Write and test a security incident response plan

A written and tested security incident response plan documents exactly who gets notified, in what order, what gets locked down first, and how you communicate with affected users, so a real incident is handled by a plan rather than improvised under pressure.

The worst possible time to figure out your response process is during an actual active incident, a plan written and tested in advance is the difference between a controlled response and genuine chaos.

How to do it

1. 1
   Document your real notification chain

   Who finds out first, who they tell next, in what order, specific names or roles, not vague intentions.
2. 2
   Define immediate containment steps

   What gets locked down or disabled first depending on the type of incident, a breach, a defacement, a compromised account.
3. 3
   Plan your communication approach

   What you tell affected users and when, balancing transparency with not causing unnecessary alarm before facts are confirmed.
4. 4
   Actually run through it once as a drill

   A tabletop exercise surfaces real gaps in the plan that reading it alone will not.