Security teams are increasingly faced with a wide range of potential incidents—whether it’s a physical breach, an unauthorized access event, or even an environmental disaster. The ability to respond effectively can mean the difference between a quick resolution and an escalation with significant impact.
According to recent surveys, almost nine out of ten security leaders say they would like to improve their incident detection and response times, with only 13% reporting that they currently detect and respond to incidents quickly enough. This indicates a critical gap in how organizations prepare for and handle incidents, particularly those classified as medium to high impact – highlighting the criticality of having a well-structured and actionable Incident Response Plans (IRPs) in place.
To support those striving to improve the organization’s incident response procedures, we’ve compiled a practical step-by-step guide for effectively responding to security incidents building on ISO 31000, ISO 22301, and ASIS International Standards, and data-driven insights. By ensuring staff are aware of key incident response principles and procedures, teams can enhance their ability to manage incidents effectively. And embed more effective organizational resilience.
1. Detection: Identifying the Incident Early
Early detection is essential to managing any security incident, and it’s one of the most important steps to ensure a swift and effective response. However only a small percentage of organizations are equipped to quickly detect incidents, which significantly affects the speed and quality of the response.
ISO 31000:2018 emphasizes the importance of risk identification, encouraging organizations to regularly assess and monitor risks. A core element of this includes ensuring that detection systems are in place to identify emerging incidents early on, whether physical breaches or cybersecurity attacks.
Detection can come from various sources, such as automated security systems, employee reports, or manual surveillance protocols. Security leaders should focus on investing in detection technology and employee training as a critical success factor, as it can drastically improve incident response times and help identify even subtle threats. The detection of early warning signs is essential to minimize damage and prevent further escalation.
2. Containment: Stopping the Incident from Spreading
Once an incident is detected, swift containment is necessary to prevent further harm. ASIS International’s Physical Security Standards recommend the use of multiple layers of physical security controls, such as secure access points, perimeter barriers, access control systems or proactive contact with relevant authorities, which can all be rapidly activated when an incident occurs. By restricting access to affected areas and securing key assets, containment can limit the incident’s scope and minimize potential damage. Containment strategies will always depend on the nature of the incident, but should nonetheless be executed in a standardized and structured way to minimize both physical harm and operational disruption.
Additionally, ISO 22301:2019, focusing on Business Continuity Management, stresses the need to have clear procedures in place to manage the immediate effects of an incident to ensure business continuity. A crucial step to achieve this is the identification of critical assets, and ensuring that these are protected immediately to prevent cascading effects on other systems.
3. Eradication: Eliminating the Source of the Threat
After containing the incident, it’s crucial to eradicate the root cause of the problem to prevent recurrence. This involves assessing the incident thoroughly to understand how the breach occurred, and addressing the vulnerabilities exposed during the event. In plain language, eradication involves two key steps:
- Identifying how the incident occurred (e.g., failure in access controls or a emerging vulnerability).
- Addressing the underlying issue—whether that’s fixing compromised systems, replacing damaged security equipment, or investigating human error.
ISO 27001, a key framework for managing information security, emphasizes the need for continuous vulnerability management, regular security audits, and recommends that organizations conduct thorough root cause analysis after every security incident.
4. Recovery: Returning to Normal Operations
Recovery is the phase where operations are restored. In short, ensuring teams get back on track after an incident to ensure minimal disruption and maintain business continuity.
ISO 22301:2019 offers guidelines on managing recovery activities, advocating for structured recovery plans that prioritize the most critical business functions, assets and the safety of personnel. In practical terms, recovery efforts following a security breach event often involve:
- Restoring secure access points and ensuring physical barriers are intact.
- Repairing or replacing damaged equipment.
- Communicating with stakeholders and ensuring that all necessary resources are in place to resume operations quickly.
ASIS International standards also emphasize the importance of regularly reviewing and refining recovery procedures, which can often be left to the side when incident response procedures are tested. Integrating recovery procedures within broader business continuity planning is essential to ensure that individual business units are well equipped to resume operations without unnecessary delays.
5. Communication: Maintaining Stakeholder Confidence
Throughout the incident response process, clear and consistent communication is vital. Poor communication can lead to confusion, delay, and missteps. This is especially important when handling high-impact incidents where external stakeholders – such as law enforcement, regulatory bodies, customers – must be kept informed.
In line with ISO 22301, communication protocols should be integrated into the overall incident response plan. The standard recommends that organizations develop pre-defined communication strategies to manage both internal and external messaging effectively. Including:
- Internal communication procedures with critical teams, leadership, and employees.
- External communication with law enforcement, regulatory bodies, and the public when necessary.
Effective communication also plays a role in building organizational resilience. By embedding well-structured communication protocols, organizations can significantly curb the impact of high-risk events – which are often tied to potential for reputational harm.
6. Post-Incident Review: Learning and Improving
After any incident, conducting a thorough post-incident review is essential to assess how well the incident response was executed and identify areas for improvement. According to ISO 31000, a post-incident review should be a regular part of the risk management cycle – but it’s often missed, as staff focus on the event itself rather than driving long-term organizational learning.
In practical terms, effective post-incident reviews focus on clearly documenting three key things:
- What went well during the response.
- What challenges or shortcomings were identified.
- How future responses can be improved based on lessons learned.
After-action reports are a critical success factor for improving future response times and decision-making. This cycle of feedback and adjustment ensures that your operating procedures evolve in response to both past incidents and emerging threats – and that critical knowledge is retained beyond individual staff members’ memories.
Responding to a high-impact incident is a complex and multi-faceted process. Industry standards such as ISO 31000, ISO 22301 and ASIS International’s structured guidance are designed to support security professionals in ensuring that their incident response plans are both comprehensive and effective.
But they don’t do the heavy lifting on driving understanding with key staff and embedding robust processes – which is why following a structured approach and ensuring staff are aware of the principles behind effective detection, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident review is crucial to strengthening the long-term security posture of an organization.
Interested in learning about how Human Risks works with industry leaders to embed effective processes with tools designed specifically for security teams? Learn more about our end-to-end solution for best-practice incident management here – or contact the team for a demo.
