In the context of incident response, what is containment?

Containment, in the context of incident response, refers specifically to the actions taken to limit the damage caused by a security breach. By effectively containing an incident, an organization can prevent further unauthorized access or damage to its systems and data. This phase is crucial because, following the identification of a security incident, the organization must act swiftly to mitigate the immediate impacts while ensuring that the situation does not escalate.

Containment can involve isolating affected systems, blocking malicious traffic, and implementing temporary solutions to prevent further exploitation. This is part of a larger incident response strategy, which also includes identifying the root cause and restoring systems, but containment is focused on damage limitation in the heat of the moment following a breach.