Cyber Incident Response Plan Te

CYBER INCIDENT
RESPONSE PLAN
TEMPLATE
cyber.gov.au
Table of Contents
1. Authority and Review.......................................................................................................................
2. Purpose and Objectives....................................................................................................................
3. Standards and Frameworks..............................................................................................................
4. High Level Incident Response Process...............................................................................................
5. Common Security Incidents and Responses......................................................................................
5.1. Common Threat Vectors..................................................................................................................
5.2. Common Cyber Incidents................................................................................................................
6. Roles and Responsibilities................................................................................................................
6.1. Points of Contact for Reporting Cyber Incidents..............................................................................
6.2. Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT).............................................................................................
6.3. Senior Executive Management Team (SEMT)................................................................................
6.4. Roles and Relationships.................................................................................................................
7. Communications.............................................................................................................................
7.1. Internal Communications..............................................................................................................
7.2. External Communications..............................................................................................................
8. Supporting Procedures and Playbooks............................................................................................
8.1. Supporting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).......................................................................
8.2. Supporting Playbooks....................................................................................................................
9. Sector, Jurisdictional and National Incident Response Arrangements..............................................
9.1. Sector Arrangements.....................................................................................................................
9.2. Jurisdictional Arrangements..........................................................................................................
9.3. National Arrangements.................................................................................................................
10. Incident Notification and Reporting..............................................................................................
10.1. Legal and Regulatory Requirements............................................................................................
10.2. Insurance.....................................................................................................................................
INCIDENT RESPONSE PROCESS............................................................................................................

11. Detection, Investigation, Analysis and Activation..........................................................................
11.1. Incident Classification..................................................................................................................
11.2. Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) Activation........................................................................
11.3. Investigation Questions...............................................................................................................
11.4. Escalation and De-escalation.......................................................................................................
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Cyber Incident Response Plan | Template
12. Containment, Evidence Collection & Remediation........................................................................
12.1. Containment................................................................................................................................
12.2. Documentation............................................................................................................................
12.3. Evidence Collection and Preservation..........................................................................................
12.4. Remediation Action Plan.............................................................................................................
13. Recovery......................................................................................................................................
13.1. Stand Down.................................................................................................................................
14. Learn and Improve........................................................................................................................
14.1. Post Incident Review...................................................................................................................
14.2. Update and Test Cyber Incident Response Plan..........................................................................
14.3. Training........................................................................................................................................
APPENDICES.......................................................................................................................................
Terminology and Definitions................................................................................................................
Cyber Incident Response Readiness Checklist......................................................................................
ACSC Incident Triage Questions............................................................................................................
Situation Report Template...................................................................................................................
Incident Log Template..........................................................................................................................
Evidence Register Template.................................................................................................................
Remediation Action Plan Template......................................................................................................
Post Incident Review Analysis Template..............................................................................................
Action Register Template.....................................................................................................................
Role Cards.............................................................................................................................................
ACSC Incident Categorisation Matrix 2022...........................................................................................
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1. Authority and Review
Document Control and Review
Document Control
Author
Owner
Date created
Last reviewed by
Last date reviewed
Endorsed by and date
Next review due date
Version Control
Version Date of Approval Approved By Description of Change
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2. Purpose and Objectives
Purpose of the CIRP
Objectives of the CIRP

1.
2.
3.
4.
3. Standards and Frameworks





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4. High Level Incident
Response Process
6
5. Common Security
Incidents and Responses
A list of commonly used terms and definitions is provided at Appendix A.
5.1. Common Threat Vectors

The following table contains common threat vectors from the NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide.
Type Description
External/Removable An attack executed from removable media or a peripheral device (e.g. malicious
Media code spreading onto a system from an infected USB flash drive).
An attack that employs brute force methods to compromise, degrade, or destroy

systems, networks, or services (e.g. a DDoS intended to impair or deny access to a
Attrition
service or application or a brute force attack against an authentication mechanism,
such as passwords).
An attack executed from a website or web-based application (e.g. a cross-site

Web scripting attack used to steal credentials or a redirect to a site that exploits a
browser vulnerability and installs malware).
An attack executed via an email message or attachment (e.g. exploit code disguised
Email
as an attached document or a link to a malicious website in the body of an email).
An antagonistic attack on hardware or software assets utilising physical implants,

Supply Chain
Trojans or backdoors, by intercepting and modifying an asset in transit from the
Interdiction
vendor or retailer.
An attack involving replacement of something benign with something malicious (e.g.

