | Isolate affected endpoints, block C2 communications, disable compromised accounts, preserve forensic state | 2–8 hours |
| 3. Investigation | Root cause analysis, attacker TTP mapping (MITRE ATT&CK), timeline reconstruction, IoC identification | 8–72 hours |
| 4. Eradication | Remove malware, close attack vectors, patch exploited vulnerabilities, rebuild compromised systems from clean baseline | 24–96 hours |
| 5. Recovery | Restore systems in priority order, validate integrity, monitor for re-infection, return to normal operations | 24–168 hours |
| 6. Post-Incident Report | Executive summary, technical timeline, root cause, remediation evidence, regulatory notification package | 5–10 business days post-recovery |
Incident Types We Handle
- Ransomware attacks — Containment, recovery planning, negotiation advisory (we advise not to pay without legal counsel), forensic investigation
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) — Email account takeover, fraudulent wire transfer investigation, account remediation
- Data breaches — Scope determination, data subject identification, regulatory notification under UAE PDPL
- Supply chain attacks — Third-party compromise investigation, lateral movement mapping
- Insider threats — Privileged user investigation, data exfiltration analysis, HR/legal liaison
- Web application breaches — SQLi, web shell, Magecart/skimming investigation, evidence preservation
- Cloud security incidents — AWS/Azure/GCP account compromise, misconfiguration exploitation, S3/blob data exposure
- DDoS & availability incidents — Attack attribution, ISP/CDN coordination, traffic analysis
Incident Response FAQ
How quickly can eShield IT respond to an active incident?
For IR retainer clients: 1-hour response SLA. For emergency break/fix engagements: remote triage begins within 2 hours of engagement; on-site deployment in Dubai and Abu Dhabi within 4 hours. Other UAE Emirates within 6 hours. GCC locations within 24 hours.
Should we pay the ransom if attacked by ransomware?
We advise engaging legal counsel before any ransom decision. Payment does not guarantee data return or decryption key delivery — in 2024, 35% of organisations that paid received no working decryptor (Coveware Q4 2024). Payment may also trigger sanctions risk if the threat actor is on an OFAC/UAE sanctions list. Our first priority is always recovery from clean backups. eShield IT will assess your backup integrity and recovery options before any payment discussion occurs.
Do you produce evidence suitable for UAE legal proceedings?
Yes. Our digital forensics team follows evidence handling procedures compatible with UAE Federal Law No. 5 of 2012 (Cybercrime Law) and UAE court requirements. We maintain chain of custody documentation and can provide expert witness testimony if required. All forensic images are verified with cryptographic hashing.
What does an IR retainer cost?
IR retainers at eShield IT run AED 18,000–45,000 per year depending on organisation size, priority SLA, and the number of retainer hours included. This is typically 3–10x cheaper than the cost of a single unplanned emergency IR engagement. Retainer clients also receive quarterly IR readiness reviews and priority access to our senior DFIR team.
