CISSP-aligned incident response steps for modern cloud security

Understanding the CISSP incident response framework

The CISSP incident response framework is a structured approach for handling security incidents from start to finish. It includes seven core phases: preparation, detection and identification, response, mitigation, reporting, recovery, and remediation with lessons learned.

This framework ensures you address both technical fixes and organizational coordination. Unlike NIST incident response guidance in SP 800-61 (which uses four phases: Preparation; Detection and Analysis; Containment, Eradication, and Recovery; and Post-Incident Activity) and the broader NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), this seven-step model breaks the process into more granular phases—each aims to manage incidents effectively.

The most important part is having a documented incident response plan before anything goes wrong. This plan defines who does what, when they do it, and how they communicate during an incident.

Key framework elements:

• Incident response plan: A formal document that outlines your security incident procedures and assigns clear responsibilities

• Incident response team: A group of trained individuals with specific roles like incident commander and technical leads

• Response procedures: Step-by-step instructions for handling different types of security incidents

• Communication protocols: Pre-established channels for internal escalation and external notifications

Cloud Incident Response Plan Template

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Step 1: Preparation - building a cloud-ready incident response foundation

Preparation is where you build your incident response foundation before any security incident occurs. You need to create policies, procedures, and communication plans that work specifically for cloud environments.

Start by forming your incident response team and assigning clear roles. You need an incident commander who makes final decisions, technical leads who handle different cloud platforms, and communication coordinators who manage messaging to stakeholders.

For cloud operations, preparation means deploying the right monitoring tools. Set up your SIEM to collect logs from all cloud services; enable native logging like AWS CloudTrail (including data events for S3 and Lambda), Azure Activity Logs and Microsoft Entra audit logs for identity events, and Google Cloud Audit Logs. Configure automated alerts for suspicious activity patterns like unusual API calls, privilege escalations, or data access.

Prepare IaC templates for pre-approved forensic infrastructure: isolated VPCs or projects with restricted network access, dedicated IAM roles with forensic-only permissions, and evidence storage buckets (e.g., AWS S3 with Object Lock or Azure immutable blob storage) that prevent tampering. This lets you spin up forensic environments in minutes while maintaining chain-of-custody requirements.

Essential preparation activities:

• Policy creation: Write formal documents that define your incident response scope and authority

• Team training: Run tabletop exercises and cloud-specific drills to keep your team sharp

• Tool deployment: Install security orchestration platforms and forensic tools before you need them

• Communication setup: Establish escalation paths and notification procedures for different incident types

Step 2: Detection and identification - discovering threats in dynamic environments

Detection is about recognizing when a security incident has actually happened. You start by monitoring for security events, which are any observable occurrences in your systems, then analyze them to determine if they're actual incidents that need a response.

Cloud environments need specialized detection tools because resources constantly change. Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) and native services like AWS GuardDuty help establish behavioral baselines for IaaS resources and spot anomalies like unusual API calls or network patterns. For SaaS security, Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) complement detection by monitoring user activity and data movement across cloud applications.

You need to understand the difference between a security event and a security incident. An event is just something that happened, while an incident is an event that has actual or potential negative impact on your organization.

Detection sources you should monitor:

• Automated systems like IDS/IPS, SIEM, and endpoint detection tools

• Cloud-native services like AWS GuardDuty (threat detection for AWS), Microsoft Sentinel (cloud-native SIEM for Azure), and Google Cloud Security Command Center (centralized security and risk management for GCP)

• Human reports from employees, partners, and threat intelligence feeds

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What Is Cloud Incident Response?

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Step 3: Response and containment - rapid isolation in cloud infrastructures

Once you confirm an incident, you immediately activate your incident response team and assess the damage. Your first goal is containment—stopping the threat from spreading to other parts of your environment. Speed matters: according to Unit 42's Incident Response Report, data exfiltration can begin within the first hour in some cases, particularly when attackers have pre-positioned access or automated tools.

Traditional containment methods like unplugging a server don't work in the cloud. Instead, you use API-driven actions to isolate affected resources quickly.

You can modify security groups to block network traffic, take snapshots of compromised workloads for forensic analysis, and suspend user credentials or service accounts to cut off attacker access. The key is acting fast while preserving evidence for later investigation.

