Incident Response
Learn how to implement comprehensive incident response procedures including detection, response coordination, communication, and post-incident analysis.
Prerequisites
- Understanding of security concepts
- Experience with monitoring systems
- Knowledge of system administration
- Familiarity with security tools
Incident Response Overview

Visual representation of the incident response lifecycle and key components.
1
Incident Detection
Set up incident detection and classification:
// Incident detection system
const incidentDetector = {
// Severity levels
severityLevels: {
critical: {
threshold: 90,
responseTime: 900, // 15 minutes
escalation: ['security-team', 'management']
},
high: {
threshold: 70,
responseTime: 3600, // 1 hour
escalation: ['security-team']
},
medium: {
threshold: 50,
responseTime: 14400, // 4 hours
escalation: ['support-team']
},
low: {
threshold: 30,
responseTime: 86400, // 24 hours
escalation: ['support-team']
}
},
async detectIncident(event) {
const analysis = await this.analyzeEvent(event);
const severity = this.calculateSeverity(analysis);
if (severity) {
await this.createIncident({
event,
analysis,
severity,
detected: new Date()
});
}
},
async analyzeEvent(event) {
return {
impact: await this.assessImpact(event),
urgency: await this.determineUrgency(event),
scope: await this.evaluateScope(event),
indicators: await this.findThreatIndicators(event)
};
}
}
2
Incident Response
Implement incident response procedures:
// Incident response system
const incidentResponse = {
// Response procedures
procedures: {
async containment(incident) {
// Immediate actions to contain the incident
await this.isolateAffectedSystems(incident);
await this.blockMaliciousTraffic(incident);
await this.revokeCompromisedCredentials(incident);
return {
status: 'contained',
actions: ['isolation', 'traffic-blocked', 'credentials-revoked'],
timestamp: new Date()
};
},
async investigation(incident) {
// Detailed investigation
const evidence = await this.collectEvidence(incident);
const analysis = await this.analyzeEvidence(evidence);
const timeline = await this.reconstructTimeline(evidence);
return {
evidence,
analysis,
timeline,
findings: await this.documentFindings(analysis)
};
},
async remediation(incident) {
// Implement fixes and restore services
const plan = await this.createRemediationPlan(incident);
await this.executeRemediationSteps(plan);
await this.verifyRemediation(plan);
return {
status: 'remediated',
actions: plan.steps,
verification: plan.verification
};
}
},
async handleIncident(incident) {
// Coordinate response activities
const response = {
containment: await this.procedures.containment(incident),
investigation: await this.procedures.investigation(incident),
remediation: await this.procedures.remediation(incident)
};
await this.documentResponse(response);
await this.notifyStakeholders(response);
return response;
}
}
3
Communication Plan
Set up incident communication procedures:
// Communication system
const communicationPlan = {
channels: {
internal: ['slack', 'email', 'phone'],
external: ['status-page', 'email', 'social-media'],
emergency: ['pagerduty', 'sms', 'phone']
},
templates: {
initialNotification: {
internal: `
[INCIDENT-{id}] New Security Incident
Severity: {severity}
Status: {status}
Description: {description}
Actions Required: {actions}
Updates: {updates_url}
`,
external: `
We are currently investigating an issue affecting {services}.
Status: {status}
Impact: {impact}
Updates will be posted at: {status_url}
`
},
updateNotification: {
internal: `
[INCIDENT-{id}] Update
Status: {status}
Progress: {progress}
Next Steps: {next_steps}
ETA: {eta}
`,
external: `
Update on {service} incident:
Current Status: {status}
Resolution Progress: {progress}
Expected Resolution: {eta}
`
}
},
async notifyStakeholders(incident, template, audience) {
const message = this.templates[template][audience]
.replace('{id}', incident.id)
.replace('{severity}', incident.severity)
// ... other replacements
const channels = this.channels[audience];
await Promise.all(
channels.map(channel =>
this.sendNotification(channel, message)
)
);
}
}
4
Post-Incident Analysis
Implement post-incident review and documentation:
// Post-incident analysis system
const postIncidentAnalysis = {
// Analysis components
components: {
async timeline() {
return {
detection: await this.getDetectionTimeline(),
response: await this.getResponseTimeline(),
resolution: await this.getResolutionTimeline()
};
},
async impact() {
return {
systems: await this.assessSystemsImpact(),
users: await this.assessUserImpact(),
business: await this.assessBusinessImpact(),
financial: await this.assessFinancialImpact()
};
},
async rootCause() {
return {
technical: await this.analyzeTechnicalCause(),
process: await this.analyzeProcessGaps(),
human: await this.analyzeHumanFactors()
};
}
},
async generateReport(incident) {
const analysis = {
incident: incident,
timeline: await this.components.timeline(),
impact: await this.components.impact(),
rootCause: await this.components.rootCause(),
lessonsLearned: await this.identifyLessons(),
recommendations: await this.generateRecommendations()
};
await this.documentAnalysis(analysis);
await this.distributeReport(analysis);
return analysis;
}
}
Best Practices
Incident Detection
Best practices for incident detection:
- Define clear triggers
- Implement monitoring
- Automate detection
- Classify severity
Response Process
Effective incident response:
- Follow procedures
- Document actions
- Maintain communication
- Preserve evidence
Post-Incident
Post-incident activities:
- Conduct thorough review
- Document lessons learned
- Update procedures
- Implement improvements
Response Checklist
Initial Response
- Assess severity
- Notify team
- Contain incident
- Preserve evidence
- Document actions
Investigation
- Collect evidence
- Analyze data
- Identify scope
- Determine impact
- Find root cause
Recovery
- Plan remediation
- Test fixes
- Implement changes
- Verify resolution
- Document lessons
Common Challenges
Detection Issues
Common detection problems:
- False positives
- Delayed detection
- Missing indicators
- Alert fatigue
Response Challenges
Response-related issues:
- Communication gaps
- Resource constraints
- Procedure confusion
- Evidence handling