What is Incident Response? Understand 6 Crucial Incident Response Steps
Cyberattack happens every 39 seconds
According to Dataprot, worldwide business face ransomware attacks after every 11 seconds.
It has become more than necessary for every business to stay entirely prepared to deal with all potential cyber threats. Indeed, one best preparedness methods have a proper incident response plan.
Do you know what incident response is and its six crucial steps? Continue reading and know more.
What Is Incident Response?
Incident response is anything, and it can be ransomware, a malware attack, or any other kind of data breach.
Incident response is a process of detecting, containing, dealing with, and recovering from a cyber security incident.
If you want to respond to an incident appropriately, you need a plan- well-known as an incident response plan.
Your plan must have all the steps essential to manage and prevent the risk in the future. When you have a proper plan, it is easy for your incident response team to nip the evil in the bud or manage potential cyber security threats.
According to FR Secure, only 45 percent of companies have an incident response plan.
If your business needs a proper incident response plan, you will face many challenges. For example, you will lose the most critical data in case of a malware attack. When an incident is a ransomware, you need to pay a hefty amount to hackers before you get access to your system. Your government may fine you or your shareholders, and customers can sue you. Long story short, you will have severe consequences without this plan.
Understand 6 Crucial Incident Response Steps
According to Checkpoint research, cyber attacks increased up to 55 percent from 2020 to 2023. Over time, these attacks have become so disruptive that you lose confidential data and info without a security plan.
And the worst thing is that an Incident responder has to deal with more than one attack simultaneously.
Regardless of the threat's scope and size, it is vital to have a proper incident response plan- a document providing details of all the steps a company should take if an incident occurs. There are six crucial steps in these plans.
Let's take a closer look at each phase.
Step #1 Preparation phase
In this phase, the organization needs to develop an incident response team where every team member will have specific roles and responsibilities. The first step of this plan is to identify all potential threats and then create strategies to handle all threats.
Step #2 Identification phase
If an incident occurs, the team activates and starts the identification process. The team uses all the resources and tools to check what has happened and collect all the information about this incident.
Step #3 Containment phase
Once you are under attack, it's normal to feel overwhelmed or panic, but please control your nerves fully. And start the containment phase. In this step, the team will contain the incident and ensure it won't spread any further. They may shut down some systems to avoid further damage, or they may change access controls.
Step #4 Eradication phase
After the incident containment, the team takes necessary action to eradicate it. In this step, they may restore from the backup and fix vulnerabilities of a network.
Step #5 Recovery phase
Since the incident has been eradicated, it's time to bring all the system back to normal. Once the system is up and running, the team will review the incident plan and make changes.
Step #6 Lessons learned
It is the most step where incident team members sit together and analyze the incident in detail. They look into their plan and find out what worked well for them. And what areas of the plan need improvement. They start analyzing threats from their starting to the ending point. This analysis offers a clear picture of vulnerabilities and loopholes that needs to be fixed.
Final thoughts - Incident Response
As I told you before, Incidents happen after every 39 seconds throughout the world. With an incident response plan, you can reduce the damage from this incident and let your business get back to normal as quickly as possible. When you prepare yourself for incidents, you can better deal with what is coming. And once you learn from your past mistakes, you are well-prepared for upcoming threats and incidents.
Still trying to figure out where to start? Our team of cybersecurity experts at Xcitium can help you develop an Incident Response Plan explicitly tailored to your business.
FAQ section
An Incident Response Plan is integral to a company's cybersecurity strategy. It outlines a step-by-step procedure for responding to and handling security events. Having a plan in place means that an organization can respond to accidents promptly and efficiently, minimizing possible damage and allowing for a faster recovery.
The following are the major components of an Incident Response Plan:
- Each Incident Response team member should have clearly defined tasks, including external stakeholders, if necessary.
- Criteria for categorizing and prioritizing incidents based on their severity and possible impact are known as incident classification criteria.
- Procedures for communication and notification: Procedures for internal and external communication, including essential stakeholders and regulatory bodies, during a security issue.
- Strategies for incident containment, eradication, and recovery: Steps to reduce the impact of an incident, eliminate threats, and restore normal operations.
- Processes for analyzing and learning from incidents to improve future Incident Response efforts and overall cybersecurity posture.
A diversified team of stakeholders should be involved in an organization's Incident Response process, including:
- Security analysts, IT employees, and other experts in the Incident Response team are responsible for detecting, analyzing, and responding to occurrences.
- Senior management provides guidance, makes strategic decisions, and authorizes resources during an incident.
- Professionals that ensure compliance with relevant regulations and provide legal advice on incident-related issues.
- Human resources and public relations staff are in charge of managing internal and external communications and dealing with any personnel issues arising from the incident.
The Incident Response procedure is often divided into the following stages:
Preparation includes:
- Creating an Incident Response Plan.
- Establishing the Incident Response team.
- Offering employee training and awareness programmes.
Detection and analysis: Identify and investigate potential security incidents using various tools and approaches.
Containment, eradication, and recovery: Taking the necessary steps to reduce the impact of an incident, remove dangers, and restore normal operations.
Post-incident tasks include:
- Investigating the occurrence and response.
- Identifying lessons learned.
- Revising the Incident Response Plan.
Organizations can notice and analyze security problems more effectively using proactive monitoring, advanced security tools, and threat intelligence. Among the essential techniques and tools are:
- SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions for Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS).
- Platforms and threat intelligence streams
- Security audits and vulnerability assessments should be performed regularly.
Organizations can strengthen their Incident Response capability by doing the following:
- Employee and Incident Response team members get continual training and awareness programmes. They are constantly revising and testing their Incident Response Plan.
- Putting advanced security techniques and technology in place
- Participating in threat intelligence sharing initiatives and collaborating with industry partners
- Conducting regular Incident Response drills and simulations
An Incident Response team is essential in addressing security incidents since they:
- Use various tools and procedures and identify and analyze potential security occurrences.
- Create and implement containment, eradication, and recovery plans to lessen the impact of incidents.
- During an incident, coordinating and communicating with internal and external stakeholders
- Keeping a record of the occurrence, reaction actions, and critical findings for future reference
- Conduct post-incident analysis to identify lessons learned and improve the organization's cybersecurity posture.
During a security event, an organization should notify external stakeholders and regulatory agencies as quickly as feasible, mainly if the incident includes sensitive data or substantially impacts the organization's operations. Specific notification procedures and timescales may differ depending on the industry, jurisdiction, and applicable rules. An organization's occurrence Response Plan should include principles and practices for rapid communication and notification during an occurrence.
Organizations can ensure they are prepared for security incidents by taking the following steps:
Create a detailed Incident Response Plan, and review and update it regularly.
Form a trained Incident Response team and give continuing training and assistance.
Implement modern security tools and technologies to identify, analyze, and respond to problems.
Establish clear communication and notification protocols for internal and external parties during an incident.
Conduct regular security audits, vulnerability assessments, and Incident Response simulations to identify weaknesses and opportunities to improve their cybersecurity posture.
