Incident Response Planning for Security Teams
Incident Response Planning for Security Teams Security teams face a range of threats, from phishing to ransomware. A clear incident response plan helps teams act quickly, communicate clearly, and reduce damage. It also creates a repeatable process that can be trained and tested. A practical incident response plan covers people, processes, and tools. It should be easy to maintain and use during pressure. Include these elements: Roles and contact list: Define who leads, who supports, and how to reach them at any hour. Keep phone numbers and emails current. Runbooks and playbooks: Step-by-step actions for common incidents, such as phishing, malware, or data leakage. Detection and triage: How events are identified, logged, and rated by severity so the team knows where to act. Containment, eradication, and recovery: Actions to stop spread, remove the threat, and restore services with minimal downtime. Evidence handling and reporting: How to preserve logs, collect artifacts, and document decisions for audits. Communication plan: Internal spokespeople, external notices, and the cadence for updates to leadership and customers. Post-incident review: A brief debrief, root-cause analysis, and a plan to improve. Training and exercises: Regular tabletop drills and hands-on practice to keep skills fresh. Documentation and versioning: Keep the plan in a shared, version-controlled repository. Track changes, owners, and dates so the team can review decisions later. ...