Cyber Incident Response: Triage, Containment & Recovery

Cyber Incident Response: Triage, Containment & Recovery

Instructor: Matt Bushby

What you'll learn

Design an organisational incident response capability including CSIRT structure, escalation protocols, and crisis communication strategies.
Apply a structured triage and analysis methodology to identify indicators of compromise and escalate incidents accurately and confidently.
Execute containment, eradication, and recovery procedures across a range of cyber attack scenarios while maintaining business continuity.
Construct a post-incident review process that captures root cause analysis and communicates actionable lessons to technical and executive audiences.

Details to know

Assessments

6 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

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There are 5 modules in this course

When a cyber attack hits, the speed and structure of your response determines everything — how much damage is done, how quickly systems recover, and whether your organisation emerges stronger. Yet structured incident response remains one of the most underdeveloped capabilities in security teams worldwide. This course gives you a complete, operational incident response skillset — from the first alert through to post-incident learning.

You'll begin with preparation: assessing your security landscape, establishing a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), and developing crisis communication strategies for staff, leadership, stakeholders, and media. You'll then develop triage and analysis skills — distinguishing real incidents from noise, identifying early indicators of compromise, and analysing logs and alerts to assess the scale and impact of a breach. Moving from analysis to action, you'll apply containment strategies that isolate compromised systems while maintaining business continuity, and eradicate threats including malware and insider attacks. The final stage covers recovery, post-incident documentation, root cause analysis, and presenting lessons learned to executive audiences. Interactive role plays simulate real-world pressure: CSIRT activation, SOC manager briefings, live breach response, and leadership debriefs. Job skills taught: Incident Detection & Classification · CSIRT Management · Incident Triage & Analysis · Threat Containment · System Eradication & Recovery · Post-Incident Documentation · Post-Incident Review · Crisis Communication · SOC Operations · Security Resilience Features Coursera Coach, Dialogues and Role Plays - a smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course.

Effective cyber response starts with preparation. This module teaches you to proactively equip your organization to act swiftly and confidently when threats emerge. Examine your security landscape, identify vulnerabilities, and assess current defenses. Learn to establish a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), defining roles and escalation protocols. Crucially, explore crisis communication strategies for staff, leadership, stakeholders, and media. A strong response involves both technical skill and trust preservation. This module helps you build an organization prepared to respond and recover with speed, structure, and professionalism.

What's included

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Timely detection and accurate analysis are key to effective cyber response. This module trains you to move from noise to insight, recognizing early indicators of compromise and determining incident scale. You will explore the difference between routine events and potential breaches, sifting through logs, alerts, and user activity for suspicious patterns. Learn incident analysis: what to look for, how to gather and interpret data, and assess potential impact. Develop a structured approach to triaging and escalating incidents with confidence. By the end, you will detect threats early, validate incidents, and analyze them for an effective response.

What's included

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After detection and analysis, the next critical steps are containment, eradication, and secure system restoration. This module equips you with skills and strategies for decisive action under pressure. Explore techniques for isolating compromised systems to prevent spread, balancing urgency with precision for business continuity. Learn to eradicate threats like malware or insider attacks. The final stage is recovery: safely restoring systems, validating integrity, and implementing safeguards to prevent recurrence. This process aims for smarter, stronger operations. By the end, you will have a practical roadmap to steer your organization through incident aftermath, containing damage, restoring trust, and reducing future risk.

What's included

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A cyber incident concludes when lessons are captured, analyzed, and used to strengthen the organization. This module focuses on turning response into resilience through continuous improvement in your incident management lifecycle. You will explore documenting the response process, preserving evidence, and communicating insights to technical and executive audiences. Learn to conduct structured post-incident reviews to uncover why incidents happened, how they were handled, and what must change. Understand how to institutionalize lessons to evolve security posture, improve detection and response, and reduce future incident impact. Gain tools to transform setbacks into strategic wins for a stronger, more cyber-resilient organization.

What's included

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In this module, you will lead a structured incident response from detection through containment and recovery, concluding with a post-incident review and executive briefing. The project allows you to build a comprehensive portfolio artefact demonstrating your end-to-end capabilities.