Incident Response Course

Lesson 1 • Building the Business Case

Quantify the cost of unstructured response using breach cost models and downtime metrics. Practitioners use these figures to secure executive sponsorship.

Lesson 2 • Defining Incidents and Events

Distinguish security events from incidents and classify severity tiers. This taxonomy drives every downstream triage and escalation decision.

Lesson 3 • Regulatory and Compliance Drivers

Identify data-breach notification obligations and industry-specific security mandates. Compliance requirements shape IR timelines and documentation standards.

Lesson 1 • Playbook and Runbook Creation

Develop scenario-specific playbooks that translate policy into step-by-step operator actions. Runbooks reduce cognitive load and human error under pressure.

Lesson 2 • Tooling and Technology Readiness

Inventory essential IR tools across detection, forensics, and communication categories. Proper tooling reduces mean time to detect and respond.

Lesson 3 • Assembling the IR Team

Define CSIRT roles, responsibilities, and staffing models including internal and retainer options. Team structure determines response speed and coverage.

Lesson 4 • IR Policy and Charter Development

Draft an IR policy that defines scope, authority, and accountability. A clear charter prevents role confusion during high-stress response operations.

Lesson 1 • Log Sources and Telemetry Collection

Identify critical log sources across network, endpoint, and cloud environments. Comprehensive telemetry is the foundation of reliable detection.

Lesson 2 • Initial Scoping and Impact Assessment

Determine affected systems, data, and users within the first hour of incident declaration. Accurate scoping drives containment strategy and resource allocation.

Lesson 3 • Alert Triage Methodology

Apply a structured triage workflow to prioritise alerts by fidelity and business impact. Efficient triage prevents analyst burnout and missed critical events.

Lesson 1 • Deception and Monitoring During Containment

Deploy honeypots and enhanced logging to observe attacker behaviour while containment is active. Controlled observation yields intelligence that improves eradication completeness.

Lesson 2 • Network-Level Containment

Implement firewall rules, VLAN isolation, and DNS sinkholes to restrict attacker lateral movement. Network containment is often the fastest initial control.

Lesson 3 • Containment Decision Framework

Weigh business continuity, evidence preservation, and attacker awareness when choosing containment actions. A structured framework prevents costly ad hoc decisions.

Lesson 4 • Cloud and SaaS Containment

Apply identity revocation, resource tagging, and policy enforcement to contain cloud-based incidents. Cloud containment requires API-driven controls distinct from on-premises methods.

Lesson 1 • Forensic Principles and Evidence Handling

Apply chain-of-custody, write-blocking, and hash verification to all evidence. Proper handling ensures findings withstand legal and regulatory scrutiny.

Lesson 2 • Log and Artifact Analysis

Correlate OS, application, and security logs to build a chronological attack narrative. Log analysis bridges gaps between forensic artefacts and attacker intent.

Lesson 3 • Memory and Volatile Data Acquisition

Capture RAM, running processes, and network connections before system shutdown. Volatile data contains attacker artefacts unavailable on disk.

Lesson 4 • Cloud and Container Forensics

Collect forensic artefacts from cloud instances, serverless functions, and container environments. Cloud forensics requires API-based acquisition and ephemeral artefact awareness.

Lesson 1 • Root Cause Identification

Trace the incident to its initial access vector and enabling vulnerability. Accurate root cause prevents recurrence and informs permanent remediation.

Lesson 2 • Vulnerability Patching and Hardening

Apply patches and configuration hardening to close the exploited vulnerability and reduce attack surface. Hardening transforms recovery into a security improvement.

Lesson 3 • Malware and Persistence Removal

Identify and eliminate all malware, backdoors, and persistence mechanisms across affected systems. Incomplete removal leads to reinfection within days.

Lesson 4 • System Restoration and Validation

Rebuild or restore systems from trusted baselines and validate integrity before returning to production. Validation gates prevent reintroducing compromised components.

Lesson 1 • Metrics and KPI Development

Define and track IR metrics including MTTD, MTTR, and containment rate. Metrics demonstrate programme maturity and guide resource investment decisions.

Lesson 2 • Executive and Board-Level Reporting

Translate technical findings into business risk language for senior leadership. Executive reports secure resources and demonstrate IR programme value.

Lesson 3 • Technical Incident Report Writing

Structure a technical report covering timeline, IOCs, root cause, and remediation steps. Technical reports support legal proceedings and future threat hunting.

Lesson 4 • Continuous Improvement Integration

Feed post-incident findings into playbook updates, training gaps, and control improvements. Continuous improvement closes the loop between incidents and programme maturity.

Lesson 1 • Crisis Management and Coordination

Manage large-scale incidents requiring executive war rooms, external agencies, and public disclosure. Crisis coordination skills determine organisational survival during catastrophic events.

Lesson 2 • Ransomware Incident Response

Execute end-to-end response to ransomware including negotiation decisions, decryption options, and recovery. Ransomware demands coordinated technical and business response.

Lesson 3 • Advanced Persistent Threat Response

Detect and evict long-dwell APT actors using threat hunting and deception techniques. APT response demands patience, precision, and coordinated eradication timing.

Lesson 4 • Supply Chain and Third-Party Incidents

Respond to compromises originating from software updates, managed service providers, or vendor access. Supply chain incidents require rapid trust revocation and vendor coordination.