What is an incident response plan & how to build one?

Cyber incidents rarely announce themselves with flashing red lights. More often, the first signs are subtle: 

• Sudden spike in network traffic that does not match any campaign

• Unexpected login from a foreign IP

• Suspicious file name that should not be there

By the time a breach is confirmed, attackers may have been inside for weeks, moving quietly and collecting data.

Despite this, 77% of organizations still operate without a documented incident response plan. That leaves them reacting on the fly, debating who takes the lead, what to shut down, and how to notify customers while the clock is ticking and the damage is growing.

In 2024, the average time to identify and contain a breach was 258 days, and Unit 42 reported that 86% of incidents involved some form of business disruption. When you're dealing with that kind of timeline and impact, having a solid plan isn't just nice to have, but essential for survival.

Every organization, regardless of size, needs an incident response plan to minimize data loss, downtime, and damage. This guide walks you through what an incident response plan actually is, why it's critical for your organization, and practical steps to create a plan that turns chaos into controlled, effective action.

What is an incident response plan?

An incident response plan (IRP) is a documented, strategic approach for detecting, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity threats or breaches. 

Unlike a general emergency plan, an IRP specifically focuses on cyber threats like data breaches, ransomware attacks, insider threats, and system compromises. It outlines who does what, when they do it, and how they communicate throughout the process. 

An effective incident response plan serves multiple purposes: 

• Minimizes damage by ensuring quick, coordinated action

• Reduces confusion by clearly defining roles and responsibilities

• Helps maintain compliance with regulatory requirements

• Provides a framework for continuous improvement based on lessons learned from each incident

The plan covers everything from the initial detection of a threat to the final recovery and lessons learned. And the key is having this incident plan documented, tested, and accessible before you need it. 

When a crisis hits, there's no time to figure out processes or debate who should handle what. Your incident response plan becomes the single source of truth that guides your entire organization through the storm.

How does an incident response plan work?

An incident response plan provides a structured, repeatable framework for identifying, containing, mitigating, and recovering from security incidents. The goal is to limit damage, reduce recovery time, and restore normal operations as quickly and securely as possible.

Procedures

The plan works by establishing clear procedures that kick in the moment a potential incident is detected. Instead of ad-hoc decision-making under pressure, your team follows predetermined steps that have been thought through and tested in advance. This systematic approach ensures nothing falls through the cracks and reduces the risk of panic-driven mistakes.

Phases

Most incident response plans follow a lifecycle approach, moving through distinct phases: 

• Preparation

• Identification

• Containment

• Eradication

• Recovery

• Post-incident review

Each phase has specific objectives, assigned roles, and success criteria. The plan also includes decision trees that help teams determine the severity of incidents and appropriate response levels.

Communication protocols

Communication protocols are woven throughout the entire process, ensuring the right people are notified at the right times with the right information. This includes internal stakeholders like executives and legal teams, as well as external parties like law enforcement, customers, and regulatory bodies when necessary.

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Why an incident response plan is essential

Without a formal incident response plan, organizations face significant risks that can turn a manageable incident into a catastrophic business failure:

Delayed response to threats

When there's no clear plan, teams waste precious time figuring out basic logistics while attackers continue their work. Those critical first hours can mean the difference between containing a breach and watching it spread throughout your entire network.

Greater data loss or compliance violations

Without predefined procedures, organizations often make reactive decisions that inadvertently destroy evidence or violate regulatory requirements. This can lead to hefty fines, legal complications, and loss of certifications. 

Disorganized recovery efforts

Recovery becomes chaotic when multiple teams work without coordination. Systems may be restored in the wrong order, creating new vulnerabilities or preventing critical business functions from resuming. 

Internal confusion among teams

Different departments often have conflicting ideas about their roles during an incident. IT might focus purely on technical containment, while legal wants to preserve evidence, and communications teams struggle with public messaging. This internal conflict slows response and creates additional stress during an already difficult situation.

Benefits of having an effective incident response plan

On the other hand, a well-designed incident response plan transforms how your organization handles security incidents, turning potential disasters into manageable challenges.

Faster detection and containment of threats

With clear monitoring procedures and defined escalation paths, threats get identified and contained much more quickly. Teams know exactly what to look for and how to respond, reducing that critical 258-day average breach lifecycle. 

Reduced downtime and financial losses

Coordinated response efforts minimize business disruption by prioritizing critical systems and maintaining essential operations. When teams know their roles and have practiced procedures, recovery happens faster and more efficiently, reducing the overall financial impact of incidents.

Improved regulatory compliance

Having a documented, tested incident response plan helps meet regulatory requirements and demonstrates due diligence to auditors. Many compliance frameworks require organizations to have formal incident response capabilities, and a solid plan provides evidence of your commitment to data protection.

