HFIH-02

Do you either have an internal incident response team or retain an external team?

Explanation

This question is asking whether your organization has established a dedicated team responsible for responding to security incidents, and whether this team is internal (employees of your organization) or external (a third-party service provider). A security incident is any event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of your systems, data, or services. Examples include data breaches, malware infections, denial of service attacks, or unauthorized access to systems. The question is being asked because having a designated incident response team is a critical component of an effective security program. When security incidents occur, a rapid, coordinated, and effective response is essential to minimize damage, reduce recovery time and costs, and limit potential legal or regulatory consequences. Without a dedicated team with defined roles and procedures, organizations often respond to incidents in an ad-hoc, inefficient manner that can worsen the impact. To best answer this question, you should: 1. Clearly state whether you have an internal team, use an external service, or employ a hybrid approach 2. Provide brief details about the team's composition and expertise 3. Mention if the team follows established incident response procedures or frameworks (like NIST) 4. Include information about how the team is activated and their availability (24/7, business hours only, etc.) If you don't have a formal incident response team, it's better to be honest and explain your current approach to handling incidents, along with any plans to establish a formal team in the future.

Example Responses

Example Response 1

Yes, we maintain an internal incident response team consisting of security analysts, system administrators, and IT managers who are trained in incident handling procedures The team follows the NIST SP 800-61 incident response lifecycle (preparation, detection & analysis, containment, eradication & recovery, and post-incident activities) Team members are available 24/7 through an on-call rotation system, with defined escalation procedures based on incident severity The team conducts quarterly tabletop exercises to maintain readiness and improve response capabilities.

Example Response 2

We utilize a hybrid approach to incident response We have a small internal team of security professionals who handle initial triage and coordinate response efforts, but we also retain an external specialized security firm (SecureResponse Inc.) for advanced incident handling support Our contract with SecureResponse provides 24/7 access to their incident response experts with a guaranteed 1-hour response time for critical incidents This arrangement allows us to leverage specialized expertise for complex incidents while maintaining internal oversight and institutional knowledge of our systems.

Example Response 3

No, we currently do not have a formal incident response team Security incidents are handled on an ad-hoc basis by our IT department staff who have other primary responsibilities We recognize this is a gap in our security program and are actively developing an incident response plan In the interim, we have identified key personnel who would be involved in incident response and have documented basic procedures for common scenarios We plan to establish a formal internal incident response team within the next six months and are evaluating external services as a supplementary option.

Context

Tab: Infrastructure
Category: Incident Handling