The incident response plan NIST life cycle consists of four key parts. Namely, preparation; detection and analysis; containment, eradication, and recovery; and post-event activity.
What does each of these teach us? Let us learn more about each of these phases below.
Incident Response Plan NIST Lifecycle: Four Phases in Detail
Phase 1: Preparation
Preparation is the first phase. The Preparation phase includes everything an organization does to get ready for incident response, such as putting in place the necessary tools and resources and training the team. This phase entails activities aimed at preventing incidents from occurring.
Phase 2: Detection and Analysis
The second phase, detection, and analysis is all about finding out what happened. The most important thing in this phase is to quickly determine the level of damage caused by the incident. It also helps to pinpoint the source of the problem.
Phase 3: Containment, Eradication, and Recovery
After identifying the nature of the problem, you can put your plan into action. The third phase of incident response is about containing the incident by cutting off its source, eradicating it by eliminating all traces of it, and recovering from it by returning to normal operations.
Phase 4: Post-Event Activity
This is where you sum up what you have learned from an incident to prevent similar incidents in the future. Sometimes this is done in collaboration with regulators or law enforcement agencies. This phase also includes maintaining your organization’s incident response plan NIST lifecycle. You must make sure that all necessary updates are made to your plan based on any new experiences you have had during an incident response.
Actionable Advice on Creating Your Incident Response Plan NIST Lifecycle
As you can see, incident response is a complex process that requires detailed planning. The first place to start is with the NIST life cycle. This framework will help you to develop a solid plan that will help your organization respond effectively to incidents.
Also, if you want to succeed, make sure to put all the resources you have into creating your plan. It is important to take your time and not rush through it. If you have questions, ask them. If there are tools you don’t have, acquire them. Don’t leave any stone unturned when it comes to incident response planning.
On top of that, keep your plan up to date. After all, if you don’t act on the lessons you learn during an incident response, what’s the point? You should always be improving your plan based on new information you gain during an incident response.
Finally, make sure to train your team on how to respond to incidents using your incident response plan NIST lifecycle. Many organizations fail to do this and that leads to poor responses to real incidents. Make sure that your team knows how they should respond.
Wrapping Up
In this article, we learned about the four key phases of an incident response plan by the NIST. Also, we read about each of the phases in detail. On top of that, we learned some actionable advice about creating our incident response plan.
