Incident response planning: Your essential guide to cyber resilience

“If you fail to incident response plan, you plan to incident response fail.” Benjamin Franklin didn’t say that—or if he did, no one thought it pithy enough to write down at the time, more’s the pity. But were he alive today, heading up CISA, and leading the charge on the Secure by Design Pledge, maybe he’d update this famous nugget of wisdom. 

Organizations face an ever-growing range of cyber threats and potential operational disruptions. Preparing for these challenges means having a clear incident response plan that clearly defines how to detect, classify, and respond to incidents effectively. 

This guide dives deep into the essentials of incident response planning, explaining what it is, how it differs from disaster recovery and business continuity plans, and why it is critical to your organization’s cyber resilience.

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

Benjamin Franklin

Table of Contents

What is an incident response plan?

An incident response plan (IR plan) is a documented set of procedures and guidelines that an organization follows when it detects an event that could disrupt normal operations or compromise security. The goal of an incident response plan is to quickly identify, classify, manage, and mitigate incidents to reduce damage and get back to business as usual as quickly as possible.

The plan starts with defining what constitutes an event versus an incident. 

An event may be any observable occurrence, such as unusual system behavior, a spike in network traffic, or a server outage. But not every event qualifies as an incident. Incident response planning means outlining how to intake, evaluate, and classify these events based on severity and type. Basically, separating “things that happen” from “things that happen and that require a response.” 

For example, if a user notices their computer acting strangely, that’s an event. If the behavior is confirmed to be the result of a malware infection, it’s a cybersecurity incident. Similarly, a failed RAID array is an event that might escalate to an incident if it impacts critical systems.

Incident response versus disaster recovery and business continuity

Incident response planning is often confused with disaster recovery (DR) planning and business continuity (BC) planning. They all live in the same area of an organization. And while DR and BC planning are important, they serve different purposes and operate at different stages of an event:

• Incident response plan: Focuses on immediate detection, classification, containment, and mitigation of incidents. It deals with the event while it is ongoing to minimize damage.
• Disaster recovery plan: Kicks in after an incident has caused significant disruption or damage. It focuses on restoring systems, data, and operations to a functional state once the threat has passed.
• Business continuity plan: Ensures that essential business functions continue during and after an incident or disaster, potentially by using alternate processes or manual workarounds.

Think of these plans as nested Russian dolls: incident response is the first and ongoing layer, disaster recovery is the next phase after containment, and business continuity maintains operations throughout.

Different response plans for different incidents

Not all incidents are created equal. An incident response plan should include tailored response playbooks for various incident types, such as:

• Ransomware attacks: Immediate containment and eradication of malware, forensic analysis, and safe restoration of systems.
• Denial of service (DoS) attacks: Traffic filtering, communication with ISPs, and mitigation tactics to restore service availability.
• Operational outages: For example, website downtime due to hardware failure, which may require contacting hosting providers or system administrators.
• Employee misconduct or unauthorized access: Investigation, access revocation, and involvement of HR or legal teams.

Each playbook should document all the steps, roles, responsibilities, escalation paths, communication protocols, and external contacts needed for effective incident handling. This ensures that the response team acts swiftly and cohesively, minimizing confusion during high-pressure situations.

Using RACI diagrams to clarify roles

One of the critical elements in incident response planning is clearly defining who does what. A RACI diagram is an effective tool to assign roles and responsibilities:

• Responsible: The person (or people) who perform the task.
• Accountable: The person ultimately answerable for the task’s completion.
• Consulted: Individuals who provide input or expertise.
• Informed: Stakeholders who need to be kept updated.

Mapping out responsibilities using RACI helps avoid overlap, gaps, and confusion during an incident, ensuring a smooth and coordinated response.

Tip: Organizations need to set recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) that detail targets for maximum acceptable timeframe (RTO) and the maximum amount of data loss (RPO) an organization can tolerate.

Building your incident response plan: Where to start?

Creating an effective incident response plan begins with understanding your organization’s environment, business priorities, and technology landscape. Key steps include:

1. Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)

A business impact analysis identifies critical business functions, their dependencies on technology, and the potential financial and operational impact of downtime. It answers questions such as:

• Which systems and data are vital to revenue and operations?
• How long can each business unit tolerate an outage?
• What are the costs associated with downtime or data loss?
• Are there alternate ways for employees to continue working if systems are down?

The BIA forms the foundation for prioritizing incident response efforts and tailoring playbooks to protect the most valuable assets.

