What is Incident Response?

Incident response is a crucial process for any organization, addressing situations where services are disrupted, systems fail, or security incidents occur. This process ensures that organizations can quickly recover and resume normal operations. However, incident response is not limited to major incidents—even routine actions such as rebooting a computer to fix a problem qualify as incident response. 

Incident response describes the structured methodology an organization uses to handle events that impact its services. This process spans the steps taken to mitigate the incident’s consequences, ranging from simple fixes such as restarting a service to extensive projects requiring substantial changes. The steps that lead an organization to determine the appropriate mitigation should remain consistent, regardless of the incident’s scope. 

These steps are typically documented in a formal incident response plan, which varies between companies and industries, depending on the nature of their business and the assets involved. For example, a federal government agency might focus on protecting confidential information, while an online gaming platform might prioritize reducing lag. Undertaking incident response management helps organizations maintain service availability, safeguard sensitive data, and ensure customer satisfaction while protecting systems from compromise. 

Types of Incidents

Understanding the different types of incidents, including those that are security-related, is crucial so organizations can identify and contain incidents but also learn from them to improve operational resilience. 

Common security incidents include:

Unauthorized Access

Unauthorized access occurs when someone gains access to a system, network, or data without permission. Examples include:

1. A hacker bypasses a firewall to enter a private network.
2. An employee uses another employee’s credentials without permission.
3. A visitor to an office uses an unlocked computer to view sensitive files.

Phishing

Phishing is a cyberattack in which an attacker tricks individuals into providing sensitive information by posing as a trustworthy entity. Examples include:

1. An email pretending to be from a bank asking for account details.
2. A fake social media message claiming to offer a prize if personal information is provided.
3. A malicious link sent via SMS that asks users to enter their login credentials.

Malware

Malware is malicious software designed to harm, exploit, or otherwise compromise a computer system or network. Examples include:

1. A virus that deletes files on an infected computer.
2. Ransomware that encrypts data and demands payment for its release.
3. A trojan horse that provides unauthorized remote access to an attacker.

Insider Threats

Insider threats involve individuals within an organization who exploit their access to harm the organization’s data, systems, or operations. Examples include:

1. An employee stealing sensitive company information to sell to competitors.
2. A disgruntled employee deliberately corrupting company databases.
3. An insider unintentionally leaking confidential information through negligence.

Denial of Service (DOS)

A DOS attack involves overwhelming a system, network, or service with excessive traffic, rendering it unavailable to users. Examples include:

1. A website becomes unreachable due to a flood of bogus requests.
2. An online service is disrupted by a large-scale botnet attack.
3. Network bandwidth is saturated, preventing legitimate users from accessing resources.

Man-in-the-middle Attacks (MITM)

MITM attacks occur when an attacker secretly intercepts and possibly alters communication between two parties. Examples include:

1. Intercepting and altering communications between a user and a bank.
2. Eavesdropping on a Wi-Fi connection in a public place to capture login credentials.
3. Spoofing a DNS response to redirect users to malicious websites.

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)

An APT is a prolonged and targeted cyberattack in which an intruder gains ongoing access to a network to steal data over an extended period. Examples include:

1. A sophisticated hacking group infiltrates a government network to exfiltrate classified information over months.
2. A corporate espionage attack where attackers remain undetected within a company’s network for years.
3. An attack on critical infrastructure, like a power grid, to gather intelligence and disrupt services.

Supply Chain Disruptions

Supply chain disruptions occur when an interruption in the supply chain affects the delivery of goods or services. Examples include:

1. A cyberattack on a software vendor causes delays in product updates.
2. A logistics provider experiences a ransomware attack, halting deliveries.
3. A supplier’s compromised system leads to the distribution of infected hardware components.

Infrastructure Failures

Infrastructure failures involve breakdowns in critical physical or virtual systems that support business operations. Examples include:

1. A data center outage due to a power failure.
2. Network failure from a damaged fiber optic cable.
3. Cloud service downtime due to server malfunction.

Reactive vs. Proactive Incident Response

There are two primary incident management approaches: reactive and proactive. Reactive incident response focuses on addressing and mitigating incidents after they have occurred, with the goal of quickly restoring normal operations and minimizing damage. This approach is essential for managing the immediate aftermath of a security breach or system failure. 

Conversely, proactive incident response involves anticipating and preventing incidents before they occur. This approach relies on continuous monitoring, threat intelligence, and regular security audits to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. By implementing proactive measures, organizations can reduce the likelihood of incidents and enhance their overall security posture. 

The main distinction between these two approaches lies in their timing and focus. Reactive response deals with incidents post-occurrence, while proactive response seeks to prevent them. Together, they form a comprehensive strategy to manage and reduce the impact of threats. 

Developing an Effective Incident Response Plan

An effective incident response plan is critical for any organization. It ensures that the incident response team is well-prepared to handle security incidents promptly and efficiently. The development of an incident response plan typically involves four key stages:

• Preparation
• Detection
• Resolution
• Postmortem

Let’s consider the stages for a hypothetical company called SoftwareCo. 

Preparation

The preparation phase is foundational to an effective incident response plan. It begins with a thorough review of the organization’s current protocols, followed by an assessment to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities, including threats and gaps. This assessment helps the organization understand its risk landscape and allocate resources accordingly.

Next, the organization inventories its critical assets, such as servers, employee workstations, applications, and networks. This inventory helps determine which incidents might impact these assets and the urgency of the response required. During this phase, the organization also updates malware protection, patches vulnerabilities, and reconfigures security settings as needed.

