Most businesses spend significant time and money trying to prevent incidents. Far fewer spend time planning what happens after something goes wrong.

An Incident Response Plan (IRP) exists for the moments when prevention fails. It defines how incidents are identified, contained, investigated, and escalated so that a manageable event does not turn into a business-wide disruption.

Just as important, an IRP must be owned by the business, understood by leadership, coordinated with cyber insurance requirements, and accessible when it is actually needed.

What an Incident Response Plan Is — and Is Not

An Incident Response Plan is not a collection of technical tools, and it is not a Business Continuity Plan.

An IRP focuses on:

• Detecting incidents
• Containing damage
• Coordinating technical and business response
• Making decisions under pressure
• Determining when to escalate and who must be involved
• Aligning actions with cyber insurance requirements

In simple terms:

• Incident Response Plan (IRP): how you respond to the incident
• Business Continuity Plan (BCP): how you keep the business running during and after the incident

Both are required, but they serve different purposes.

A Common Mistake: Assuming the MSP Handles Incident Response

One of the most common failures in incident response planning is assuming that it is fully handled by the IT department or the Managed Service Provider (MSP).

Most reputable MSPs have their own incident response procedures, and they should. Those procedures ensure the MSP can detect threats, contain technical issues, and restore systems.

However, an MSP’s incident response process does not define your business decisions.

An MSP cannot decide:

• When customers should be notified
• Whether operations should pause or continue
• When cyber insurance must be notified
• Which actions might affect insurance coverage
• Who communicates with legal counsel or regulators

Every organization needs its own IRP, owned by leadership, with IT, the MSP, legal counsel, and cyber insurance acting as coordinated partners.

Incident Response and Cyber Insurance Must Be Aligned

Cyber insurance is often treated as something to think about after an incident. In reality, it must be considered before anything happens.

Many cyber insurance policies require:

• Notification within a specific timeframe
• Use of insurer-approved forensic or response vendors
• Coordination before certain remediation steps are taken
• Preservation of evidence
• Defined communication procedures

Taking the wrong action too early, even with good intentions, can jeopardize coverage.

An effective IRP should document:

• When cyber insurance must be notified
• Who is authorized to make that notification
• What actions require insurer approval
• Which vendors are pre-approved by the insurer
• How documentation and evidence are preserved

In practice, these requirements vary by policy and provider, which is why IRPs should be reviewed periodically rather than treated as static documents.

What Typically Triggers an Incident Response Plan

Incidents are not limited to ransomware or major outages.

Common triggers include:

• Phishing attacks leading to credential compromise
• Malware or ransomware detections
• Suspicious account activity
• Data sent to the wrong recipient
• Unauthorized access to systems or files
• Lost or stolen devices

Many of these scenarios begin with phishing or human error.
How to Spot Phishing Emails and Train Your Staff

Detection Is Not the Same as Response

Modern environments rely on tools such as EDR, MDR, and SOC monitoring to detect threats.

Detection is critical, but alerts alone are not a response.

An effective IRP defines:

• Who receives alerts
• Who reviews and validates them
• How severity is determined
• When business leadership is notified
• When cyber insurance is notified
• What actions are authorized immediately

For technical context:
What Is Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Clear Roles Matter During an Incident

During an incident, speed matters, but clarity matters more.

An IRP should define:

• The incident owner
• Technical responders (internal IT, MSP, SOC)
• Business decision-makers
• Communication owner
• Cyber insurance contact and escalation path
• External contacts (legal, forensics, insurer-approved vendors)

When roles are unclear, response slows and risk increases.

Tabletop Exercises: Testing the Plan Before It’s Needed

An IRP is only useful if people can execute it under pressure. Tabletop exercises are one of the most effective ways to validate this.

They help organizations:

• Validate roles and responsibilities
• Test escalation paths and communication
• Identify gaps before a real incident
• Clarify insurance notification timing
• Prepare leadership for decision-making under stress

Problems discovered during exercises are far less costly than those discovered during real incidents.

A Critical Detail: Your Plan Must Be Available During the Incident

(and yes, this should be tested during tabletop exercises ??)

One of the most common IRP failures is not the lack of a plan, but the inability to access it when systems are disrupted.

This happens when:

• The plan exists only inside internal systems
• Access depends on identity platforms that may be unavailable
• Email or file sharing is down
• Only one person knows where the plan is

A practical IRP should be stored in multiple locations, accessible without relying on primary identity systems, available to more than one person, and printed and stored securely where appropriate.

A plan that cannot be accessed during an incident is effectively unusable.

When Incident Response Hands Off to Business Continuity

Once containment begins, the focus often shifts to:

• Keeping operations running
• Managing downtime
• Communicating with employees and customers
• Coordinating recovery
• Managing insurance documentation

This is where Business Continuity Planning takes over.
Why Every Business Needs a Business Continuity Plan

Incident Response Checklist (Quick Reference)

Preparation

• Define what constitutes an incident
• Assign ownership
• Identify responders
• Review the plan with cyber insurance
• Conduct tabletop exercises

Detection and Escalation

• Define alert sources
• Establish severity thresholds
• Define insurance notification timing

Containment

• Authorize immediate actions
• Coordinate IT, MSP, legal, and insurance
• Use insurer-approved vendors

Availability

• Store in multiple locations
• Avoid identity-dependent access
• Maintain offline or printed copies

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Incident Response Plan?

An Incident Response Plan defines how an organization detects, contains, investigates, and escalates security or operational incidents.

Is an Incident Response Plan the same as a Business Continuity Plan?

No. Incident response focuses on handling the incident itself. Business continuity focuses on keeping the business operating during and after disruption.

How does cyber insurance affect incident response?

Many cyber insurance policies require early notification, approved vendors, and specific procedures. An IRP should be aligned with insurance requirements to avoid coverage issues.

Isn’t incident response handled by our MSP?

MSPs assist with technical response, but each business must own its IRP and business decisions.

How often should an Incident Response Plan be reviewed?

At least annually, after incidents, after tabletop exercises, and whenever cyber insurance policies or providers change.

About the Author

Andrey Sherman is the President of Xvand Technology, a Houston-based Managed Service Provider (MSP) with over 25 years of experience helping SMBs improve security, productivity, and innovation through technology.

Under his leadership, Xvand has built a reputation for its security-first approach, in-house development capabilities, and a commitment to treating technology as a business enabler, not just an expense.

Reviewed by the Xvand Technology Team.