Incident Response Playbooks for SOC Teams

Incident response playbooks are concise guides that tell SOC teams what to do when a security incident occurs. They translate training into consistent actions, reducing confusion under pressure. A good playbook covers who does what, when to act, and how to communicate with stakeholders.

Key components include the objective, triggers, roles, steps, evidence, communication, escalation, success criteria, and a post-incident review. Keep them short and actionable—often one page per playbook—to be easy to reference during a live incident. A well-made playbook also notes what not to do, to avoid common mistakes.

How to build a practical playbook

  • Start with a common incident type (phishing, malware, credential compromise)
  • Define the incident objective and the detection trigger
  • List roles: IR lead, technical lead, communications liaison, IT ops, legal/compliance, and management
  • Provide a clear step-by-step flow: triage, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned
  • Include an artifacts checklist: logs, screenshots, hash values, and affected assets
  • Specify escalation rules and time targets
  • Define success criteria: systems restored, no data loss, verified containment

Example scenario

  • Phishing email leads to credential reuse
    • Trigger: user report or security alert
    • Triage and classification, then containment (reset password, block attacker domain)
    • Eradication (remove phishing emails, patch or block attacker IP)
    • Recovery (reinstate access with monitoring)
    • Review (update controls, revise the playbook)

Keep the playbooks living

  • Review after every incident and adjust steps as needed
  • Use a centralized repository for quick updates
  • Run tabletop exercises regularly to test clarity and timing
  • Track lessons learned and share improvements across teams

Key Takeaways

  • Build role-based, action-ready playbooks that fit your environment.
  • Use simple templates and update them after each incident.
  • Regular tabletop drills improve speed, accuracy, and cooperation.