Compliance

Incident Response Plan Template

Template for building a security incident response plan — detection, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned.

Preparation

Define incident response team roles and contact informationEstablish communication channels (secure chat, war room, bridge line)Document escalation thresholds and severity classification criteriaMaintain and test incident response toolkit and forensic tools

Detection & Analysis

Define indicators of compromise and detection mechanismsEstablish log collection and correlation proceduresDocument initial triage and classification proceduresCreate incident documentation template and chain-of-custody forms

Containment

Define short-term containment strategies (network isolation, account lockout)Establish evidence preservation procedures before containmentDocument long-term containment measures for persistent threatsImplement communication protocols for affected stakeholders

Eradication & Recovery

Identify and remove root cause of the incidentVerify system integrity before returning to productionImplement additional monitoring for recurrence indicatorsDocument recovery procedures and timeline

Post-Incident Activities

Conduct a lessons-learned review within 72 hours of resolutionUpdate incident response plan based on findingsFile required regulatory notifications within mandated timelinesTrack remediation items to completionBrief executive leadership with incident summary and improvements

Get this as a downloadable PDF

Enter your email to receive a beautifully formatted PDF version of this checklist — perfect for printing or sharing with your team.

Related AI Analysis Tools

Go further than a checklist — let AI analyze your documents automatically.

AI Analyze Compliance Document AI Summarize Policy AI Review Compliance Document

Analyze Your Documents with AI

Upload any document and get AI-powered analysis with verifiable, click-to-source citations. Free to try.

Start Free