What is Incident Response?

Incident response (IR) is the systematic approach an organization takes to prepare for, detect, contain, and recover from a security incident. An effective IR process minimizes damage, reduces recovery time, and helps prevent future incidents.

Incident Response Phases

1. Preparation

Develop IR plan and playbooks
Build and train IR team
Deploy detection tools
Establish communication channels

2. Identification

Detect potential incidents
Analyze alerts and indicators
Determine scope and severity
Document findings

3. Containment

Short-term: Stop immediate damage
Long-term: Prevent spread
Preserve evidence
Isolate affected systems

4. Eradication

Remove threat actors
Eliminate malware
Close vulnerabilities
Verify clean state

5. Recovery

Restore systems safely
Monitor for re-infection
Validate functionality
Return to normal operations

6. Lessons Learned

Post-incident review
Document timeline and actions
Identify improvements
Update procedures

Key Roles

Incident Commander
Technical Lead
Communications Lead
Legal/Compliance
Executive Sponsor