Incident Management Processes

You’re the newly hired Compliance Lead at a fast-growing tech startup. Two weeks into your role, you discover that the company has no formal incident response plan in place, even though it recently experienced a ransomware attack. Leadership is concerned but doesn’t know where to begin, and employees are confused about their roles during an incident. Your CEO asks you to draft a basic Incident Response Framework and outline the top 3 immediate steps the company should take to prepare for future incidents. - What would your first draft framework include? (Hint: Think of NIST’s Incident Response Lifecycle – preparation, detection, analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery.) - How would you ensure team alignment across IT, legal, and operations? (Hint: Consider regular tabletop exercises, clear role definitions, and a central incident communication channel.) - What tools or processes would you recommend to track and report incidents effectively? (Hint: Look at tools like Splunk for monitoring, Jira for tracking, and SOAR platforms for automation.)

🔐 Incident Response is not just a procedure; it is a discipline. 🌍 My journey: 🎖️ Armed Forces — active roles in cyber defense operations ✈️ US Air Force CyberPatriot — a distinguished graduate and award winner 🛡️ Defense industry — projects built on discipline and decision-making cycles 🏦 Private sector Head of Cyber Security — leading critical payment systems security ✨ All converge on one point: End-to-End Incident Management. 📑 The framework I share today blends the methodology of NIST SP 800-61 Rev.3 with military decision doctrines (OODA, MDMP, AAR). ⚡ Speed + Discipline + Authority = Successful Response ⏱️ Every minute counts. Preparation, detection, decision, execution, recovery, and lessons learned… Just like on the battlefield 🪖, this cycle must operate seamlessly in cyberspace 🌐 as well. 📘 This approach goes beyond the technical—it integrates corporate risk, regulatory requirements, and reputation management. 👉 Without a truly command-centered Incident Response culture, resilience remains an illusion. #IncidentResponse #CyberSecurity #MilitaryDiscipline #DefenseIndustry #CyberPatriot #NIST #OODA #MDMP #AAR #Leadership #QuantumSecurity

#𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗟 - 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: • 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁: An 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗧 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲. Examples include system outages, software glitches, or hardware failures. The goal is to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible with minimal impact on the business. 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲: 𝟭. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Recognize and log the incident. 𝟮. 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Classify the incident to determine its nature and impact. 𝟯. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Assess the impact and urgency to assign priority. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀: Investigate the incident to understand the cause. 𝟱. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Apply a fix to restore service. 𝟲. 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲: Confirm resolution and formally close the incident. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀: • 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Total incidents reported in a period. • 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: Average time taken to resolve incidents. • 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲: Percentage of incidents reopened after closure. • 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲: Percentage of incidents resolved on the first contact. 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: • 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁: A 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 and requires immediate and coordinated action. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝟭. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Detect and classify the incident as a major incident based on impact and urgency. 𝟮. 𝗘𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Escalate to a major incident management team or senior management for immediate action. 𝟯. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Regularly update stakeholders, including affected users, senior management, and relevant teams. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Organize and coordinate efforts among multiple teams to resolve the incident as quickly as possible. 𝟱. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Implement a resolution or temporary workaround to restore service. Document the resolution process. 𝟲. 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Conduct a review to analyze what happened, assess the response effectiveness, and identify improvements for future incident handling. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀: • 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Number of major incidents occurring in a given period. • 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: Average time taken to resolve major incidents. • 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: Timeliness and clarity of updates provided during the incident. • 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Percentage of major incidents reviewed and documented after resolution.