Impersonation spoofing, man in the middle attacks, rogue wireless access points, and SQL injection
attacks all involve impersonation).
Any incident resulting from violation of an organisation’s acceptable usage policies

Improper usage by an authorised user, excluding the above categories (e.g. a user installs file sharing
software, leading to the loss of sensitive data).
Loss or Theft of The loss or theft of a computing device or media used by an organisation (e.g. a
Equipment laptop, smartphone or authentication token).
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5.2. Common Cyber Incidents
The following table provides a list of common cyber incident types and corresponding initial response activities.
Type/Description Response
Denial of Service (DoS) and

Distributed Denial of Service
(DDoS): overwhelming a service
with traffic, sometimes impacting
availability.
Phishing: deceptive messaging

designed to elicit users’ sensitive
information (such as banking
logins or business login
credentials) or used to execute
malicious code to enable remote
access.
Ransomware: a tool used to lock

or encrypt victims’ files until a
ransom is paid.
Malware: a Trojan, virus, worm,

or any other malicious software
that can harm a computer system
or network.
Data breach: unauthorised

access and disclosure of
information.
Industrial Control System

compromise: unauthorised
access to ICS.
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6. Roles and Responsibilities
This section includes details of the roles and responsibilities of core individuals and teams responsible for
incident response and decision making, including the operational level Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT)
and the strategic level Senior Executive Management Team (SEMT).
All personnel listed here should be familiar with their responsibilities in this plan and practise their response.
6.1. Points of Contact for Reporting Cyber Incidents

Primary and secondary (backup) internal points of contact to report cyber incidents to over a 24/7 period.
Hours of
Name Contact Details Role Title Responsibilities
Operation
6.2. Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT)

CIRT members responsible for managing responses to cyber incidents:
Name Organisation Role Contact Details CIRT Role Title CIRT Responsibilities
For more significant cyber security incidents the CIRT could be expanded to include:
Name Organisation Role Contact Details CIRT Role Title CIRT Responsibilities
6.2.1. Surge Arrangements
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6.3. Senior Executive Management Team (SEMT)
Significant cyber incidents may require the formation of the SEMT to provide strategic oversight, direction
and support to the CIRT, with a focus on:
 Strategic issues identification and management
 Stakeholder engagement and communications (including Board and ministerial liaison, if applicable)
 Resource and capability demand (including urgent logistics or finance requirements, and human
resources considerations during response effort).
SEMT members responsible for managing responses to cyber incidents:
Name Contact Details Title SEMT Role
6.4. Roles and Relationships

The following diagram reflects the relationship between the key personnel and teams involved in the response.
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7. Communications
7.1. Internal Communications
7.2. External Communications
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8. Supporting Procedures
and Playbooks
8.1. Supporting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) available to support incident response efforts include:




8.2. Supporting Playbooks

The playbooks available to provide step-by-step guidance for responses to common incidents include:




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9. Sector, Jurisdictional
and National Incident
Response Arrangements
The relevant sector, state and/or territory and national arrangements are detailed in this section.
9.1. Sector Arrangements
9.2. Jurisdictional Arrangements
9.3. National Arrangements

