How do you allocate resources for incident response?

1 Define your incident response team roles

Before you can assign resources to an incident, you need to define the roles and responsibilities of your incident response team members. Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, you may have different levels of roles, such as an incident commander who leads the incident response team and oversees the entire process, an incident coordinator who helps with logistics, documentation, and reporting, an incident handler who performs analysis, containment, and remediation, an incident responder who assists with specific tasks such as collecting evidence or restoring systems, and an incident liaison who communicates with stakeholders and provides updates on the incident.

2 Assess the incident severity and impact

Once you have your incident response team roles defined, you need to assess the severity and impact of the incident to determine the priority, urgency, and scope of the incident, as well as the resources needed to respond to it. A standard classification system can be used for this purpose, such as Critical (serious threat to core functions, assets, or reputation), High (significant impact on operations, data, or customers), Medium (moderate impact on performance, security, or compliance), and Low (minor impact on objectives, processes, or systems).

3 Allocate resources based on the incident response plan

After you have assessed the incident severity and impact, you need to allocate resources based on your incident response plan. This plan should outline goals, strategies, procedures, and tools for responding to different types of incidents, as well as specify the roles, responsibilities, and authorities of the incident response team members. When allocating resources, consider their availability, capability, compatibility, and scalability. Resources should be available and accessible when needed; they should be qualified to perform the tasks and roles assigned; they should be compatible with systems, tools, and processes involved in the incident response; and they should be adaptable to changing needs and demands of the incident response.

4 Monitor and adjust resources as needed

As you respond to an incident, you need to monitor and adjust your resources as needed. You should track the progress, performance, and status of your resources, evaluating their effectiveness and efficiency, while also providing feedback and guidance. In addition, you should factor in changes in the incident severity, impact or scope; any new information or evidence; lessons learned or best practices from previous incidents; and feedback or requests from stakeholders or authorities when adjusting your resources.

5 Review and improve your resource allocation process

Once you have resolved an incident, it is essential to review and improve your resource allocation process. A post-incident review should be conducted to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your resource allocation process. This should help you identify any gaps, issues, or challenges that affected your resource allocation process. To improve the process, consider updating your incident response plan and policies, training and educating your incident response team members, acquiring or upgrading systems, tools, or equipment, and establishing or enhancing partnerships or agreements.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?