10 min read
Most businesses believe they are well prepared for a cyberattack. They install antivirus software, configure firewalls, and rely on IT teams to monitor their systems around the clock. However, the real challenge often begins when a breach actually occurs: what should they do first? The gap between having security tools and having a clear, coordinated response process is exactly what turns minor incidents into major disruptions.
Incident response was designed to solve that problem. It is a structured process that helps organizations detect, manage, and recover from cybersecurity incidents in an organized and efficient way. From the moment suspicious activity is identified to the point where systems return to normal operation, everyone involved understands their responsibilities and how to work together effectively.
In this article, you will gain a clear understanding of what is incident response, how the incident response process works, and the best practices businesses can follow to reduce risks when facing real-world cyber threats.
What is incident response?Link to heading
Incident response (sometimes called cybersecurity incident response) covers the processes and technologies an organization puts in place to detect and respond to cyberthreats, security breaches, and cyberattacks. When formalized into an incident response plan, it gives cybersecurity teams a clear path to limit or prevent damage before it compounds.
The primary goal of incident response is twofold: stop cyberattacks from succeeding in the first place, and reduce the operational disruption and financial cost when an attack does get through. It forms the technical backbone of the broader discipline known as incident management, which also pulls in executive decision-making, HR protocols, and legal oversight when a serious incident occurs.
In practice, the most effective organizations document their incident response processes and technologies in a formal Incident Response Plan (IRP), a structured playbook that defines how specific types of cyberattacks should be identified, contained, and resolved.
A well-built IRP helps security teams move faster during active threats, restore compromised systems more efficiently, and reduce exposure to revenue loss, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage.
>>> Learn more: 10+ Bad habits that get your WordPress website hacked fast
What are security incidents?Link to heading
A security incident, also called a security event, is any digital or physical breach that puts the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an organization's information systems or sensitive data at risk. These incidents range from deliberate attacks carried out by external hackers or unauthorized users, to accidental policy violations made by legitimate employees who simply did not follow proper security procedures.
To fully understand what is incident response, it is essential to first recognize the different types of security incidents that organizations face on a daily basis.
The most common types of security incidents include the following:
RansomwareLink to heading
Ransomware is a form of malicious software that encrypts or locks a victim's data or devices and demands payment in exchange for restoring access. In more aggressive cases, attackers threaten to publish or permanently destroy the data if the ransom is not paid.
Phishing and social engineeringLink to heading
Phishing attacks arrive as fraudulent emails, messages, or voice calls designed to trick recipients into handing over sensitive information, downloading malware, transferring funds, or taking other harmful actions. What makes phishing effective is how convincing it looks, as attackers deliberately craft messages to mimic trusted organizations or known individuals, making it difficult for recipients to recognize the threat.
DDoS attacksLink to heading
In a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, an attacker hijacks a large number of internet-connected devices and directs them to flood a target organization's network or servers with fake traffic. The volume of that traffic overwhelms the infrastructure, making services completely unavailable to real users.
Supply chain attacksLink to heading
Rather than targeting an organization directly, supply chain attacks work by compromising a trusted vendor or third-party supplier first. Once inside the vendor's environment, attackers can steal sensitive data or use the supplier's own distribution channels to push malware into the target organization's systems.
Insider threatsLink to heading
Insider threats come in two distinct forms. Malicious insiders are employees, partners, or other authorized users who deliberately abuse their access to compromise the organization's security. Negligent insiders, on the other hand, cause damage unintentionally, typically by ignoring basic security practices such as reusing weak passwords or saving sensitive data in unsecured locations.
Privilege escalation attacksLink to heading
Privilege escalation attacks follow a calculated progression. An attacker begins by gaining limited access to a system, then methodically exploits vulnerabilities to move laterally across the environment, accumulating higher permission levels along the way until sensitive data or critical systems are within reach. Stolen credentials frequently play a role in either securing that initial foothold or accelerating the escalation process.
Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacksLink to heading
In a man-in-the-middle attack, a threat actor positions themselves between two communicating parties, most commonly intercepting emails that contain usernames, passwords, or other sensitive details. The attacker either harvests that information directly for their own use or silently injects malware into the message before it reaches the intended recipient, leaving both parties unaware that anything has been tampered with.
Each of these attack types represents a scenario where knowing what is incident response and having a structured plan in place can significantly reduce the damage inflicted on the organization.
Incident response planningLink to heading
An organization's approach to handling security incidents is typically guided by a formal incident response plan. These plans are usually developed and carried out by a computer security incident response team (CSIRT), a cross-functional group made up of stakeholders from various parts of the organization.
Depending on the organization's size and structure, a CSIRT may include the chief information security officer (CISO), members of the security operations center (SOC), security analysts, and IT staff. It can also extend to representatives from executive leadership, legal, human resources, regulatory compliance, and risk management, as well as third-party experts brought in from external service providers when additional expertise is needed.
A well-structured incident response plan typically contains the following components:
- An incident response playbook that outlines the specific roles and responsibilities assigned to each CSIRT member throughout every phase of the incident response lifecycle.
- A complete inventory of the security solutions, software, hardware, and other technologies deployed across the organization.
- A business continuity plan that establishes clear procedures for restoring critical systems and recovering essential data as quickly as possible in the event of an outage.
- An incident response methodology that details the precise steps to be taken at each stage of the response process and identifies who is responsible for executing them.
- A communications plan that defines how and when company leadership, employees, customers, and law enforcement will be informed when an incident occurs.
- Documentation guidelines covering how incident-related information should be collected, recorded, and preserved for post-incident review and, where necessary, legal proceedings.
In many cases, organizations develop separate incident response plans tailored to different attack types, since each category of threat may demand a distinct response approach. It is common practice to maintain dedicated plans for scenarios such as DDoS attacks, malware infections, ransomware, phishing campaigns, and insider threats.
This level of specificity reflects a deeper understanding of what is incident response in practice, moving beyond a general definition toward a framework that addresses real operational conditions.
Customizing incident response plans to fit an organization's specific environment is one of the most effective ways to reduce the time needed to respond to, remediate, and fully recover from an attack. A generic plan rarely accounts for the nuances of a particular infrastructure, which is why specificity matters at every level of planning.
Some organizations also choose to supplement their internal CSIRT capabilities by partnering with external providers that specialize in incident response services. These partners typically operate on a retainer basis and contribute across multiple aspects of the incident management process, from helping design and refine response plans to actively supporting execution when a real incident unfolds.
For organizations still developing their internal capabilities, working with experienced external partners is one of the most practical ways to strengthen their overall understanding and execution of what is incident response at an operational level.
How incident response worksLink to heading
Most incident response plans are built around the same general framework, drawing from models developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the SANS Institute. While specific implementations vary by organization, the core steps remain largely consistent across the industry.
PreparationLink to heading
Preparation is both the first phase of incident response and an ongoing one. During this stage, the CSIRT evaluates and selects the procedures, tools, and techniques best suited to detect, contain, and recover from incidents as efficiently as possible while keeping business disruption to a minimum.
Through regular risk assessments, the team maps out the environment that needs to be protected, identifies potential network vulnerabilities, and catalogs the types of security incidents that represent the greatest risk. Each incident type is then prioritized based on its potential impact on the organization.
To sharpen response capabilities, the CSIRT may simulate various attack scenarios and build response templates from the most effective outcomes, enabling faster action when a real incident occurs. Response times are often tracked and used to establish benchmarks for future training exercises. Based on the findings of a thorough risk assessment, the team will update existing response plans or create new ones where gaps are identified.
This preparation phase is a direct reflection of what is incident response at its most proactive, shifting the focus from reaction to anticipation.
Detection and analysisLink to heading
In this phase, security team members actively monitor the network for suspicious behavior and emerging threats. They review data, alerts, and notifications pulled from device logs and security tools such as antivirus software and firewalls, working to distinguish genuine incidents from false positives and ranking confirmed alerts by severity.