Appendix C provides the ACSC’s incident triage questions.
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10. Incident Notification
and Reporting
Processes for internal and external incident notification and reporting include:
Key notifying/reporting
Incident Organisation/agency Contact details
requirements and link Personnel
type/ to receive notification for the notifying
to organisation/agency responsible
threshold or report organisation/agency
information
10.1. Legal and Regulatory Requirements
10.2. Insurance
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INCIDENT
RESPONSE
PROCESS
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11. Detection, Investigation,
Analysis and Activation
11.1. Incident Classification
For example:
Incident
Descriptions
Classification
Critical
High
Medium
Low
For information about the ACSC Incident Categorisation Matrix see Appendix K.
11.2. Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) Activation
11.2.1 Logistics and Communications
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11.3. Investigation Questions
To guide the incident response efforts and understanding of the scope and impact of the incident, develop a list
of investigation questions for each incident. Not all questions may be answerable with the data available and
questions may change as your investigation progresses.
Possible initial investigation questions include:
 What was the initial intrusion vector?
 What post-exploitation activity occurred? Have accounts been compromised? What level of privilege?
 Does the actor have persistence on the network or device?
 Is lateral movement suspected or known? Where has the actor laterally moved to and how?
 How is the actor maintaining command and control?
 Has data been accessed or exfiltrated and, if so, what kind of data?
11.4. Escalation and De-escalation

The triggers and/or thresholds and decision making authorities for incident escalation and de-escalation
include:
Incident Triggers and/or thresholds for Minimum level

Action
Classification escalation and de-escalation authority
Critical De-escalate to High
Escalate to Critical
High
De-escalate to Medium
Escalate to High
Medium
De-escalate to Low
Low Escalate to Medium
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12. Containment, Evidence
Collection & Remediation
12.1. Containment
Containment actions are implemented in order to minimise the damage, prevent the incident from spreading
or escalating, and prevent the attacker from destroying evidence of their attack.
When planning containment actions, consider:
 Any additional impacts there could be to systems/services
 Time and resources required to contain the incident
 Effectiveness of the containment solution (e.g. partial vs full containment)
 Duration that the solution will remain in place (e.g. temporary vs permanent solution)
12.2. Documentation
All incidents should be documented. For each incident, identify the responsible personnel, recipients of the
information, and timeframes. Refer to Appendix D for a Situation Report template and Appendix E for an
Incident Log template.
Situation reports may contain the following information:
 Incident date and time
 Status of the incident
 Incident type and classification
 Scope and Impact
 Severity
 External assistance required
 Actions taken to resolve the incident
 Contact details for incident manager and key CIRT personnel
 Date and time of the next update
12.3. Evidence Collection and Preservation

When gathering evidence, maintain a detailed log that clearly documents how all evidence has been collected.
This should include who collected or handled the evidence, the time and date (including time zone) evidence
was collected and handled, and the details of each item collected (including the physical location, serial
number, model number, hostname, media access control (MAC) address, IP address and hash values). See the
Evidence Register template at Appendix F to capture this information.
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12.4. Remediation Action Plan
A Remediation Action Plan is to be developed and implemented for eradicating and resolving the incident
following successful containment and evidence collection. See Appendix G for a template.
When developing the Remediation Action Plan, consider:
 What actions are required to eradicate/resolve the incident?
 What resources are required to resolve the incident (if not already included in the CIRT)?
o Are there additional external resources you may require?
 Who is responsible for remediation actions?
 What systems/services should be prioritised?
 What systems/services will be affected during the remediation process? How will these systems be
affected?
 What is the expected resolution time?
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13. Recovery
Develop a recovery plan that details the approach to recovering IT and/or OT networks, systems and
applications once containment and eradication is complete.
When developing the Recovery Plan, consider:
 How systems will be restored to normal operation and expected timeframes?
 How systems will be monitored to ensure they are no longer compromised and are functioning as
expected?
 How identified vulnerabilities will be managed to prevent similar incidents?
13.1. Stand Down
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14. Learn and Improve
14.1. Post Incident Review
A Post Incident Review (PIR) is a detailed review conducted after a cyber security incident.
Key questions to consider in the PIR:
 What were the root causes of the incident and any incident response issues?
 Could the incident have been prevented? How?
 What worked well in the response to the incident?
 How can our response be improved for future incidents?
The PIR Guide and Template with more detailed questions to consider is available at Appendix H.
Recommendations that arise from the review can be documented in a corresponding Action Register.
Use the template at Appendix I.
14.1.1 PPOSTTE Model