Clear roles and communication during a crisis

Everyone knows their responsibilities before the crisis hits, eliminating confusion and finger-pointing. Communication channels are established in advance, ensuring stakeholders get timely, accurate information throughout the incident lifecycle.

Better protection of company reputation

Quick, professional response to incidents helps maintain customer trust and media confidence. When you can demonstrate that you handled a breach responsibly and transparently, the reputational damage is often minimal compared to organizations that fumble their response.

Insightful post-incident reviews

Structured incident response creates valuable learning opportunities. Each incident becomes a source of intelligence about your security posture, helping you identify weaknesses and improve defenses for the future.

Cost savings through preparedness

The upfront investment in cybersecurity incident response planning pays for itself many times over. Organizations with well-prepared incident response capabilities typically see 61% lower breach costs compared to those that handle incidents reactively.

Key components of an incident response plan

An effective plan outlines key incident response steps alongside other critical components to ensure comprehensive coverage of potential scenarios.

Preparation

This foundational phase involves establishing policies, procedures, and capabilities before an incident occurs. It includes creating response teams, defining roles and responsibilities, setting up communication channels, and ensuring necessary tools and resources are available. 

Identification

Clear procedures for detecting and analyzing potential security incidents are essential. This includes monitoring systems, alert management, incident classification criteria, and escalation procedures. Teams need to know how to distinguish between false alarms and real threats, and how to assess the scope and severity of confirmed incidents.

Containment

Once an incident is confirmed, immediate action is needed to prevent further damage. Containment strategies vary depending on the type of incident but typically involve isolating affected systems, preserving evidence, and implementing temporary workarounds to maintain critical business functions.

Eradication

After containing the incident, teams work to eliminate the root cause and remove any artifacts left by attackers. This might involve patching vulnerabilities, removing malware, disabling compromised accounts, or updating security configurations. The goal is to ensure the threat is completely eliminated before moving to recovery.

Recovery

Systems and services are gradually restored to normal operations while maintaining heightened monitoring for signs of recurring issues. Recovery includes testing systems, validating security controls, and implementing additional safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Post-incident review

After an incident is contained, teams document what happened, evaluate the effectiveness of the response, and identify improvements for future readiness. This includes clear communication with all stakeholders, such as executives, customers, partners, regulators, and the media when appropriate. 

How to create an incident response plan in 7 steps

Here's a practical approach to developing an effective security incident response plan that works for your organization.

Step 1: Define roles and responsibilities

Start by identifying who will be part of your incident response team and what each person's role will be. This typically includes a team leader, technical analysts, communications coordinator, legal representative, and management liaison. Document specific responsibilities for each role and establish clear chains of command and decision-making authority.

Step 2: Develop incident classification criteria

Create a system for categorizing incidents based on severity, type, and impact. This helps teams respond appropriately to different scenarios—a minor malware infection requires a different response than a major data breach. Include criteria for escalation and define what constitutes a "major incident" requiring executive notification.

Step 3: Document detection and alerting protocols

Establish procedures for identifying potential incidents and alerting the response team. This includes configuring monitoring tools, defining what triggers an alert, and creating escalation procedures for off-hours incidents. Make sure your detection capabilities cover all major attack vectors and system types.

Step 4: Outline containment and remediation processes

Develop specific procedures for different types of incidents, including step-by-step containment strategies, evidence preservation requirements, and system isolation procedures. Consider various scenarios like ransomware, data breaches, insider threats, and denial-of-service attacks.

Step 5: Build a communication framework

Create templates and procedures for internal and external communications during incidents. This includes notification lists, escalation timelines, and pre-approved messaging for different scenarios. 

Step 6: Conduct simulations and tabletop exercises

Test your plan regularly through simulated incidents and tabletop exercises. These exercises help identify gaps in procedures, improve team coordination, and build confidence in the plan. Start with simple scenarios and gradually increase complexity as your team becomes more experienced.

Step 7: Establish metrics for success

Define how you'll measure the effectiveness of your incident response plan. This might include metrics like time to detection, time to containment, recovery time, and cost per incident. Regular measurement helps you identify areas for improvement and demonstrate the value of your program to leadership.

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Common incident types and threats your plan should cover

Your IT incident response plan should address the most likely threats your organization will face, each requiring specific response strategies.

Phishing attacks

Cyber attacks that trick users into revealing credentials or installing malware remain one of the most common threats. Your plan should include procedures for identifying compromised accounts, containing the spread of malware, and educating users about the attack. Response often involves password resets, system scans, and additional user training.

