Building an Incident Response Playbook That Actually Works

Most incident response playbooks fail when they're needed most. They're either too generic, too complex, or collecting dust on a SharePoint site nobody can find. Here's how to build a playbook your team will actually use during a crisis.

Why Playbooks Fail

We've reviewed hundreds of IR playbooks across industries. The common failure modes:

Too Generic

"Follow your incident response process" isn't helpful at 3 AM during an active breach.

Too Complex

A 200-page document won't be read during a crisis.

Wrong Format

PDF documents buried in SharePoint don't help when systems are down.

Never Tested

The first real use reveals all the gaps.

What Makes a Good Playbook

Effective playbooks share common characteristics:

Action-Oriented

Every page answers: "What do I do right now?"

Role-Based

Clear responsibilities for each team member.

Decision Trees

When X happens, do Y. Clear branching logic.

Contact Information

Who to call, when, and how.

Tool-Specific

Actual commands and procedures for your environment.

The Playbook Structure

Section 1: Incident Classification

Clear criteria for severity levels: Critical (P1)

• Active data exfiltration
• Ransomware deployment
• Core system compromise

High (P2)

• Suspected breach
• Malware detection
• Privileged account compromise

Medium (P3)

• Policy violations
• Suspicious activity
• Failed attack attempts

Section 2: Initial Response

First 15 minutes checklist:

• Assess scope
• Preserve evidence
• Activate response team
• Establish communication

Section 3: Containment

Isolation procedures for:

• Endpoints
• Network segments
• User accounts
• Cloud resources

Section 4: Investigation

Evidence collection procedures:

• Memory acquisition
• Disk imaging
• Log preservation
• Timeline construction

Section 5: Eradication

Threat removal procedures:

• Malware removal
• Backdoor identification
• Vulnerability remediation

Section 6: Recovery

Return to normal operations:

• System restoration
• Validation testing
• Monitoring enhancement

Section 7: Post-Incident

Learning and improvement:

• Timeline documentation
• Root cause analysis
• Lessons learned
• Playbook updates

Building Your Playbook

Step 1: Threat Scenarios

Identify your top threat scenarios:

• Ransomware
• Business email compromise
• Insider threat
• DDoS attack
• Data breach

Step 2: Response Procedures

For each scenario, document:

• Detection indicators
• Immediate actions
• Investigation steps
• Containment options
• Recovery procedures

Step 3: Tool Integration

Include specific commands:

• EDR isolation procedures
• SIEM queries
• Firewall rules
• Cloud console actions

Step 4: Communication Templates

Pre-written communications:

• Executive briefing
• Customer notification
• Regulatory reporting
• Media statement

Testing Your Playbook

Tabletop Exercises

Quarterly walkthroughs with the team:

• Present scenario
• Walk through playbook
• Identify gaps
• Update procedures

Technical Drills

Annual hands-on exercises:

• Simulate incident
• Execute playbook
• Measure response time
• Document improvements

Key Takeaways

An effective IR playbook is:

• Scenario-specific, not generic
• Action-oriented with clear steps
• Regularly tested and updated
• Accessible during a crisis

Ready to build or improve your IR playbook? Contact us for a free assessment.