Incidenthanterings

Incidenthanterings, or incident management, is the process organizations use to manage all incidents with the aim of restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible and minimizing the impact on business operations. In IT service management frameworks such as ITIL, incident management focuses on restoring services, while problem management addresses underlying causes. In cybersecurity, incident handling covers detection, containment, eradication, and recovery from security incidents.

The typical lifecycle includes detection and reporting, logging and categorization, prioritization based on impact and urgency, initial diagnosis and escalation to appropriate support levels, ongoing investigation, containment and remediation, recovery and service restoration, and finally closure followed by a post-incident review. Throughout the process, clear communication with stakeholders and timely updates are emphasized to manage expectations and maintain transparency.

Roles and governance involve the service desk as the primary point of contact, an incident manager coordinating the response, and technical teams executing remediation. Effective incident handling relies on predefined runbooks, escalation paths, and documented service-level agreements (SLAs) to guide response, ensure accountability, and support continuous improvement.

Tools support the process through ticketing systems, knowledge bases, monitoring and alerting platforms, and security information and event management (SIEM) systems. Data from incidents feeds back into problem management, change management, and other related domains to reduce recurrence and improve resilience.

Key metrics commonly tracked include mean time to detect (MTTD), mean time to restore (MTTR), and SLA compliance. A well-established incident handling capability helps organizations minimize downtime, protect assets, and sustain business continuity.