Incidents in cibersecurity: from plan to process

Organisations depend on services and systems to manage their operations and security has become a priority. The evolution of cyber threats requires the ability to respond swiftly and effectively to any incident affecting data or infrastructure. 

However, many of these organisations rely on reactive and fragmented procedures to manage, which increases the likelihood of severe and prolonged damage, and inevitably the need to transform these procedures into a comprehensive process of prevention, management and response arises.

From reactive procedures to comprehensive processes

A comprehensive incident management process is characterised by its proactive and systematic approach

Traditionally, organisations follow a reactive approach to incident management, i.e. they respond to problems when they occur. This approach, while it may be effective in minor or isolated incidents, is insufficient in the face of more sophisticated and targeted attacks. A reactive procedure tends to focus exclusively on the resolution of the incident, without thoroughly analysing its causes or implementing adequate preventive measures to avoid a recurrence.

A comprehensive incident management process is characterised by its proactive and systematic approach. This process is derived from the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) methodology applied to incident management and provides a cyclical framework for continuous improvement of response capability. "Planning" involves developing strategies and procedures to anticipate and prevent incidents. "Do" refers to the implementation of these measures and active management when an incident occurs. "Verify" means to analyse the outcome of the actions taken, assessing their effectiveness. Finally, by "Acting", improvements are implemented based on the previous analysis, adjusting procedures to prevent future incidents and optimise the organisation's response.

Essential elements of the incident management process

Turning incident management into a formal process strengthens security 

An effective incident management process requires a number of key elements to enable organisations to be proactive and respond efficiently to any threat. These elements ensure that incident response is not only rapid, but also well structured and continuously improved. The key aspects of the process will be:

• A specialised team: composed of cybersecurity experts, with technical skills to identify and mitigate incidents, and knowledge in legal and communication areas to manage the response in a comprehensive manner. 
• Effective and efficient procedures: designed to meet your objectives effectively and efficiently. They must not only be able to contain and mitigate incidents effectively, but also optimise the use of resources, avoiding unnecessary or duplicated efforts. 
• Training of those involved: It is crucial that all persons involved in incident response receive adequate and continuous training.
• Cyber intelligence: provides information on trends, malicious actors and new emerging threats.
• Know the enemy: it is vital that the organisation knows the potential malicious actors that may threaten its security. Understanding who the enemy is, their tactics and their objectives, allows you to anticipate their movements and develop stronger and more targeted defences to mitigate risks.
• Testing and simulations: regular testing and incident simulations are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the response plan. They identify weaknesses in procedures, improve coordination between teams and ensure that staff are prepared to act.
• Continuous improvement criteria: like other critical processes, incident management must be subject to continuous improvement: analyse each incident resolved, identify areas for improvement, adjust existing procedures and update team training.

The growing threat landscape is forcing companies to move away from reactive incident management procedures to a comprehensive and proactive approach. Making incident management a formal process strengthens the overall security of the organisation.