2. Inventory your IT assets and resources

Next, develop a comprehensive inventory of your IT infrastructure, applications, data repositories, and personnel. This includes identifying:

• System owners and subject matter experts (SMEs)
• Network administrators and security teams
• Third-party vendors and service providers
• Contact information, including phone numbers, emails, and escalation paths

A mature disaster recovery plan often contains much of this information; existing documentation can accelerate incident response planning. This inventory enables quick assembly of the right response teams based on incident type and severity.

3. Prioritize incident types and playbooks

It’s impractical to create detailed playbooks for every conceivable incident. Instead, focus on the most likely and impactful threats identified through risk assessments and the BIA. Common priorities include ransomware, data breaches, system outages, accidental deletion, and insider threats.

Start with a few high-priority playbooks and expand over time. Even high-level outlines or checklists are better than having no plan at all.

Tip: Your organization almost certainly uses SaaS apps and under the Shared Responsibility Model, it is the user’s responsibility to ensure continuity for user data. You need a backup plan.

4. Define communication and escalation protocols

Effective communication is vital during an incident. Your IR plan should specify:

• Who to notify internally and externally, and when
• Pre-approved communication templates for different stakeholders (employees, customers, regulators, media)
• How to handle escalations if primary contacts are unavailable (backup contacts)
• Guidelines for reporting breaches to authorities or regulators, including timelines and legal obligations

Maintaining and testing your incident response plan

Creating an incident response plan is not a one-and-done task. To remain effective, the plan must evolve with the organization and be regularly reviewed and battle tested. Here’s how:

1. Regular reviews and updates

Review your IR plan at least annually, or whenever significant changes occur in:

• Personnel (new hires, departures)
• Technology infrastructure (new systems, cloud migrations)
• Business operations or priorities
• Threat landscape and regulatory requirements

Periodic reviews ensure contact details, roles, and procedures stay current and relevant.

2. Conduct tabletop exercises

The worst time to find a gap in your plan is when you need to enact it. Tabletop exercises simulate incident scenarios in a low-stress environment, allowing the team to walk through the response process. These exercises help:

• Identify gaps or ambiguities in the plan
• Test communication and coordination among stakeholders
• Build muscle memory and confidence in handling incidents
• Refine roles, responsibilities, and escalation paths

After each exercise, update the plan with lessons learned to improve operational effectiveness.

3. Maintain multiple copies of the plan

Ensure your incident response plan is accessible during a crisis by storing it in multiple secure locations:

• A cloud-based platform accessible to authorized personnel
• Physical copies stored offsite (e.g., in a locked binder or safe)
• Secure third-party services that can host the plan and facilitate communication during incidents

Remember, storing the plan only on internal servers is risky. If a ransomware attack or disaster takes down your network, you may lose access to the plan when you need it most.

Tip: The 3-2-1 backup rule for SaaS data protection applies here; don’t keep your recovery plans on the same platform you’re looking to protect against data loss. 

4. Protect your incident response plan

Your IR plan contains sensitive information about your organization’s defenses, contacts, and procedures. If malicious actors obtain this document, it can be exploited to enhance their attacks. Therefore, treat the plan as a confidential document:

• Password-protect digital copies and restrict access to authorized personnel
• Use secure storage solutions with strong encryption
• Regularly audit access logs and update permissions

To reduce risk, segregate the IR plan from your main IT environment, similar to best practices for backup data security.

Integrating backups into incident response planning

Backups are a cornerstone of recovery from incidents, especially ransomware attacks. However, incident response planning must consider backup integrity carefully. Key points include:

• Ensuring backups are not compromised by the same incident affecting production systems
• Verifying backup data before restoration to avoid reintroducing malware or corrupted data
• Maintaining backup copies in separate locations, following principles like the 3-2-1 backup rule
• Coordinating backup restoration as part of the broader incident response and disaster recovery efforts

Backup strategies must align with incident response plans to enable timely and safe recovery.

Incident response planning FAQ

Conclusion: Building resilience through incident response planning

Effective incident response planning is fundamental to protecting your organization from the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats and operational disruptions. By systematically defining how to detect, classify, and respond to incidents, organizations can reduce downtime, limit damage, and recover faster.

Start by understanding your business priorities through a thorough business impact analysis, inventory your assets and resources, and develop focused playbooks for your most critical risks. Maintain clear communication protocols, protect and securely store your plans, and most importantly, regularly review and test your incident response capabilities.

Remember, an incident response plan is only as good as its execution. Regular exercises and updates ensure that when the inevitable incident occurs, your team is ready to respond effectively, turning potential crises into manageable events.

For organizations leveraging cloud and SaaS platforms, integrating incident response with strong backup strategies, such as the 3-2-1 backup rule, and understanding the shared responsibility model are critical to building data resilience.

Building and maintaining a clear, reliable incident response plan is an ongoing journey—one that transforms your organization from reactive to proactive in the face of cyber threats.