The PPOSTTE model can assist to reflect on key elements of the incident response.
People Roles, responsibilities, accountabilities, skills
Process Plans, policies, procedures, protocols, processes, templates, arrangements
Organisation Structures, culture, jurisdictional arrangements
Support Infrastructure, facilities, maintenance
Technology Equipment, systems, standards, security, inter-operability
Training Qualifications/skill levels, identification of required courses
*Exercise Management
Exercise development, structure, management, conduct
This only applies to exercises
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14.2. Update and Test Cyber Incident Response Plan
The PIR may result in changes to the CIRP, Playbooks and Templates. Changes should be communicated
to the relevant personnel.
14.3. Training
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APPENDICES
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Appendix A
Terminology and Definitions
Use of consistent and pre-defined terminology to describe incidents and their effects can be helpful during a
response. In your CIRP, include commonly used terms used in your organisation. ACSC defines cyber threats,
events, alerts and incidents as follows:
Cyber threat
A cyber threat is any circumstance or event with the potential to harm systems or information. Other threats
are listed on cyber.gov.au. Organisations can include a list of cyber threats of concern. The ACSC Annual Cyber
Threat Report (2021) outlines the following threat environment and key cyber security trends:
 COVID-19 themed malicious activity including phishing emails and scams
 Ransomware
 Exploitation of security vulnerabilities
 Software supply chain compromise
 Business Email Compromise
 Cybercrime
Cyber security event

A cyber security event is an occurrence of a system, service or network state indicating a possible breach
of security policy, failure of safeguards or a previously unknown situation that may be relevant to security.
A cyber security event has the potential to become, but is not confirmed to be, a cyber incident.
Examples of cyber security events include (but are not limited to):
 A user has disabled the antivirus on their computer
 A user has deleted or modified system files
 A user restarted a server
 Unauthorised access to a server or system.
Cyber security alert

A cyber security alert is a notification generated in response to a deviation from normal behaviour.
Cyber security alerts are used to highlight cyber security events.
Cyber incident
A cyber incident is an unwanted or unexpected cyber security event, or a series of such events, that have
a significant probability of compromising business operations. A cyber incident requires corrective action.
Examples of cyber security incidents include (but are not limited to):
 Denial-of-service attacks (DoS)
 Unauthorised access or attempts to access a system
 Compromise of sensitive information
 Virus or malware outbreak (including ransomware).
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Appendix B
Cyber Incident Response Readiness Checklist
This checklist is to aid your organisation’s initial assessment of its readiness to respond to a cyber security
incident. This checklist is not an exhaustive list of all readiness activities.
PREPARATION
Your organisation has a cyber security policy or strategy that outlines your organisation’s approach
to prevention, preparedness, detection, response, recovery, review and improvement.
☐  For example, does your organisation have a position on, for example, paying ransom,
reporting incidents to government, publicly acknowledging cyber incidents, sharing
information about incidents with trusted industry and government partners?
A Cyber Incident Response Plan has been developed, which:

