Advanced
45 mins

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

Incident Response Workflow

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

Next Steps

Now that you understand incident response, explore these related topics: