incidentprocedures

Incident procedures are a documented set of steps organizations follow to detect, assess, respond to, and recover from incidents that disrupt operations, compromise security, or threaten safety. They are a core component of incident management and are closely aligned with business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

The scope typically covers detection and reporting, triage and classification, notification and escalation, containment, eradication or remediation, and recovery and restoration. Post-incident activities include documentation, evidence preservation, lessons learned, and communication with stakeholders, regulators, and customers as required. Procedures should also specify criteria for declaring incidents, prioritizing actions, and coordinating with external partners or authorities when necessary.

Roles, governance, and decision-making are central to incident procedures. An incident response team may include an incident commander, technical leads, a communications liaison, and legal or compliance representatives. Clear authority, escalation paths, contact information, and service level expectations help ensure timely and coordinated action. Procedures should be aligned with broader governance frameworks such as information security programs, risk management, and continuity planning, and may reference standards like NIST SP 800-61 or ISO/IEC 27035.

Implementation considerations include tailoring procedures to an organization’s risk profile, asset criticality, regulatory environment, and technology landscape. Regular training, tabletop exercises, and drills are essential to maintain readiness. After each incident, a post-incident review should identify root causes, effectiveness of response, and opportunities for improvement, with updates made to the procedures accordingly.