The IT security incident management process is a set of procedures and guidelines that organizations use to identify, assess, and respond to security incidents. The process should include the following steps:
- Preparation: This step involves creating an incident response plan and identifying the individuals or teams who will be responsible for managing incidents. It also includes ensuring that all necessary tools and resources are in place to respond to incidents quickly and effectively.
- Identification: This step involves identifying potential incidents through monitoring systems, alerts, and other means. Once an incident is identified, it is classified and prioritized based on the level of risk it poses to the organization.
- Containment: This step involves taking immediate action to stop the incident from causing further damage and to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the network. This may include disconnecting affected systems from the network, shutting down processes, or taking other actions to limit the impact of the incident.
- Eradication: This step involves removing the cause of the incident, such as malware or unauthorized access. This may include cleaning infected systems, patching vulnerabilities, or taking other steps to eliminate the threat.
- Recovery: This step involves restoring normal operations and returning systems to their normal state. This may include restoring data, configuring systems, and testing to ensure that everything is working correctly.
- Lessons learned: This step involves reviewing the incident and identifying any areas where the incident response process could be improved. This may include updating incident response plans, implementing new security controls, or training employees to respond to incidents more effectively.
- Communication: Throughout the incident management process, it is important to keep stakeholders informed about the incident, its progress and any action taken.
- Post-incident activities: This step involves documenting the incident and its resolution, reporting to the management team and the regulatory bodies as required, and conducting a thorough review of the incident and the incident response process.
Note that: The incident management process may vary depending on the organization and the specific incident, but should always include these key steps and be flexible enough to adapt to new and unique incident scenarios.