Containment Phase – Limiting Damage
The Containment phase is designed to limit the damage caused by the incident while preventing it from spreading further. Once an incident is identified, the focus shifts to containing the attack and preventing additional systems or data from being affected.
Key activities during the containment phase include:
Immediate Action to Isolate Affected Systems: The first step in containment is to isolate the compromised systems from the rest of the network. This may involve disconnecting affected machines from the internet, blocking malicious IP addresses, or disabling accounts that have been compromised.
Implementing Short-Term Containment: Temporary containment measures, such as shutting down specific services or networks, are often implemented to stop the immediate damage. These actions should be reversible once the full impact of the incident is understood.
Long-Term Containment: Long-term containment involves more strategic measures, such as applying security patches, adjusting firewall rules, or strengthening access controls. These actions help prevent the incident from spreading while allowing the organization to continue its operations in a limited fashion.
Communication and Coordination: Containment efforts should be communicated clearly to all stakeholders, including senior management and affected departments. Coordination is essential to ensure that all actions are consistent and aligned with the overall incident response plan.
Containment is a critical phase because it helps prevent further damage to the organization while enabling the IRT to focus on resolving the incident.