When your AI system fails, every minute counts. Most companies panic and make the crisis worse. The playbook that prevents disasters: Step 1: Immediate Assessment (0-15 minutes) Identify scope and severity of AI failure. Determine if customer data or safety is at risk.  Assess legal and regulatory implications. Document timeline of events for investigation. Step 2: Containment (15-30 minutes) Shut down affected AI systems immediately. Switch to manual backup processes. Prevent further automated decisions or actions.  Isolate compromised data or systems. Step 3: Communication (30-60 minutes) Notify internal crisis response team.  Alert legal counsel and compliance officers. Prepare holding statements for customers and media.  Contact insurance providers if applicable. Step 4: Customer Impact Mitigation (1-4 hours) Identify all affected customers and transactions.  Reverse incorrect AI decisions where possible.  Provide direct communication to impacted users.  Offer remediation or compensation as needed. Step 5: Root Cause Investigation (4-24 hours)  Preserve all system logs and data trails. Engage technical teams to analyze failure points.  Review AI training data and model performance.  Document findings for regulatory reporting. Step 6: Regulatory Response (24-72 hours) File required incident reports with regulators.  Coordinate with legal teams on disclosure requirements.  Prepare detailed timeline and remediation plans.  Engage external experts if needed for credibility. Step 7: System Recovery (3-7 days) Implement fixes to prevent recurrence. Test all systems thoroughly before redeployment. Gradually restore AI functionality with monitoring. Update governance and monitoring procedures. Step 8: Post-Crisis Review (1-2 weeks) Conduct comprehensive post-mortem analysis.  Update crisis response procedures based on learnings.  Provide transparency report to stakeholders.  Strengthen AI risk management frameworks. When AI crises hit, two things happen: Some companies have playbooks ready and execute flawlessly. Others panic, make emotional decisions, and turn failures into disasters. The difference isn't luck or resources. It's preparation. The companies that survive AI failures practice crisis scenarios. They choose transparency over cover-ups. They treat failures as learning opportunities, not scandals. The ones that don't survive wait until disaster strikes to figure out their response. They hide problems until they explode publicly. They make reactive decisions that amplify the damage. Your AI crisis response determines whether failures become learning opportunities or business disasters. Are you prepared for when your AI fails? Found this helpful? Follow Arturo Ferreira and repost.

On my wishlist of items I would love companies to do: 𝐈𝐑 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬. Writing documentation is the worst part of any job, but its critical to ensuring the right steps are taken during chaotic incidents. An 𝐈𝐑 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 has the 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 an organization follows during an incident, including: 🔹What responsibilities do internal groups have? 🔹When do 3rd parties get contacted? 🔹What are incident severities and their SLAs? 𝐈𝐑 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 are 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 and often tied to specific types of incident. 🔹How does your team react to a phishing attack? Ransomware? Server compromise? 🔹Do they shut down the system or quarantine it? 🔹How do they investigate? Both IR Plans and Playbooks are important to have and to follow! Test them out, make sure they work, and utilize them. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛’𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑏𝑜𝑥𝑒𝑠. Whether a company has IR Plans and Playbooks but ignores them, or doesn’t have them at all, the result is the same. Mistakes are made during incidents, response takes longer, and the company faces higher costs and extended downtime. To get you started, here are some great example plan and policies. If you know of others, post them in the comments. 🔹MS IR Playbooks: https://lnkd.in/gMkWiNSe 🔹CERT Societe Generale Sample Playbooks: https://lnkd.in/gks4terZ 🔹SANS Sample IR Forms: https://lnkd.in/gq3AQXKG 🔹Sample IR Plan Template: https://lnkd.in/gX-8grRY #incidentresponse #dfir #plan #inversion6

This morning, I had a good conversation with an incident management lead who shared some of their team's hurdles. Here are some takeaways many of you SREs might find relatable: - Manual Processes: During an incident, a significant portion of their time is spent manually coordinating the right people, with on-call teams often taking 15 to 20 minutes to assemble. - Tool Disparity: Using multiple disjointed tools like Microsoft Teams for communication and an internal on-call tool without formal integrations results in longer response times. - Resource Utilization: Managing major incidents often requires three people to coordinate and document, which they aim to streamline into fewer resources. These challenges aren't unique; thankfully, they’re precisely what incident.io is designed to address. By centralizing incident management into a single platform that integrates with Microsoft Teams and other essential tools, we help automate the effort. This means quicker assembly of necessary teams, streamlined communications, and eliminating manual tasks. Our product even offers AI-driven transcription capabilities to alleviate the burden of note-taking during hectic times. Plus, with predefined escalation paths, the right people are notified without delay, helping to mitigate any revenue impact from prolonged incidents.