A detailed communication plan is also developed during the preparation phase. This plan assigns roles and responsibilities to the incident response team and establishes clear communication channels with stakeholders such as human resources, legal teams, communications managers, and executives.

To streamline response efforts, contact information including phone numbers and email addresses is stored in the incident management tool. Finally, the organization prepares the necessary communication tools, facilities, analysis resources, and mitigation tools to ensure readiness for any incident.

Detection

Detection is a critical phase in the incident response plan. It involves identifying potential security incidents through various channels, such as employee reports, monitoring tools, or customer notifications. For instance, a SoftwareCo admin might encounter login issues or receive a flood of alerts from monitoring tools indicating an unverified user accessing a system. Alternatively, a support team member might report customer issues with the tool. 

In each scenario, the detection phase involves recognizing an anomaly or suspicious activity that could indicate a security breach. The incident response team must then swiftly investigate to determine the cause and scope of the issue. This phase often relies on automated tools and monitoring systems to provide real-time insights into system activity and potential threats. 

Resolution

When an issue is detected, the resolution phase begins. This phase requires the incident response team to act quickly and efficiently to mitigate the incident. The team should use baseline profiles of system activity to identify anomalies and analyze incidents. Familiarity with system behavior and a robust log retention policy aid in this analysis by comparing current data with historical records.

At SoftwareCo, the security team reviews incident information from automated tools, cross-references error codes with documentation, and meticulously documents each step of the process. Containment strategies, such as switching to backup systems or rolling back recent changes, help prevent further damage and provide time for decision-making. 

Once containment is achieved, the focus shifts to eradication. This involves removing malware, disabling compromised accounts, and patching vulnerabilities. Recovery involves restoring systems to their last known good state, repairing damaged files, and potentially overhauling security policies and infrastructure to prevent future incidents. This phase ensures both immediate resolution and long-term protection.

Postmortem

The final phase of the incident response plan is the postmortem. This phase involves a thorough review of the incident from start to finish. The postmortem provides a valuable opportunity to learn from the incident and improve the response process by answering several key questions:

• How could the response be improved?
• What caused the incident?
• What were the consequences of the incident?
• What measures should be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future? 

This exercise helps SoftwareCo refine its incident response plan, enhance its defenses against future cyber threats, and ensure a more resilient security posture. 

Incident Response Frameworks

Organizations often base their incident response plans on the following established frameworks to ensure a structured and effective approach:

• NIST Framework

  Outlined in NIST SP 800-61, this framework describes five key phases of incident response: Preparation, Identification, Containment, Eradication, and Recovery, and Post-Incident Activity. The NIST framework provides a comprehensive approach to managing cyber incidents and is widely adopted by organizations seeking to enhance their incident response capabilities.

• ISO Framework
  

  Defined in ISO/IEC 27035, this framework outlines five phases: Identification, Containment, Eradication, Recovery, and Lessons Learned. The ISO framework emphasizes the importance of learning from incidents to prevent future occurrences and improve the overall security posture of the organization.

• SANS Framework
  

  This framework consists of six stages: Preparation, Identification, Containment, Eradication, Recovery, and Lessons Learned. The SANS framework provides a detailed and practical approach to incident response, focusing on both immediate and long-term actions to mitigate and prevent security incidents. 

Incident Response Best Practices

Developing and implementing an effective incident response plan involves adhering to several best practices, which help organizations respond to incidents efficiently and minimize the impact of security breaches and cyber threats:

1. Build an Incident Response Plan

   Develop a comprehensive plan that outlines the steps the incident response team should follow in the event of an incident. This plan should be tailored to the organization’s specific needs and regularly updated to address emerging threats.

2. Use Established Frameworks

   Base the incident response plan on recognized frameworks such as NIST, ISO, and SANS to ensure a structured and effective approach. These frameworks provide guidelines and best practices for managing incidents and improving security.

3. Create an Incident Response Team

   Assemble a dedicated team with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The team should include internal members from various departments, such as IT, legal, and communications, as well as external members like cybersecurity experts.

4. Maintain Open Communication

   Establish a communication plan to share information and provide updates both internally and externally. Clear and timely communication is crucial during an incident to ensure a coordinated response and keep stakeholders informed.

5. Conduct Post-Incident Reporting

   Analyze each incident, document lessons learned, and update the incident response plan accordingly. This practice helps organizations continually improve their response processes and enhance their defenses against future threats. 

Leveraging Automation with xMatters

Managing incident response can be a daunting task, especially for organizations with complex IT environments and diverse cyber threats. However, leveraging automation tools like Everbridge xMatters can significantly streamline the process and improve response times.

xMatters uses AI, analytics, and workflows to automate and accelerate incident response, from detection to resolution. By integrating with existing systems and tools, xMatters provides real-time insights and automates key tasks, enabling incident response teams to focus on critical decision-making and mitigation efforts.

Automation helps organizations become familiar with the four phases of incident response—preparation, detection, resolution, and postmortem—and ensures they are well-equipped to handle security incidents effectively. With xMatters, teams can respond more efficiently, reduce the impact of incidents, and strengthen their overall cybersecurity posture.

Developing a robust incident response plan is essential for organizations to protect their services, systems, and sensitive data from cyber threats. By following best practices, leveraging established frameworks, and using automation tools like xMatters, organizations can enhance their incident response capabilities and ensure a more secure and resilient environment.

Request a demo