Security Incident Response Pipeline Template
Track severity, owners, and evidence on one board
Every incident bridge has a flood of updates; this board keeps them structured. Start by duplicating the Incident Record card so Alert Intake & Verification captures detection source, severity, and impacted systems in seconds. Investigation & Scoping has space to attach evidence, assign the on-call, and log scope decisions without jumping to spreadsheets or chasing Slack threads. Use the optional Notifications list to draft regulator filings and exec briefings while containment teams duplicate task cards and record workarounds. By the time you land in Post-Incident Review, every artifact sits on the card, ready for audits and retros.
- Log incidents with structured cards that capture severity and impacted systems
- Assign owners and due dates without leaving the board
- Coordinate containment and mitigation work by duplicating Containment Task cards and logging owners plus monitoring notes
- Handle regulatory and exec communications by duplicating Stakeholder Update cards in the optional lane and attaching drafts
- Archive evidence and lessons learned for audits and retrospectives
Log the incident in Alert Intake & Verification
Open the Incident Response Flow section and duplicate the Incident Record micro-template into Alert Intake & Verification. Fill in Incident ID, detection source, severity, impacted systems, and initial handler so the card is ready to assign. Set the due date in the header, apply labels like Severity 1 or Customer impact, and attach the first alert link. Pin any screenshots or SIEM exports now so investigators have context before the bridge starts.
Scope the blast radius in Investigation & Scoping
Slide the card right once analysts begin pulling telemetry. Assign the on-call owner in the card header, summarize findings in the description, and attach the scope notes file directly so everyone reads the same evidence. Duplicate Stakeholder Update if executives need a quick briefing and tag Needs exec update so comms leads stay looped in. Keep the card’s due date aligned with the SLA and filter by due date to spot blockers during standups.
Coordinate notifications without leaving the board
When a regulator filing or exec briefing is required, duplicate Stakeholder Update into Regulatory & Stakeholder Notifications (optional). Attach prepared talking points, legal drafts, and approval checklists so comms can collaborate live. Tag Regulatory notice to separate compliance work from containment tasks. Log the send timestamp in the description, note who handled it, and drag the card onward with the incident.
Drive containment and mitigation side by side
Drop Containment Task cards into Containment & Workarounds for every isolation or workaround action. Assign the on-call engineer, set a fresh due date, and capture monitoring notes in the description so the bridge knows when to recheck status. Use the card indent control (press Tab) to nest supporting tasks like mail-flow rules under the primary action. Attach runbooks or change tickets to keep tooling switches in one place.
Document recovery and capture lessons learned
Move the card into Eradication & Recovery once systems are being rebuilt and verified. Attach scripts, validation screenshots, or recovery checklists so proofs stay tied to the incident. After the bridge closes, slide the card into Post-Incident Review, duplicate Root Cause Debrief, and record owners plus follow-ups. This lane becomes the audit shelf—add the final post-incident report as a file so auditors see the full timeline.
What’s inside
Six-stage response flow
Alert Intake & Verification, Investigation & Scoping, Regulatory & Stakeholder Notifications (optional), Containment & Workarounds, Eradication & Recovery, and Post-Incident Review keep the response timeline visible.
Incident micro-templates
Duplicate Incident Record, Containment Task, Stakeholder Update, and Root Cause Debrief cards so every activity starts with the right fields.
Meaningful labels
Severity 1, Customer impact, Regulatory notice, Forensics hold, Third-party vendor, and Needs exec update labels drive filters during standups so you can spotlight cards that need air cover.
Evidence-packed demos
Sample cards show due dates, tags, links, and file attachments like scope notes, regulator drafts, and post-incident reports so teams know exactly where to store proof.
Optional communications lane
Channel regulator filings and executive briefings in a dedicated column without cluttering containment work.
Why this works
- Keeps severity, ownership, and evidence visible on every card throughout the incident
- Aligns security, IT, legal, and comms teams on the same real-time workflow
- Bakes regulatory and executive communication into the response without extra tools
- Captures recovery proof and lessons learned alongside the incident timeline with attachments and comment history preserved automatically
- Reduces handoffs by using reusable cards instead of blank documents
FAQ
Can we adapt the stages to our playbooks?
Yes. Rename lists to mirror your runbooks, but keep the left-to-right order so status stays readable during bridge calls.
Where should forensic artifacts live?
Attach disk images, scope notes, and hash logs to the relevant cards; the filled template shows how to store files without leaving Instaboard.
What if we do not need regulator updates?
Skip the Regulatory & Stakeholder Notifications (optional) column and move cards straight from Investigation & Scoping into Containment & Workarounds.
How does this template work with ticketing tools?
Link back to Jira, ServiceNow, or PagerDuty inside the card description or attachments so severity decisions, owner assignments, and evidence stay visible on the Instaboard timeline instead of scattered across tools.