 Aligns with your organisation's operating environment and other processes, including
emergency management and business continuity processes.
☐
 Has been reviewed or tested in an exercise to ensure it remains current and responsible
personnel are aware of their roles, responsibilities and processes.
 Templates have been prepared, for example Situation Reports.
☐ Staff involved in managing an incident have received incident response training.
Up-to-date hard copy versions of the Cyber Incident Response Plan and playbooks are stored in a
☐ secure location (in case of electronic or hardware failure) and are accessible to authorised staff
members.
Specific playbooks to supplement the Cyber Incident Response Plan have been developed, that define
☐ step-by-step guidance for response actions to common incidents, and roles and responsibilities.
A Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) and a Senior Executive Management Team (SEMT) – or
☐ equivalents - have been formed to manage the response, with approved authorities.
All relevant IT and OT Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are documented and have been reviewed
☐ or tested in an exercise to ensure they remain current and responsible personnel are aware of their
roles, responsibilities and processes.
Arrangements for service providers, including cloud and software as a service, to provide and retain
☐ logs have been established and tested to ensure these include useful data and can be provided in a
timely manner.
Log retention for critical systems have been configured adequately and tested to confirm that they
☐ capture useful data. Refer to the ACSC publications including Windows Event Logging and Forwarding
for specific guidance.
Your organisation has internal or third party arrangements and capabilities to detect and analyse
☐ incidents. If these capabilities are outsourced, your organisation has an active service
agreement/contract.
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☐ Critical assets (data, applications and systems) have been identified and documented.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been developed, and roles and responsibilities assigned
☐ for use of facilities and communications technologies in response to cyber incidents, and these
resources are confirmed as available. This includes for alternative/back-up ICT-based channels.
Incident logging/records and tracking technologies used to manage a response are confirmed as
☐ available and have been tested.
Role cards have been developed for each person involved in the CIRT and the SEMT. Individual actions
☐ will depend on the type and severity of the incident. Example role card is available at Appendix J.
Your organisation has internal or third party arrangements and capabilities to monitor threats.
Situational awareness information is collected from internal and external data sources, including:
 Local system and network traffic and activity logs
☐  News feeds concerning ongoing political, social, or economic activities that might impact
incident activity
 External feeds on incident trends, new attack vectors, current attack indicators and new
mitigation strategies and technologies.
DETECTION, INVESTIGATION, ANALYSIS AND ACTIVATION
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been developed, and roles and responsibilities assigned for:
Detection mechanisms which can be used to identify potential information security incidents, such as
scanning, senses and logging mechanisms. These mechanisms require monitoring processes to identify
unusual or suspicious activity, for example behaviour and logging, commensurate with the impact of
an incident. Common monitoring techniques include:
a) network and user profiling that establishes a baseline of normal activity which, when
combined with logging and alerting mechanisms, can enable detection of anomalous activity;
☐ b) scanning for unauthorised hardware, software and changes to configurations;

c) sensors that provide an alert when a measure breaches a defined threshold(s) (e.g. device,
server and network activity);
d) logging and alerting of access to sensitive data or unsuccessful logon attempts to identify
potential unauthorised access; and
e) users with privileged access accounts subject to a greater level of monitoring in light of the
heightened risks involved.1
Incident detection, including self-detected incidents, notifications received from service providers
☐ or vendors, and notifications received from trusted third parties (e.g. ACSC).
Incident analysis, including how incidents are to be categorised, classified and prioritised, and controls
☐ related to how data is stored and transmitted (i.e. if out-of-band transmission is required).
Activating a Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) to manage critical incidents, with roles and
☐ responsibilities assigned.
☐ Activating a Senior Executive Management Team (SEMT) to manage critical incidents, with roles and
1
APRA Prudential Practice Guide CPG 234 Information Security.
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responsibilities assigned.
CONTAINMENT, EVIDENCE COLLECTION AND REMEDIATION
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), playbooks and templates, have been developed, and roles and
☐ responsibilities assigned for containment, evidence collection and remediation. These can be included
as appendices to the Cyber Incident Response Plan.
A secure location is available for storing data captured during an incident, which could be used as
☐ evidence of the incident and the adversary’s tradecraft, and ready to be provided to third-party
stakeholders if needed.
COMMUNICATIONS
Policy, plans, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and templates have been developed to support
communicating with:
☐  Internal stakeholders (e.g. Board, staff)

