In the realm of cybersecurity, knowing how to create an incident response plan is a highly valuable skill. A cyber incident response plan is basically a structured approach for addressing and managing the aftermath of a cyberattack or security breach. It outlines the protocols and procedures that must be followed when a cyber incident occurs, with the aim of minimising damage, enabling quick recovery, and preventing future occurrences. This plan is essential, as it ensures that organisations can respond effectively to threats, thereby safeguarding their sensitive data and maintaining operational continuity.

When you undergo cybersecurity courses, such as obtaining a CISA certification or a CISM certification, you will know that the impact of cyber incidents can be catastrophic without a well-defined response plan. They can ultimately lead to financial losses, legal repercussions, and reputational damage. Therefore, having a solid incident response plan is necessary for any organisational cybersecurity strategy. To help you, this article shares five of the basic steps to building a cyber incident response plan that works.

1. Preparation

Effective preparation is crucial for a solid incident response. To build one, start by formulating a policy that outlines how incidents will be managed, which actions should be prioritised, and who will lead the response efforts. Keep the plan as straightforward and concise as possible because it needs to be presented to business executives for their approval and support. Next, form your incident response team, ensuring it includes stakeholders from various disciplines such as IT, legal, HR, management, and communications, given the wide-ranging impacts of cyberattacks.

To secure the commitment of every team member, clarify the importance of cybersecurity incident response to them, explaining each member’s role and responsibilities during an incident and how a well-structured plan can help everyone effectively address cyber threats or data breaches. If your organisation has a global team, consider creating regional teams that report to a central incident response leader. You should also designate a specific individual, such as a CISO or another business leader, to communicate with the management team in a manner that the C-suite and board can understand. Finally, regularly review and update your policies and procedures, and make sure your incident response team is consistently trained and ready to respond.

2. Detection and Assessment

The detection and assessment stage of your cyber incident response plan is activated once an incident occurs, which necessitates a response strategy. Given the numerous sources of security incidents, it is impractical to devise a plan for every possible scenario. As such, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a US-based organisation that promotes measurement standards, science, and technology to boost productivity, ease up trade, and enhance quality of life, offers a list of common attack methods that can serve as a foundation for one’s response strategy. Adopting the NIST cybersecurity framework can be very beneficial at this point.

Security incidents can be detected through various means, with signs being either indicators (during or after an attack) or precursors (before an event). Upon identifying an incident, NIST shares some methods you can use to analyse and validate it, thereby ensuring that the appropriate response is triggered. Your incident response plan should basically include instructions for documenting incidents, regardless of their size, and prioritising responses. For instance, the response to an attempted network login differs from that of an infected computer, and if both occur simultaneously, prioritisation is necessary. The final step then involves notification, where you may need to inform relevant parties, such as law enforcement, customers, and affected businesses (depending on the nature of the information compromised), about the incident.

3. Containment, Elimination, and Recovery

An incident response training will tell you that this stage is the most crucial part of your cyber incident response plan, as it focuses on containing the incident, eradicating the threat, and recovering from the attack. The NIST suggests several criteria for deciding on a containment strategy, including service availability, evidence preservation, potential damage and theft of resources, time and resources needed, solution duration, and strategy effectiveness. During this phase, you should gather and preserve as much evidence as possible, and attempt to identify the attacking host while prioritising containment.

Elimination, on the other hand, involves various steps depending on the incident type, such as deleting malware, disabling breached accounts, or closing network vulnerabilities. Some cybersecurity experts recommend consulting with a data forensics team, securing physical areas related to the breach, fixing improperly posted information, and communicating with those who discovered the breach. A documented cyber incident response plan is necessary here, as it ensures comprehensive coverage and reduces the likelihood of leaving vulnerabilities open during a breach.

After eliminating the breach, the recovery phase then begins, which involves providing updates to the incident response plan, addressing the vulnerability that caused the incident, and training employees on necessary procedures to prevent future occurrences. Elimination and recovery can span days, weeks, or months, depending on the severity of the breach. For this purpose, NIST advocates for a phased approach, with initial phases enhancing security quickly and later phases focusing on long-term changes and ongoing efforts to maintain organisational safety.

4. Post-Incident Measure

After a cybersecurity incident occurs, you should call a a post-incident meeting to review and re-evaluate the event and your organisation’s response to it, highlighting successes, failures, and areas for improvement. Frame this meeting as an open, non-blaming forum for sharing lessons learned with senior leaders and stakeholders. Encourage input and feedback on how the organisation can enhance its preparedness for future incidents. Basically, in this stage, you or your incident response team leader should present the following:

• Incident timeline;
• Response metrics, such as mean time to repair (MTTR) and mean time to discovery (MTTD);
• Impacts (on data, customers, employees, systems, and business operations);
• Containment and remediation measures.

5. Testing the Process

Finally, to ensure the effectiveness and strength of your cyber-attack response plan, you should constantly test your incident response process. Do not wait until a cyberattack or any incident occurs before testing your incident response plan. As much as possible, perform simulation exercises and regular drills. For example, this month, you can have your cybersecurity team simulate their response to a malware attack, and in the next month, concentrate on another security event like a ransomware attack or a supply chain cybersecurity incident. Regularly testing your incident response process basically helps you ensure its effectiveness and success the moment a real attack occurs.

Conclusion

Mastering how to build an incident response plan is undeniably necessary in the field of cybersecurity. Such a plan basically equips organisations with the essential framework to address cyber threats quickly and effectively, thereby minimising potential damage. It ensures that all stakeholders are prepared and know their roles during an incident, thereby facilitating a coordinated and efficient response. This preparedness not only helps in mitigating immediate risks but also strengthens the organisation’s overall security posture. Ultimately, a well-crafted incident response plan is a foundation of strong cybersecurity, which helps safeguard critical assets and maintain trust with partners and clients.

If you are looking for a training course to help you understand the fundamentals of creating a good incident response plan, look no further than BridgingMinds! As a reputable provider of top-tier cybersecurity courses like EC-Council, ISACA, and CompTIA, BridgingMinds has already managed to help numerous individuals in improving their skills and advancing their careers in the field of cybersecurity courses. Besides cybersecurity, BridgingMinds also offers courses in other in-demand areas, such as DevOps, cloud, and project management. For more information on our trusted programmes, do not hesitate to give us a call anytime.