Incident Response

Incident Response: A structured process for the preparation, detectionDetectionThe capability to identify suspicious activity, attacks, or policy violations in time., containmentContainmentActions that limit the scope, spread, and impact of an active security incident., eradication, and post-incident reviewPost-Incident ReviewA structured review that captures causes, decisions, outcomes, and lessons after an incident. regarding security incidents. This concept is part of security incident management. Key elements include defined roles, rapid situational assessment, containment, evidence preservationEvidence PreservationThe controlled acquisition and preservation of evidence without compromising its integrity., communication, and structured follow-up.

An incident managerIncident ManagerRole responsible for overall coordination, prioritization, communication, and decision-making during a security incident. coordinates the overall process, while incident handlersIncident HandlerTechnical role that investigates, contains, preserves evidence from, and remediates a specific security incident. perform technical investigation and response.

How it works and where it fits

Incident Response belongs to a prepared workflow for handling security-relevant events. A technical signal becomes a substantiated incident only through triage, context, and assessment. Roles, decision authority, escalation paths, and stopping conditions should therefore be agreed in advance so actions remain consistent under time pressure.

Practical security relevance

Execution must balance rapid containment with careful evidence preservation. Actions should not unnecessarily destroy important traces or disrupt business operations without control. Timelines, decisions, and changes are documented; after recovery, root causes, identified gaps, and lessons learned feed back into controls, detection logic, and response plans.

Related concepts

• Incident ManagerIncident ManagerRole responsible for overall coordination, prioritization, communication, and decision-making during a security incident.: Role responsible for overall coordination, prioritization, communication, and decision-making during a security incident.
• Incident HandlerIncident HandlerTechnical role that investigates, contains, preserves evidence from, and remediates a specific security incident.: Technical role that investigates, contains, preserves evidence from, and remediates a specific security incident.
• Incident TriageIncident TriageRapid classification and prioritization of a potential security incident.: Rapid classification and prioritization of a potential security incident.
• Digital ForensicsDigital ForensicsPreserves and analyzes digital traces to reconstruct security-relevant events.: Preserves and analyzes digital traces to reconstruct security-relevant events.