Ransomware

These attacks encrypt your data and demand payment for recovery. Response requires immediate system isolation, backup verification, and coordination with law enforcement. Your plan should include decision criteria for whether to pay ransoms, backup restoration procedures, and communication strategies for affected customers and stakeholders.

Insider threats

Threats from current or former employees with legitimate access require different response strategies than external attacks. Detection often relies on behavioral monitoring and access analytics. Response procedures should include evidence preservation, coordination with HR and legal teams, and careful handling of personnel actions.

DDoS attacks

Distributed denial-of-service attacks overwhelm your systems with traffic, causing outages. Response involves traffic analysis, mitigation services activation, and communication with internet service providers. Your plan should include criteria for engaging DDoS protection services and procedures for maintaining critical operations during attacks.

Data breaches

Unauthorized access to sensitive information triggers complex response requirements, including forensic investigation, regulatory notification, and customer communication. Your plan should include data classification procedures, breach notification timelines, and credit monitoring considerations for affected individuals.

Cloud misconfigurations

Improperly configured cloud services create vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Response involves configuration audits, access reviews, and potential data exposure assessment. Your plan should include cloud-specific policies and coordination with cloud service providers.

Tips for maintaining and testing your IRP

An incident response plan is only effective if it's current, tested, and well-understood by your team. Regular maintenance and testing are important for ensuring your plan works when you need it most.

Test quarterly and after significant changes

Conduct regular exercises to test different aspects of your plan. Quarterly tabletop exercises can cover various scenarios, while annual full-scale simulations test your entire response capability. Also, test your plan whenever you make significant changes to your infrastructure, personnel, or business operations.

Run simulated exercises

Create realistic scenarios that challenge your team without causing actual business disruption. Include unexpected elements like key personnel being unavailable or systems failing during the response. Document lessons learned and update procedures based on exercise results.

Involve leadership and legal

Ensure executives and legal teams participate in regular exercises so they understand their roles and can make informed decisions during real incidents. This also helps secure ongoing support and resources for your incident response program.

Maintain updated call trees and toolkits

Keep contact information current and ensure all team members know how to reach each other during emergencies. Regularly test communication channels and backup contact methods. Maintain up-to-date toolkits with necessary software, hardware, and reference materials readily available to response teams.

Take incident response management to the next level with Rippling

Effective incident response requires more than just a good plan—it needs integrated tools and capabilities that can act quickly when seconds count. Rippling plays a critical role in an organization's broader incident response strategy by helping contain, mitigate, and prevent security incidents across the employee and device ecosystem.

When a security incident occurs, time is everything. Rippling's IT management software enables rapid response across your entire workforce by automatically deprovisioning access and securing endpoints during offboarding, ensuring that departing employees can't become security liabilities. The system's role-based access controls let you instantly adjust permissions for compromised accounts or suspicious users without disrupting legitimate business operations.

Login activity monitoring and alerts for unusual behavior help detect potential insider threats or compromised accounts before they can cause significant damage. When your incident response plan calls for immediate access restrictions, Rippling can execute those changes instantly across all connected systems.

Rippling's integrations with leading security tools and SIEM platforms ensure that incident response actions can be coordinated across your entire security stack. Whether you need to disable user accounts, wipe devices remotely, or generate audit reports for forensic analysis, Rippling provides the centralized control point that makes complex response procedures manageable.

Perhaps most importantly, Rippling's approach eliminates the manual processes that often slow down incident response. Instead of coordinating between separate HR and IT systems, response teams can manage user access, device security, and compliance requirements from a single platform. This integration is exactly what teams need when every minute counts.

Incident response plan FAQs

What is the NIST incident response plan?

The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) incident response framework provides a widely adopted standard for incident response planning. It outlines four main phases: Preparation, Detection and Analysis, Containment/Eradication/Recovery, and Post-Incident Activity. Many organizations use this framework as the foundation for their incident response plans because it's comprehensive, well-tested, and aligned with industry best practices.

How often should you update your incident response plan?

Review and update your incident response plan at least annually, but also after significant changes to your infrastructure, personnel, or business operations. Major security incidents, regulatory changes, or new threat intelligence should also trigger plan reviews. The key is treating your plan as a living document that evolves with your organization and the threat landscape.

Who should be on the incident response team?

A typical incident response team includes representatives from IT/security, legal, communications, human resources, and senior management. The specific composition depends on your organization's size and structure, but you need people who can handle technical analysis, legal compliance, stakeholder communication, and business decision-making.

What tools are needed for effective incident response?

Essential tools include security monitoring and alerting systems, forensic analysis software, secure communication channels, documentation platforms, and backup/recovery systems. The specific tools depend on your environment, but the key is having everything identified and accessible before an incident occurs.