--- title: "Something Looks Off: What to Do in the First Five Minutes | StartCloud" description: "Module 6 of our free Cyber Hygiene for Staff pathway: what to do in the first five minutes after a phished password, a dodgy attachment, a lost laptop or a fake invoice, with zero blame." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": [ "LocalBusiness", "ProfessionalService" ], "@id": "https://startcloud.au/#business", "name": "StartCloud", "legalName": "Start Technologies Pty Ltd", "alternateName": "StartCloud Australia", "identifier": { "@type": "PropertyValue", "propertyID": "ABN", "value": "17 676 121 449" }, "slogan": "Go Beyond", "description": "StartCloud is Perth's cybersecurity-first AI MSP: managed IT, Essential Eight security, Microsoft 365 and cloud, networking, and practical AI for Australian businesses with 5 to 50 staff.", "url": "https://startcloud.au", "logo": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "image": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", 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"https://www.google.com/maps/place/StartCloud/@-31.8648767,115.8069889,739m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x2a32a5b5d9e864b5:0x9f02690968f0e50c!8m2!3d-31.8648813!4d115.8095638!16s%2Fg%2F11vzbgtytj" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "LearningResource", "name": "Something Looks Off: What to Do in the First Five Minutes", "description": "Module 6 of the Cyber Hygiene for Staff pathway: the first five minutes after something goes wrong, scenario by scenario, how to report it well, and where Australia's official help lives.", "educationalLevel": "Beginner", "learningResourceType": "Module", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Course", "name": "Cyber Hygiene for Staff", "url": "https://startcloud.au/learn/cyber-hygiene-for-staff", "provider": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" } }, "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" }, "datePublished": "2026-07-24", "dateModified": "2026-07-24", "url": "https://startcloud.au/learn/what-to-do-cyber-incident" } ] --- [![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth")](/ "StartCloud | Managed IT Services Perth") - Cybersecurity - AI Solutions - Cloud - Technology - Networking - Explore [Contact Us](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") Open menu Module 6 of StartCloud's Cyber Hygiene for Staff learning pathway, in five short units with a knowledge check: why speed beats embarrassment, a scenario-by-scenario playbook for the first five minutes (phished password, dodgy attachment, lost device, fake invoice), how to report an incident well, and where Australia's official help lives (ReportCyber, Scamwatch, IDCARE). Course contents [Pathway overview](/learn/cyber-hygiene-for-staff) Pathway Cyber Hygiene for Staff 0 of 5 units done in this module 1. [Why you're a target ](/learn/why-cyber-criminals-target-your-business) 2. [Spot the phish ](/learn/how-to-spot-phishing-emails) 3. [Passwords and MFA ](/learn/password-and-mfa-habits) 4. [Devices and Wi-Fi ](/learn/safe-devices-and-wifi-habits) 5. [Share safely ](/learn/share-work-files-safely) 6. When something looks off 1. Speed beats embarrassment 2 min 2. The first five minutes, scenario by scenario 2 min 3. How to report it well 2 min 4. When it is bigger than your IT team 1 min 5. Knowledge check 2 min 7. [Scams aimed at you ](/learn/scams-that-target-you-personally) 8. [Working from home ](/learn/working-from-home-safely) 9. [Social engineering ](/learn/social-engineering-tactics) # Something Looks Off: What to Do in the First Five Minutes Module 6 · Respond Unit 1 of 5 · about 2 min ## Speed beats embarrassment Let us get one thing sorted before anything else. **Everyone clicks something eventually.** IT professionals do it. Security trainers do it. People who write cyber training modules have done it, and more than once. Modern scams are well made, they arrive on your busiest day, and falling for one does not make you careless. It makes you a person with an inbox. So this module is not about never making a mistake. It is about the only part that actually decides how bad a mistake gets: **how quickly someone says something**. The gap between a five-minute fix and a five-week disaster is almost never the click itself. Reported within five minutes The password is changed before anyone gets to use it. The machine comes off the network before anything spreads. The bank recalls the payment while it is still recallable. IT sorts it before lunch, and the whole thing becomes a story for the Christmas party. Kept quiet for five days The attacker has had days inside the account. Emails have gone out under your name. The payment cleared long ago into an account that no longer exists. Now it is investigations, awkward customer phone calls and very late nights, and none of it needed to happen. The person who speaks up is doing the business a favour If a workmate tells you they clicked something dodgy, the only correct response is thank you. They just handed the business a head start most attackers never allow. Blame teaches people to stay quiet, and honestly, staying quiet is the only genuine mistake in this whole module. Everything else is fixable. Mark done and continue ![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth") Cybersecurity-led IT for Australian businesses. We manage security, compliance, and modern IT environments, so risk is governed, not guessed. 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