Cloud containment techniques:

• Network isolation: Change security groups and firewall rules to restrict traffic to and from compromised resources

• Account quarantine: Revoke active sessions and tokens, delete or deactivate access keys, detach risky IAM policies, and restrict roles via Service Control Policies (AWS), conditional access policies (Azure), or organization policy constraints (GCP). For federated identities, disable the identity provider integration or revoke SAML/OIDC trust relationships.

• Workload isolation: For VMs, snapshot disks/volumes (e.g., AWS EBS snapshots), create machine images (AMIs), and quarantine instances via isolation security groups. For containers, export container images and artifacts, capture node-level telemetry and logs, and preserve pod manifests before moving forensic copies to an isolated network segment.

• API restrictions: Apply deny policies or Service Control Policies (AWS SCPs), organization policy constraints (GCP), and Azure Policy to restrict risky control-plane actions like resource deletion or privilege escalation. For your application APIs, use API gateways (AWS API Gateway, Azure API Management, Google Cloud Apigee) to implement rate limiting and block suspicious traffic patterns.

Step 4: Mitigation and eradication - eliminating threats from distributed systems

After containing the incident, you need to remove the root cause completely. This means eliminating malware, patching vulnerabilities, and fixing the misconfigurations that let the attacker in.

Cloud systems present unique challenges because threats can hide in container images, Infrastructure as Code templates, or serverless functions. You need to clean everything thoroughly, which often means rebuilding systems from known-good states rather than trying to patch compromised ones.

Eradication includes rotating all potentially exposed credentials: user passwords, IAM access keys, OAuth tokens, federated session tokens, service account keys, and SSH keys. Also reset signing materials used by CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions secrets, Jenkins credentials) and rotate encryption keys if data-at-rest protection may have been compromised.

Eradication steps:

• Clean infected systems and replace compromised container images

• Apply security patches to all affected software and operating systems

• Fix security misconfigurations in cloud services like overly permissive IAM roles

• Rotate all potentially compromised credentials, API keys, and secrets

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Step 5: Reporting - documenting incidents for stakeholders and compliance

Reporting happens throughout the entire incident response process, not just at the end. You need to keep stakeholders informed with regular updates as the situation develops.

Different audiences need different types of reports. Technical teams want detailed logs and forensic data, while executives need high-level summaries focused on business impact and risk.

If you experienced a data breach, you might need to notify regulatory authorities and affected individuals. These notifications have strict timelines and requirements that vary by regulation and jurisdiction.

What to include in your reports:

• Incident timeline: A chronological record of everything that happened from detection to recovery

• Impact analysis: Clear assessment of what data was affected and which systems were compromised

• Response metrics: Key measurements like time to detect, time to respond, and time to recover

• Compliance documentation: Records required for regulatory obligations like GDPR breach notifications (72-hour reporting), HIPAA Security Rule incident response (45 CFR § 164.308), PCI DSS Requirement 12.10 (incident response plan), SOC 2 CC series (incident management), and—for public companies—SEC incident disclosure requirements (Form 8-K within four business days for material incidents).

Step 6: Recovery - restoring services and validating security posture

Recovery is about carefully bringing your systems back to normal operation. This isn't a race—you need to be methodical to avoid reinfecting your environment.

Start by rebuilding from clean, trusted images or restoring from verified backups. Validate backup integrity by checking cryptographic hashes, reviewing version history for unauthorized changes, and confirming backups were stored in immutable storage (e.g., AWS S3 Object Lock, Azure immutable blob storage) or air-gapped locations. Test restored systems in an isolated environment before returning them to production.

You should implement enhanced monitoring on recovered systems to catch any signs of persistent threats. Run vulnerability scans, review configurations, and test functionality before returning systems to production.

Recovery procedures:

• Rebuild servers from golden images or restore from clean backups

• Restore application and user data only after verifying backup integrity

• Test all business functions to confirm they work correctly

• Monitor recovered systems closely for any residual malicious activity

Step 7: Remediation and lessons learned - strengthening defenses for future incidents

The lessons learned phase is where you turn the incident into an opportunity for improvement. Hold a post-incident review meeting with everyone involved to discuss what worked and what didn't.

Your goal is identifying the root cause and fixing any systemic weaknesses in your technology, processes, or policies. Document everything in a formal lessons learned report that drives concrete actions. Maintain chain-of-custody records for all evidence (who collected it, when, how it was stored, who accessed it) to support legal proceedings or regulatory investigations. Track remediation actions in a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) with assigned owners, due dates, and verification criteria.

