What is the role of an Incident Response Team (IRT)?

The role of an Incident Response Team (IRT) is primarily focused on responding to and managing security incidents. This includes a wide range of activities such as identifying potential security breaches, determining the scope and impact of an incident, containing and mitigating threats, and recovering from incidents to restore normal operations. An IRT is essential for minimizing damage and preventing future incidents, ensuring that an organization can respond quickly and effectively when a security event occurs.

While monitoring security systems, designing security policies, and conducting audits are critical aspects of an organization's overall security strategy, they fall under different functions within a security program. Monitoring is typically handled by security operations teams, policy design is managed by security managers or officers, and auditing is the responsibility of compliance or risk management teams. The IRT's specific focus on incident response sets it apart from these other roles, emphasizing its importance in an organization's preparedness and resilience against security threats.