Which phase in incident response focuses on containment and mitigation?

The containment phase is crucial in incident response as it specifically addresses the need to limit the damage caused by a security incident and prevent it from spreading further. During this phase, the incident response team implements strategies to isolate affected systems, ensuring that the threat cannot continue to compromise additional assets. This may involve disconnecting compromised systems from the network, applying patches, or putting specific security measures in place.

Containment also involves mitigating any immediate threats present to restore a level of operational security. The actions taken during this phase are focused on stabilizing the situation to allow for a more thorough investigation and recovery to follow. Effective containment is essential because it serves as the foundation for subsequent phases, such as recovery and analysis, ensuring that the incident can be managed without causing further disruption to organizational operations.

In contrast, the preparation phase involves training and planning before an incident occurs, while the detection phase focuses on identifying and confirming that an incident has occurred. The recovery phase then works on restoring systems to normal operations after containment and mitigation have been executed. Each of these phases serves distinct purposes, but the containment phase is sharply centered on immediate action to safeguard the organization during an ongoing incident.