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Security Incident Response Runbook

Overview

This runbook provides procedures for responding to security incidents.

Incident Classification

Critical (P1)

  • Data breach
  • Unauthorized access
  • System compromise
  • Malware detection

High (P2)

  • Suspicious activity
  • Failed authentication attempts
  • Unusual network traffic
  • Policy violations

Medium (P3)

  • Security warnings
  • Configuration issues
  • Access anomalies
  • Audit findings

Response Procedures

Immediate Response

  1. Containment
  2. Isolate affected systems
  3. Preserve evidence
  4. Document timeline

  5. Assessment

  6. Determine scope of impact
  7. Identify affected data
  8. Assess system integrity

  9. Communication

  10. Notify stakeholders
  11. Update status page
  12. Escalate as needed

Investigation

  1. Evidence Collection
  2. System logs
  3. Network traffic
  4. User activity
  5. Configuration snapshots

  6. Analysis

  7. Root cause analysis
  8. Impact assessment
  9. Timeline reconstruction

  10. Documentation

  11. Incident report
  12. Lessons learned
  13. Recommendations

Recovery

  1. System Restoration
  2. Clean compromised systems
  3. Restore from clean backups
  4. Verify integrity

  5. Security Hardening

  6. Update security controls
  7. Patch vulnerabilities
  8. Review access controls

  9. Monitoring

  10. Enhanced monitoring
  11. Additional logging
  12. Regular reviews

Escalation Matrix

  • Level 1: Security Team
  • Level 2: Engineering Management
  • Level 3: Executive Team
  • Level 4: Legal/Compliance