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Synthetic Users Incident Response Plan (IRP)
Version: 1.1
Effective Date: 16 July 2025
Owner: Security & Compliance Lead
Approved By: CTO
1. Purpose
This plan establishes Synthetic Users’ structured approach to detecting, responding to, containing, and recovering from security incidents that could compromise data confidentiality, integrity, or availability.
2. Scope
This plan applies to all Synthetic Users systems, employees, contractors, and third parties handling company or customer data.
It covers cybersecurity events, data breaches, unauthorized access, system compromises, and other incidents affecting business continuity or data protection obligations.
3. Roles and Responsibilities
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Incident Response Lead (IRL) | Coordinates all response activities, approves external communications, and reports to the CTO. |
| Security Engineer / IT Team | Investigates, contains, and eradicates threats; preserves forensic evidence. |
| Legal & Compliance | Ensures adherence to GDPR and breach notification obligations. |
| Communications Lead | Manages internal and external messaging, including client and public statements. |
| Executive Team | Provides strategic oversight and approves public disclosures. |
Contact details for all roles are maintained in the internal Security Runbook.
4. Phases of Incident Response
4.1 Detection and Identification
- Immediately log and triage all suspected incidents via the internal incident tracking system.
- Validate the event using system logs, intrusion detection alerts, or anomaly reports.
- Classify severity (Low, Medium, High, Critical) based on scope and potential impact.
- Notify the Incident Response Lead within 1 hour of detection.
4.2 Containment
Short-Term Containment
- Disconnect or isolate affected systems from networks.
- Revoke compromised credentials or access tokens.
- Capture volatile evidence (e.g., memory dumps, logs) before system reboot.
Long-Term Containment
- Apply temporary security controls (e.g., firewall rules, access restrictions) to prevent spread.
- Initiate monitoring for related suspicious activity.
4.3 Investigation and Assessment
- Conduct forensic analysis to determine the cause, entry point, and scope.
- Preserve all evidence securely for legal or compliance purposes.
- Document each action in the Incident Report Log.
- Assess affected data types (personal, confidential, operational).
- Engage Legal & Compliance for impact classification under GDPR or other applicable laws.
4.4 Eradication and Recovery
- Eliminate malicious code, unauthorized access, or misconfigurations.
- Validate that compromised accounts and systems are fully remediated.
- Restore systems from verified clean backups.
- Conduct integrity checks before reconnecting systems to production.
- Strengthen controls that failed (patches, access restrictions, monitoring).
4.5 Notification and Compliance
- Notify affected customers (including the Affected Organization) without undue delay and within legal timeframes (e.g., 72 hours under GDPR).
- Provide clear, factual information about:
- Nature and scope of the incident
- Data involved
- Mitigation measures taken
- Recommended actions for affected parties
- Coordinate regulatory notifications through Legal & Compliance.
- Maintain documentation of all communications for audit and compliance review.
4.6 Post-Incident Review
- Conduct a Post-Incident Review Meeting within 10 business days of closure.
- Analyze incident root cause, timeline, and response effectiveness.
- Record lessons learned and assign owners for remediation tasks.
- Update relevant policies (Access Control, Encryption, Password Management, etc.) based on findings.
- File the finalized Incident Report in the Security Repository.
5. Continuous Improvement
- Perform at least one tabletop incident simulation per year to test this plan.
- Audit incident handling logs quarterly for completeness and accuracy.
- Revise the plan annually or after any major incident, system change, or regulatory update.
6. Related Documents
- Access Control Policy
- Encryption Policy
- Password Management Policy
- Data Protection Policy
- Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan