Organisations are becoming increasingly proactive in their cyber security maturity, investing in controls and capabilities designed to prevent cyber-related incidents. However, as cyber threats targeting Australian organisations continue to evolve in speed, scale, and sophistication, it is no longer realistic to assume that every incident can be prevented or detected in advance.

A well-defined cyber incident response capability enables organisations to limit the spread of an attack, reduce data loss, maintain trust with customers and regulators, and securely recover affected systems.

Despite this, many organisations still treat cyber risk as a prevention-only challenge, it is equally important that robust, cyber-specific action plans are in place for when an incident inevitably occurs. To remain resilient, organisations should focus on their incident response capabilities (people, process and technology), commensurate with their threat profile. This can be achieved by adopting the six critical steps outlined below, which collectively minimise impact and support rapid recovery following a cyber incident.

Preparation

Effective cyber incident response begins well before an incident occurs. A well-prepared organisation can minimise the impact of such incidents through robust incident response practices. Organisations should:

  • Establish Cyber Incident Response Plan aligned to the business requirements, clearly defining roles and responsibilities
  • Integrate Cyber Incident Response Plan with related plans, including business continuity, disaster recovery, and crisis communications
  • Implement staff awareness and targeted training programs for incident responders
  • Establish third-party support arrangements (e.g. cyber response providers, legal counsel, forensic specialists)
  • Periodically test the plans to ensure their effectiveness
Detection and Identification

Ensuring systems are capable of reliable logging and alerting as endpoint visibility is critical to effective incident response. Early detection significantly reduces the potential impact of a cyber incident. This phase focuses on:

  • Identifying indicators of potential compromise through cyber security monitoring and alerting
  • Assessing and confirming whether observed activity constitutes a cyber security incident
  • Establishing the preliminary scope, including impacted systems, data, and users
  • Classifying incident severity based on business impact analysis
Containment

Containment aims to limit the spread of the threat and prevent further damage while the incident is investigated and remediated. Timely and decisive action at this stage can significantly reduce operational and financial impact. Actions may include:

  • Defining and regularly testing containment actions (e.g. isolating devices, disabling accounts, blocking indicators of compromise) through tabletop and technical exercises
  • Assigning clear authority and escalation paths so designated responders can take immediate containment actions such as system isolation or access revocation without unnecessary delay
Eradication

Once a cyber incident is contained, the underlying vulnerability must be identified and fully addressed. Failure to eradicate the root cause entirely often results in recurring incidents. This typically involves:

  • Identifying and remediating the root cause to remove all threat artefacts
  • Strengthening preventative controls, including credential resets, patching vulnerabilities, and enhancing access controls
Recovery

Recovery focuses on the safe restoration of systems and business operations. This includes:

  • Restoring systems and data from verified, clean backups taken prior to the incident to ensure no malware or unauthorised changes are reintroduced
  • Testing systems for stability and security before redeployment to the production environment
Post Incident Review and Improvement

Every cyber incident presents an opportunity to improve. A post-incident review should assess:

  • The effectiveness of detection, containment, eradication, and recovery activities, identifying control gaps, response delays, and decision making issues
  • How lessons learned are translated into clear remediation actions such as control enhancements, process updates, and training with assigned ownership to ensure changes are implemented and monitored

An effective cyber incident response plan safeguards organisations against cyber threats. A well-structured and embedded cyber incident response practices enable organisations to detect and neutralise such threats promptly.
Co-authored by Harrison Lamond, Manager, Audit & Assurance