 External stakeholders (e.g. stakeholders to assist with the response and stakeholders with
an interest in the response)
Policy, plans, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and templates for media and communications
☐ professionals have been developed, and roles and responsibilities assigned, to support public and
media messaging.
You organisation has assigned a public and media spokesperson, who is supported by subject matter
☐ experts.
Staff have been trained to implement the communications processes and execute their roles and
☐ responsibilities.
Staff who are not involved in managing incidents are cognisant of your organisation’s policy and
☐ processes and their responsibilities when an incident occurs (e.g. exercising discretion, using approved
talking points, referring enquiries to the designated officer).
INCIDENT NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING
Processes and contact details are documented to support the organisation to meet its legal and
regulatory requirements on cyber incident notification, reporting and response, with roles and
☐ responsibilities within your organisation are assigned. This includes the processes for obtaining
authority to release and share information.
☐ Processes are documented for insurance requirements.
POST INCIDENT REVIEW
A process is documented to conduct Post Incident Reviews (PIR) following conclusion of an incident
☐ and PIR reports with recommendations are submitted to management for endorsement.
A process is documented to ensure actions following incidents and/or exercises are tracked and
☐ completed (e.g. Action Register).
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Appendix C
ACSC Incident Triage Questions
Where applicable, personnel reporting cyber security incidents to the ACSC on behalf of their organisation
should try to have information available to answer the following questions:
 Who is reporting the incident? (include their position e.g. CISO, ITSA, SOC Manager etc.)
 Who/what is the affected organisation/entity?
 What type of incident is being reported? (e.g. ransomware, denial of service, data exposure, malware)
 Is the incident still active?
 When was the incident first identified?
 Are you reporting for ACSC awareness or is ACSC assistance required?
o If ACSC assistance is required, what assistance is needed?
 What type of system or network has been affected?
o Information Technology (IT)
 Corporate systems/networks, databases, servers, VOIP systems.
o Operational Technology (OT)
 SCADA, Remote sensors, BMS/BAS, logic controllers.
 What was observed (the sequence of events)? E.g. was lateral movement observed?
o Date/Time
o Effect/Event
 Who or what identified the problem?
 Has a data breach occurred?
o What type of information was exposed?
 What impact will this have on the organisation?
 What impact (if any) will the breach have on public safety or services?
o What volume of records/data was exposed?
o Was it a misconfiguration/error, or was a malicious exfiltration or theft of data identified?
o Has it been reported to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)?
 If not, organisations need to consider if mandatory reporting obligations apply under the
Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) scheme
 What actions have been taken to rectify the issue?
o Does the organisation/entity have internal or external IT and/or cyber security incident response
providers?
o Are services/business as usual operations interrupted?
 If so, how long do they expect before they are back at normal operating capability?
 Will you be communicating publicly about the incident and engaging with media?
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o If so, please notify the ACSC beforehand if you will be referencing the ACSC.
Appendix D
Situation Report Template
Date of entry: Time of entry: Author:
Date and Time incident detected
Current Status – New, In Progress,

Resolved
Incident Type
Incident Classification
Scope – list the affected networks,

systems and/or applications;
highlight any change to scope since
the previous log
Impact – list the affected

stakeholder(s); highlight any
change in impact since the
previous log entry
Severity – outline the impact of the

incident on your organisation(s)
and public safety or services;
highlight any change to severity
since the previous log entry
Notifications
Actioned/Pending
Assistance required – what

assistance do we require from
other organisations? (e.g. ACSC,
law enforcement)
Actions taken to resolve incident
Additional notes
Contact details for incident

manager and others if required
Date and Time of next update
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Appendix E
Incident Log Template
Date and Time Notes
(relevant facts, decisions, rationale)
Access
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Collected by Item Details
Date, Time and Storage location and
Location of collection (name, title, contact and phone (quantity, serial number, model number, label number
number) hostname, media access control (MAC) address,
IP addresses and hash values)

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Category Status
Date and Time Action Action Owner
(Contain, Eradicate, (unallocated, In Progress,
Recover) Completed)

Appendix H
Post Incident Review Analysis Template
Incident Summary
Incident name
Date of incident dd/mm/yy
Incident Priority Low/Medium/High

