Glossary

Incident Response Planning

Compliance and Regulations

What is Incident Response Planning?

Incident response planning is the structured process of preparing for, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. An incident response plan (IRP) defines roles, communication protocols, technical procedures, and escalation paths to ensure a timely and coordinated response to events such as unauthorized access, data breaches, or system compromise. It is a required component of many cybersecurity and regulatory compliance programs.

Why is Incident Response Planning Important?

Regulatory frameworks such as NERC CIP-008, TSA SD02E, NIS2, NIST 800-53, and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) mandate that organizations have documented and tested incident response plans. These plans help ensure that security events are not only addressed quickly but also reported appropriately, investigated thoroughly, and used to improve future resilience.

Incident response planning reduces response times, limits damage, and provides evidence for post-incident reviews and regulatory reporting. In operational technology (OT) and critical infrastructure environments, a lack of coordinated response can result in extended downtime, safety hazards, or regulatory violations. A strong incident response program is also critical for demonstrating due diligence and continuous compliance, particularly in high-risk sectors.

How Does Xona Help with Incident Response Planning?

Xona supports incident response readiness by delivering real-time visibility, session logging, and complete audit trails for every access session to critical systems, whether remote or onsite, employee or vendor. In the event of a security incident, these records provide forensic evidence to reconstruct user behavior, validate actions, and determine scope of impact, essential for both internal response and external compliance reporting.

The platform’s policy-based access controls, role-based restrictions, and just-in-time access mechanisms also help contain potential incidents by limiting access to only what is needed, for the shortest time necessary. Xona logs are exportable for use in external SIEM and GRC platforms, supporting broader incident management workflows and compliance obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What cybersecurity regulations require an incident response plan?

Frameworks such as NERC CIP-008, TSA SD02E, NIST 800-53, NIS2, and the EU Cyber Resilience Act mandate documented and tested incident response plans for regulated entities.

Why is incident response planning critical for operational technology (OT) environments?

In OT environments, delayed or uncoordinated responses to incidents can result in safety risks, physical damage, prolonged downtime, or non-compliance with critical infrastructure regulations.

What should be included in an effective incident response plan?

An effective IRP should define roles, communication protocols, escalation paths, technical response actions, logging and audit requirements, and post-incident review procedures.

How does Xona support incident response in regulated environments?

Xona provides real-time session logging, full video capture, and access metadata to support forensic investigations, enabling teams to quickly assess what happened, when, and who was involved.

Can Xona logs and session recordings be used for compliance reporting after an incident?

Yes, Xona stores session logs and recordings in an immutable format that can be exported to SIEM, GRC, or reporting platforms to meet regulatory reporting and audit requirements.

How does Xona help reduce the blast radius of a potential security incident?

Xona enforces granular, just-in-time access controls and role-based permissions to limit exposure, ensuring users only access the systems they need, when they need them, ultimately minimizing risk during and after a breach.