Use these insights to update your incident response playbooks, enhance security controls, and provide additional training to your team. Every incident should make your organization more resilient.

Post-incident activities:

• Conduct a formal after-action review to evaluate your response

• Update incident response plans and procedures based on what you learned

• Implement new security measures to prevent similar incidents

• Share knowledge with relevant teams to build institutional expertise

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CISSP incident response vs other frameworks

The CISSP seven-phase model is comprehensive, but other frameworks like NIST and SANS offer different perspectives on the same core activities. Understanding these differences helps you choose the right approach for your organization.

Most frameworks map closely despite differing phase counts and names. For example, NIST SP 800-61's 'Detection and Analysis' phase aligns with CISSP's 'Detection and Identification' plus 'Response' steps. ISO/IEC 27035 (Information Security Incident Management) provides another internationally recognized framework that maps to these phases: Plan and Prepare, Detection and Reporting, Assessment and Decision, Responses, and Lessons Learned.

The SANS framework uses six steps that closely mirror the CISSP model. The choice of framework matters less than having a well-documented plan that your team practices regularly.

Framework comparison:

• NIST framework: Four phases emphasizing preparation, detection and analysis, containment through recovery, and post-incident activity

• SANS framework: Six steps including preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned

• Common objectives: All frameworks prioritize preparation, rapid response to limit damage, and continuous improvement

Framework mapping reference

This mapping helps you demonstrate compliance during audits by showing how your incident response process aligns with required frameworks.

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What Is Cloud Incident Response?

Cloud incident response is a strategic approach to detecting and recovering from cyberattacks on cloud-based systems with the goal of minimizing the impact to your workloads and business operation accordingly.

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Common cloud incident response challenges and solutions

Cloud environments create unique challenges that traditional incident response methods can't handle. Resources like containers and serverless functions can disappear before you collect forensic evidence, destroying crucial data.

Multi-cloud complexity means you need to navigate different tools and APIs for each provider—a significant challenge when 71% of organizations rely on more than 10 different cloud security tools, according to Check Point's 2025 Cloud Security Report. This tool sprawl creates visibility gaps and slows incident response. The shared responsibility model can create confusion about who secures what parts of the infrastructure.

You need cloud-native solutions: automated evidence collection (e.g., pre-approved snapshot automation, log export pipelines), centralized cross-cloud logging platforms (e.g., Splunk, Datadog, Elastic), and a RACI-based responsibility matrix that clarifies provider vs. customer duties under the shared responsibility model. For example, AWS secures the hypervisor (provider responsibility), while you secure guest OS patching and IAM policies (customer responsibility).

Cloud-specific challenges:

• Ephemeral infrastructure: Containers and serverless functions that auto-terminate before you can investigate them

• Multi-tenancy concerns: Incidents in shared infrastructure that could impact multiple tenants

• API-based attacks: Malicious activities carried out through cloud service APIs

• Scale and distribution: Incidents that quickly spread across multiple regions and accounts

Solutions that work:

• Deploy tools that automatically capture snapshots and logs from ephemeral resources

• Implement cloud-native security platforms for unified visibility across all environments

• Use Infrastructure as Code and automation for rapid containment actions

• Foster strong collaboration between security, DevOps, and cloud engineering teams

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How Wiz enhances CISSP incident response implementation

Wiz provides capabilities that align directly with each CISSP incident response phase. Wiz Cloud gives you complete agentless visibility across your entire multi-cloud environment, letting you build a comprehensive asset inventory and reduce your attack surface before incidents occur.

Wiz Defend delivers precise, real-time threat detection with automated investigation workflows that eliminate alert fatigue. It correlates signals and provides full attack context so you can quickly identify and contain threats.

The Wiz Security Graph provides cloud-to-code traceability, helping you pinpoint vulnerability root causes in your development pipeline. Wiz Code lets you fix issues at their source for permanent eradication.

The unified Wiz platform visualizes complex attack paths and potential blast radius across all incident response phases. This empowers your team to make faster, more informed decisions from detection through recovery.

Wiz incident response services provide expert-led support for complex cloud incidents, leveraging the full platform to help you investigate, contain, and recover with confidence. Request a demo to explore how Wiz can secure your cloud environment.

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