Established from the impact and/or risk to the business
Time incident occurred
Time incident was

resolved
Incident type Malware, etc.
Personnel involved Names of the individuals involved in resolving the incident and their
function(s), including any service providers
Incident impact What impact did the incident have? I.e. loss of systems
Brief summary What happened?
Incident Analysis
The Incident Analysis is broken into the following categories:
 Incident timeline – Summary of what happened and when. Provides high level areas for improvement.
 Protection – Identifies the protection mechanisms that were in place at the time of the incident and
their effectiveness. Establishes how to improve the protection of our systems and networks.
 Detection – Establishes how to reduce the time to identify an incident is occurring. Addresses what
detection mechanisms were in place, and how those mechanisms can be improved.
 Response – Identifies improvements for the incident response.
 Recovery – Addresses improvements for incident recovery (i.e. how to recover from an incident
faster).
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INCIDENT TIMELINE
Date and time of detection
When was the incident When did your organisation identify that an incident was occurring?
acknowledged?
Date and time of incident response
Date and time of incident recovery
Who discovered the incident first Or who was alerted to it first? How did the discovery or alert
and how? happen?
Was the incident reported For example, did your organisation report it to the ACSC?
externally? If yes, when?
Who supported resolving the List the names of personnel involved in resolving the incident,
incident? When did they provide and the time (and date if not all on the same day) they joined in.
support?
What activities were conducted to It is easier to do this in a list, for example:

resolve the incident? When were
Time > Task > Impact
they conducted and what was their
impact?
PROPOSED ACTIONS Detail any resulting actions that can be incorporated into the Action
Register.
Brief description of action > Proposed Action Officer
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PROTECTION
What controls were in place that I.e. systems, networks, etc.
were expected to stop an incident
similar to this?
How effective were those controls? Did they work? Why/why not?
How could they be improved?
Are there other controls considered What are they?

better for protecting against a
similar incident?
What business processes were I.e. Your organisation’s policies and procedures.
in place to prevent this type of
incident from occurring?
How effective were those business Did they work? Why/why not?
processes?
How could they be improved?
Any other findings and/or **See the PPOSTTE model for guidance
suggestions for improvement?
Register.
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INCIDENT DETECTION
How was the incident detected? How did you know the incident was happening?
What controls were in place to

detect the incident?
Were those controls effective? Did they work? Why/why not?
What business processes were in

place to detect the incident?
Were those business processes Did they work? Why/why not?

effective?
Are there any ways to improve How could your organisation reduce that time?
the ‘time-to-detection’?
Are there any indicators that can

be used to detect similar incidents
in the future?
Are there any additional tools or Is there anything (from a detection perspective) that will help mitigate
resources that are required in the future incidents?
future to detect similar incidents?
Technology? Human resources with specific skills? Etc.
Any other findings and/or What activities worked well? What activities did not work so well?
suggestions for improvement? What could be changed with hindsight?
**Also see the PPOSTTE model for guidance
Register.
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INCIDENT RESPONSE
What was the cause of the
incident?
How was the incident resolved? What needed to happen for the issue to be resolved?
What obstacles were faced when

responding to the incident?
Were any business policies and/or For example, does your organisation have an Incident Response Plan,
procedures used in responding to and was this followed?
the incident?
Were those business policies Did they work? Why/why not?

and/or procedures effective?
What delays and obstacles were

experienced when responding?
Were there any escalation points? Were there any escalation points that the incident went through?
If there were escalation points, For example, having to escalate to a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to
did they hamper the response OR take action on an ongoing incident had severe timeline impacts on
were they at the appropriate responding to an active incident.
level?
How well did the information What worked well/what did not work well. How could it be improved?
sharing and communications work
Was there any information that was needed sooner?
within your organisation?
How did your organisation communicate within the IR team, across
jurisdictions, across time zones, legal teams, external comms teams,
etc.?
Were there any media enquiries If yes, WHAT was the media, and how did your organisation respond?
received during the incident?
Was media produced during the If yes, WHAT was the media, and how did your organisation respond?
incident?
Was the customer notified during Why/why not? When? How?

the incident?
Were trained staff available to Are there any staff knowledge and/or skills gaps? What are they?
respond?
Were there enough resources available to respond?
Register.
39
INCIDENT RECOVERY
How long did it take for all
systems and networks to
recover?
How could this time be For example, how could the recovery time be reduced?
improved?
Are there any obligations to

report externally about the
incident?
Were there any media enquiries

after the incident?
Were staff and/or customers Why/why not?

