Responding to identified security incidents

All security incidents are addressed in a consistent manner to improve security based on what has happened.

In the incident treatment process:

• the reported incident is confirmed (or found unnecessary to record)
• the type and cause of incident is documented
• the risks associated with the incident are documented
• the risks are re-evaluated and treated if that is necessary after the incident
• risk mitigation measures or a decision their acceptance is documented
• people who need to be informed of the results of the incident treatment are identified (including external ones)
• possible need for a post-incident analysis is determined

The organization shall ensure that clear persons are assigned to incident management responsibilities, e.g. handling the first response for incidents.

Incident management personnel need to be instructed and trained to understand the organization's priorities in dealing with security incidents.

A process for reporting incidents is maintained to help staff report incidents efficiently and consistently.

Things to report as an incident include e.g.:

• unauthorized access to data / premises
• action against security guidelines
• suspected security issue (e.g. phishing, malware infection)
• data system outage
• accidental or intentional destruction / alteration of data
• lost or stolen device
• compromised password
• lost physical identifier (e.g. keychain, smart card, smart sticker)
• suspected security weakness (e.g. on utilized data system or other procedures)

The personnel guidelines emphasize the obligation to report security incidents as soon as possible in accordance with the agreed process. The instructions also describe other operations in the event of an incident (e.g. recording seen error messages and other details).

The organization shall establish a incident response plan for security incidents to critical information systems. Response plans should also be tested by the necessary organizational elements. The plan should take into account at least:

• The purpose of the information system and the precautions to be taken in the event of its disruption
• Recovery plans, targets, and priorities for the order of recovery of assets
• The role of implementing the response plans and the contact details of the persons assigned to the roles
•  Continuation of normal operations regardless of the state of the information systems.
• Distribution, approval and review of response plans

In addition, the plan should at least:

• Establish a roadmap for developing disruption management capacity
• Describe the structure and organization of incident management capability
• Provides metrics to measure incident management capability

Restorability refers to how quickly personal data are restored to be available and accessible in the event of a physical or technical failure.

The knowledge gained from analyzing and resolving security incidents should be used to reduce the likelihood of future incidents and their impact.

The organization regularly analyzes incidents as a whole. This process examines the type, amount and cost of incidents with the aim of identifying recurrent and significant incidents that need more action.

If recurrent incidents requiring response are identified, based on them:

• new management tasks are created or current ones expanded
• security guidelines in this area are refined or extended
• a case example of the incident is created that is used to train staff to respond to or avoid similar incidents

The organization has defined procedures to ensure that the original reporter and other personnel involved in the incident are informed of the outcome of the incident management.

Linked personnel can be documented on an optional field on the incident documentation template.