What Is Incident Management and Why Is it an Important Cybersecurity Tactic?

Originally published November 11, 2021. Revised and updated November 20, 2023.


Incident management protocols are crucial for organizations working toward security maturity. To put it simply, incident management is a set of procedures that your business follows to manage your cybersecurity. With the average cost of a data breach rising every year, it is no longer enough for companies to rely on legacy cybersecurity programs.

This is the second blog in our four-part series about BDO Digital's recommended path toward security maturity. Click here to start from the first part, where we discussed data classification, or read on for a brief overview of incident management and how to implement it.


What Is a Security Incident and What Is Incident Management?

A security incident is a confirmed breach of network security, which is defined as unauthorized access to computer data, applications, networks or devices. Data breaches can have devastating consequences for customer and company data. In extreme cases, a security breach can disrupt critical business functions, services or operations.

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How can organizations prevent security breaches?

Incident management, which entails monitoring systems to identify, analyze and correct hazards in real-time, is an essential component in any cybersecurity protocol.

To give an example, in May of 2021, hackers gained entry into the networks of Colonial Pipeline Co. A single compromised password took down the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S., leading to shortages across the East Coast. 

This well-known example, along with many others, shows us how critical incident management truly is in cybersecurity. Any company could fall victim to a similar attack. Being able to quickly identify the attack and contain the damage can help stop the attacker from causing further harm. 


How Incident Management Can Enhance Your Cybersecurity

If your organization simply responds to threats as they come up, you put yourself at risk for data loss and operational delays. Data incident management is a proactive approach that helps prevent this kind of problem from occurring in the future.

Here are several reasons why incident management should be undertaken to enhance your security measures:

  • It lessens the impact of a security incident. When the proper incident management measures are in place, damage can be contained, and risk can be reduced to the organization. Incident management also helps organizations quickly identify attacks.
  • It prevents the future re-occurrence of an incident or similar incident. An incident can have a negative effect on your organization's cybersecurity posture. Often, to fix things, all that is needed is a routine repair. Other times, a major repair is needed. But when minor incidents occur, an organization can fine-tune alerts so time is only spent where it matters most: on incidents that pose a threat.
  • It can prevent a full-blown security breach. Setting up alerts helps organizations address problems in a timely manner. By addressing security incidents quickly, an organization is mitigating risk and containing the damage that an incident can cause.

Responding to an alert can mean many things. Whether it is a minor system repair or data infiltrating the network, incident management is a crucial cybersecurity practice. It helps organizations focus on the incidents that matter most. And when a breach does occur, the organization can respond quickly and contain the damage.


How To Implement Incident Management in Your Organization

To implement incident management within your organization, you must set up alerts, baseline and tune those alerts, and respond to threats in real-time. Once a business has all alerts set up, they typically go through a set process of qualifying them, documenting them, and acting upon them.


Set Up Alerts

When organizations have sensitive data that they want to protect, they typically set up alerts. Depending on the severity of a security breach, one alert can become an incident. Typically, though, it takes more than one alert to elevate the occurrence to an incident.

In our first blog in this series, we discussed data classification. Classifying data makes many security and compliance tasks easier, including incident management. If there is an incident, knowing where your data lives helps you gain greater control over your data. For example, you can set custom alerts based on the actions you want your people to take. 

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Baseline and Tune the Alerts

Baselining your alerts means looking at the volume of alerts that are coming in on an ongoing basis and from what systems. Once you have a good understanding of what alerts are coming into the organization, you can tune out the unimportant alerts and focus on the alerts that matter most.

Identification, Containment, Eradication and Recovery

After setting up alerts, you must respond to them in real-time. When threats present themselves, you must plan to quickly find at-risk data. You also need to be able to contain the damage and quickly get rid of the threat. From there, you can recover as an organization. While you can find incidents, you want to set up alerts for during the data classification process, responding to threats in real-time is equally important. According to a recent report from Blumira and IBM, it takes organizations an average of 287 days to identify an attack and 75 days to contain it and recover. 

Thankfully, you can reduce investigation time through comprehensive incident management processes. With the right incident management plan in place, you can find and address threats far more quickly and efficiently than you can without one. When you take time to map, categorize and organize your data, you can address incidents faster. A robust incident management process strengthens your cybersecurity posture, protects you from security threats and prevents disruptions to business operations.


Why Incident Management Is Increasingly Important to Your Company in 2023

Incident management is a hot topic in the security industry, so it should be top-of-mind for organizations of all sizes. Recent research reveals that the opposite is true — according to one study, 63% of C-level executives and 67% of small businesses lack an established incident management strategy.

Technological advances have enabled cybercriminals to be more creative in how they gain access to your network and information. To minimize the amount of harm they can cause, you need to create a robust, streamlined response plan that addresses the aftermath of the breach — not just the initial attack.

Taking advantage of new technologies is essential for creating an effective incident management plan for the 21st century.


Automated Tools for Incident Management

Because it can take months before your people are able to identify and contain a cyberattack, automating specific information security incident management processes is an excellent way to speed up your recovery time. An automated cybersecurity tool can use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze historical and current threat data to understand the signs of a cyberattack, enabling it to detect and neutralize threats before a human realizes something is wrong.

For example, extended detection and response (XDR) solutions incorporate technologies like AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms to automate incident containment and response. These tools learn from previous actions in a closed feedback loop, so they can find new ways to save time and resources while effectively investigating and remediating incidents.

Successfully Implement an Incident Management Plan With BDO Digital

Now that you know what incident management is, it is time to implement it in your organization. Need help getting started? You can count on BDO Digital's experienced team of cybersecurity professionals to help. We take a holistic, scalable approach to cybersecurity incident management so we can provide a one-stop, cost-effective solution for our clients.

Learn More About Our Services

Perpetual Defense, our managed cybersecurity solution, combines several purpose-built applications to create one comprehensive threat management package. With continuous system testing, automated security tools and valuable insights into your cybersecurity posture, you can count on us to help you meet your organization's specific needs.

Contact us today to learn more about our managed detection and response services.