Most organizations today rely on solutions like security information and event management (SIEM) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) to monitor security events in real time and automate portions of the response workflow. Once the CSIRT has identified the nature of the threat or breach, the organization's communications plan is activated and the relevant personnel are notified before the team advances to the next phase.
ContainmentLink to heading
At this stage, the incident response team takes deliberate action to prevent the breach or malicious activity from causing further harm to the network, and the relevant emergency response procedures are set in motion. Containment is one of the most time-sensitive aspects of what is incident response in a live attack scenario, as delays at this stage allow threats to spread further and cause significantly more damage.
Containment activities fall into two categories.
- Short-term mitigation focuses on stopping the current threat from spreading by isolating affected systems, such as taking compromised devices offline immediately.
- Long-term containment focuses on protecting systems that have not yet been affected by placing stronger security controls around them, for example by segmenting sensitive databases from the broader network.
During containment, the CSIRT may also create backups of both affected and unaffected systems to prevent further data loss and to preserve forensic evidence for later analysis.
EradicationLink to heading
Once the threat has been successfully contained, the team shifts focus to full remediation and the complete removal of the threat from the environment. This may involve eliminating malware, revoking access for unauthorized or rogue users, or removing compromised components entirely. Both affected and unaffected systems are reviewed carefully to confirm that no traces of the breach remain before the team moves forward.
RecoveryLink to heading
When the CSIRT is confident that the threat has been fully eradicated, the process of restoring affected systems to normal operations begins. Recovery activities may include deploying security patches, rebuilding systems from clean backups, and gradually bringing devices and services back online.
A detailed record of the attack and its resolution is retained for future analysis and to inform improvements to the organization's security posture.
Post-incident reviewLink to heading
Throughout every phase of the incident response process, the CSIRT gathers evidence related to the breach and documents each action taken to contain and eliminate the threat. In the post-incident review, that documentation is examined collectively to build a clearer picture of what happened and extract meaningful lessons.
The team works to establish the root cause of the attack, understand how it penetrated the network, and address the vulnerabilities that made the breach possible, with the aim of preventing the same type of incident from recurring.
This review stage is where organizations refine their understanding of what is incident response within their own environment, using real evidence from an actual event to strengthen every layer of their security program.
The CSIRT also evaluates what was handled well and identifies areas where systems, tools, or processes can be strengthened to improve resilience against future attacks. Depending on the nature and severity of the breach, law enforcement agencies may also be involved in the post-incident investigation.
Incident response technologiesLink to heading
Beyond defining the steps a CSIRT should follow during a security incident, incident response plans also specify the security technologies that response teams should deploy to support or automate key workflows, including collecting and correlating security data, detecting incidents as they unfold, and responding to attacks already in progress.
The most widely used incident response technologies are outlined below:
ASM (Attack Surface Management)Link to heading
ASM solutions automate the continuous discovery, analysis, remediation, and monitoring of vulnerabilities and potential attack vectors across every asset within an organization's attack surface. By running these processes continuously, ASM can surface previously unmonitored network assets and map the relationships between them, giving security teams a more complete and accurate view of their exposure.
EDR (Endpoint Detection And Response)Link to heading
EDR is software built to automatically protect an organization's users, endpoint devices, and IT assets from cyberthreats that bypass antivirus software and other conventional endpoint security tools. It continuously collects data from all endpoints across the network, analyzes that data in real time for signs of known or suspected threats, and can respond automatically to prevent or reduce damage from anything it identifies.
For organizations building out their first formal security program, EDR is widely regarded as one of the most essential tools to deploy when establishing what is incident response at the endpoint level.
SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)Link to heading
SIEM aggregates and correlates security event data from a wide range of internal security tools, including firewalls, vulnerability scanners, and threat intelligence feeds, as well as from devices connected to the network. One of its most practical contributions to incident response is helping teams manage alert fatigue by filtering genuine threat indicators out of the large volume of notifications that security tools routinely generate.
SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response)Link to heading
SOAR gives security teams the ability to define playbooks, which are formalized workflows that coordinate different security operations and tools in response to incidents. Where possible, SOAR platforms can automate portions of these workflows, allowing teams to respond faster and more consistently without relying entirely on manual intervention.
UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics)Link to heading
UEBA applies behavioral analytics, machine learning algorithms, and automation to detect abnormal or potentially dangerous activity from both users and devices. It is particularly effective at identifying insider threats, whether from malicious insiders or external attackers operating with stolen insider credentials, because these threats tend to blend into normal network traffic in ways that defeat other security tools.
UEBA capabilities are frequently embedded within SIEM, EDR, and XDR platforms rather than deployed as standalone solutions.
XDR (Extended Detection and Response)Link to heading
XDR is a cybersecurity technology that brings together security tools, control points, data sources, telemetry, and analytics across a hybrid IT environment into a single, centralized system for threat prevention, detection, and response. For security teams and SOCs that are stretched thin, XDR delivers meaningful efficiency gains by eliminating the silos that exist between individual security tools and automating responses across the entire cyberthreat kill chain.
As organizations continue to evolve their security programs, XDR represents one of the most comprehensive technological answers to the question of what is incident response when applied across a complex, hybrid infrastructure.
Incident response best practicesLink to heading
Automate detection and alertingLink to heading
Manual monitoring is no longer sufficient in an environment where threats move faster than human reaction times allow. Automating detection and alerting ensures that suspicious activity is flagged and escalated the moment it is identified, without depending on an analyst to catch every signal across a flood of incoming data.
Organizations should configure their SIEM, EDR, and XDR platforms to trigger automated alerts based on predefined threat indicators and behavioral thresholds. When an alert fires, the system should be able to initiate an initial triage workflow automatically, routing the incident to the appropriate team member based on severity and type.
This reduces the window between initial compromise and detection, which is one of the most critical factors in limiting the blast radius of any attack.
Automation also helps address alert fatigue. When analysts are buried under hundreds of low-priority notifications, genuine threats can go unnoticed. Well-configured automation filters out the noise and surfaces only the alerts that require human attention, allowing the team to focus their energy where it matters most.
Conduct tabletop exercises regularlyLink to heading
A response plan that has never been tested under pressure is little more than a document. Tabletop exercises give the entire CSIRT an opportunity to work through realistic attack scenarios in a controlled setting, exposing gaps in the plan before a real incident forces them into the open.
These exercises are also one of the most effective ways to ensure that every team member genuinely understands what is incident response and what their specific role requires when an actual event occurs.
During a tabletop exercise, team members walk through a simulated incident step by step, discussing what actions they would take at each phase, who holds decision-making authority, and how communication would flow internally and externally. These sessions surface coordination problems, unclear role assignments, and procedural bottlenecks that would otherwise only become apparent during an actual breach.
Exercises should be conducted at least twice a year and updated to reflect new threat types, infrastructure changes, and lessons learned from previous incidents or industry-wide events. The more realistic and specific the scenario, the more useful the exercise. Organizations that test against the exact types of attacks most likely to target their environment consistently demonstrate faster and more effective responses when real incidents occur.
Document everything in real timeLink to heading
Accurate documentation during an active incident is one of the most overlooked disciplines in incident response, yet it has significant consequences for both recovery and accountability. Every action taken, every system examined, every decision made, and every timeline entry should be recorded as events unfold rather than reconstructed from memory afterward.
Real-time documentation serves multiple purposes. It gives the response team a clear, shared picture of what has already been done, which prevents duplicated effort and ensures continuity if team members rotate in and out during a prolonged incident. It also preserves a forensically sound chain of evidence that may be required for legal proceedings, regulatory reporting, or insurance claims following the incident.
After the incident is resolved, this documentation feeds directly into the post-incident review, enabling the team to analyze the response accurately, identify what worked and what did not, and make concrete improvements to the plan. Organizations that maintain detailed incident records over time build an institutional knowledge base that compounds in value with every event they work through.
ConclusionLink to heading
Learning what is incident response is the first step toward building a stronger and more resilient cybersecurity strategy. A structured incident response process helps security teams act faster, coordinate more effectively, and recover systems with less disruption.
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