notified of the incident?
How was the notification completed? Was it effective? How could it be
improved?
Register.
40
41
ID Action Action Officer Date expected Status Updates Comments
Appendix I to complete
Action
Describe Register
the action in detail Template
Name of the Date the action Complete Insert date, and any Any relevant
01 In Progress updates to progressing
person who is expected to information relating
will be leading be completed the action to closing out he
Not yet started
the action You can also detail any action

blockers here
02
03
04
05
Appendix J
Role Cards
Example of a role card:
ROLE CARD – CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE ROLE CARD – CYBER INCIDENT RESPONSE
INCIDENT MANAGER KEY CONTACTS

Reports to SEMT Chair Virtual Meeting Room:
XXXX
RESPONSIBILITIES
 Activate the CIRP Backup conference line:
XXXX
 Coordinate operations room setup
 Manage a team of incident responders Media:
including preparing for, and tracking, daily XXXX
investigation tasks
 Provide administrative and logistical Security:
support for incident responders XXXX
 Manage the passage of relevant operational
Legal:
information to the SEMT
XXXX
42
Appendix K
ACSC Incident Categorisation Matrix 2022
ACSC categorises cyber incidents by severity using a matrix that considers the:
 Cyber Effect (i.e. the impact, success, sustained and/or intent)
 Significance (i.e. sensitivity of the organisation)
The severity of the cyber incident informs the type and nature of incident response and crisis management
arrangements that are activated. Depending on the severity of the incident, the ACSC has a suite of capabilities
that it may deploy to support the affected parties. However, ACSC determines which capabilities are
appropriate and available given competing priorities. Organisations must not rely on the ACSC for their
own ability to respond to cyber incidents in an appropriate and timely manner.
43

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CYBER INCIDENT

INCIDENT RESPONSE PROCESS............................................................................................................

Last date reviewed

Endorsed by and date

Next review due date

Version Date of Approval Approved By Description of Change

Objectives of the CIRP

3. Standards and Frameworks

5.1. Common Threat Vectors

An attack that employs brute force methods to compromise, degrade, or destroy

An attack executed from a website or web-based application (e.g. a cross-site

An antagonistic attack on hardware or software assets utilising physical implants,

An attack involving replacement of something benign with something malicious (e.g.

Any incident resulting from violation of an organisation’s acceptable usage policies

Denial of Service (DoS) and

Phishing: deceptive messaging

Ransomware: a tool used to lock

Malware: a Trojan, virus, worm,

Data breach: unauthorised

Industrial Control System

6.1. Points of Contact for Reporting Cyber Incidents

6.2. Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT)

6.2.1. Surge Arrangements

Name Contact Details Title SEMT Role

6.4. Roles and Relationships

7.2. External Communications

8.2. Supporting Playbooks

9.1. Sector Arrangements

9.2. Jurisdictional Arrangements

9.3. National Arrangements

10.1. Legal and Regulatory Requirements

11.2. Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) Activation

11.2.1 Logistics and Communications

11.4. Escalation and De-escalation

Incident Triggers and/or thresholds for Minimum level

Critical De-escalate to High

Low Escalate to Medium

12.3. Evidence Collection and Preservation

13.1. Stand Down

14.1.1 PPOSTTE Model

People Roles, responsibilities, accountabilities, skills

Process Plans, policies, procedures, protocols, processes, templates, arrangements

Organisation Structures, culture, jurisdictional arrangements

Support Infrastructure, facilities, maintenance

Technology Equipment, systems, standards, security, inter-operability

Training Qualifications/skill levels, identification of required courses

Cyber security event

Cyber security alert

A Cyber Incident Response Plan has been developed, which:

☐ Staff involved in managing an incident have received incident response training.

DETECTION, INVESTIGATION, ANALYSIS AND ACTIVATION

☐ b) scanning for unauthorised hardware, software and changes to configurations;

CONTAINMENT, EVIDENCE COLLECTION AND REMEDIATION

☐  Internal stakeholders (e.g. Board, staff)

INCIDENT NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING

☐ Processes are documented for insurance requirements.

POST INCIDENT REVIEW

Date and Time incident detected

Current Status – New, In Progress,