Incident Responder

An incident responder investigates, analyzes, and responds to cyber incidents. The work includes triaging incidents, collecting intrusion artifacts and forensic images, coordinating the response, recommending remediation, and writing after-action reviews and reports on incident findings.

A NICCS job profile for the role states that a degree is not required, though a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity or computer science is a plus. GIAC lists system administrators and security practitioners, alongside incident handlers and incident handling team leads, among the audiences for its GCIH certification. Incident handlers may work on staff in an incident response team, for a managed security services provider, or for an outside party called in when needed, according to NIST SP 800-61r3.

CISA lists knowledge of incident categories and response timelines, incident response and handling methods, intrusion detection techniques, and cyber attack stages, along with skill in preserving evidence integrity, using security event correlation tools, and performing damage assessments. A NICCS job profile adds soft skills such as handling stress, flexible problem-solving, and good communication.

CISA lists titles such as incident handler, incident response analyst, incident response engineer, incident response coordinator, and intrusion analyst for the Cyber Defense Incident Responder work role. It is DCWF work role 531, in the incident response specialty area of the protect and defend category.

The cyber defense analyst work role (511) uses data from cyber defense tools such as IDS alerts, firewalls, and network traffic logs to analyze events in its environment. The incident responder work role (531) investigates, analyzes, and responds to the cyber incidents themselves.

The FIRST CSIRT Services Framework describes incident management as the service area at the heart of any computer security incident response team (CSIRT). Its services cover accepting incident reports, analyzing incidents, analyzing artifacts and forensic evidence, mitigation and recovery, incident coordination, and crisis management support.

NIST SP 800-61r3 notes that an organization's incident handlers might be on staff, such as in an incident response team. They might also work on contract, such as through a managed security services provider running an outsourced security operations center, or be available when needed from a parent organization, a cybersecurity services provider, a business partner, or a law enforcement agency. The FIRST CSIRT Services Framework describes incident management as the service area at the heart of any computer security incident response team (CSIRT).