What does “containment” involve in the context of an incident response plan?

Containment in the context of an incident response plan is primarily focused on limiting the spread of the incident. This step is critical to mitigate damage and prevent further impact on systems, data, and networks. By implementing containment strategies, responders aim to control the situation, ensuring that the incident does not escalate or affect additional systems. Containment actions may include isolating affected systems, disabling network access, or applying temporary fixes to prevent the incident from producing further harm while allowing the incident response team to work on remediation without undue pressure from ongoing threats.

This strategic action is essential in the incident response lifecycle, as it ensures that the incident can be managed effectively. Other aspects, such as restoring systems to normal operations or notifying stakeholders, come after the containment phase when the immediate threat has been addressed. Analyzing attack vectors is part of understanding the incident but does not directly involve the containment process itself.