With an increasing rate of cyber threats across the globe, implementing a proactive and robust Incident response plan cyber security is essential for any business seeking to safeguard their digital assets, and ensure business continuity. This plan not only helps to respond effectively in the event of a cyber-attack, but also to detect and stop it before it causes much damage. Let's delve into the vital steps for creating a credible Incident response plan in cybersecurity.

Understanding Incident Response

An Incident response plan for cyber security is a detailed approach that outlines the necessary steps to be taken upon detection of a cyber threat or attack. It's crucial for every company, irrespective of size and industry, as it provides a systematic approach to managing a security breach or an attack. Additionally, it aims to minimize damage, recovery time and cost while also securing evidence for future analysis and prevention methods. With this understanding, let's move to the central part of this guide - crafting an effective Incident response plan in cyber security.

Step 1: Preparation

Preparation involves not just understanding what to do when a cyber incident occurs, but still pinpointing potential threats and vulnerabilities beforehand. To start with, you should develop policies and procedures suitable for your company and define roles in Incident response. Regular training and creating awareness among employees, alongside evaluating and procuring the right tools and resources necessary for Incident response, is also crucial.

Step 2: Identification

Identification is the first response step when an incident occurs. It involves identifying the type of security breach, the systems or data affected, the source of the threat, and understands its potential impact. A strong monitoring system combined with robust intrusion detection mechanisms can be instrumental in this stage. Remember, the faster the detection, the lesser the damage.

Step 3: Containment

Once an incident has been identified, the next crucial step is containment. This is aimed at preventing the spread of the threat, thereby limiting impact. Short-term and long-term containment strategies must be utilized, and strategies may involve isolating affected systems, implementing secondary systems, and modifying access controls.

Step 4: Eradication

Eradication involves removing the identified threat completely from your system. This might demand eliminating compromised systems, updating firewall, eliminating malware, and enhancing threat detection. At this junction, it's critical to employ forensic tools to extract and analyze data and maintain evidence for a possible legal push back.

Step 5: Recovery

The recovery process involves restoring systems back to their normal functioning after assuring threats have been eradicated. Tools such as backup restore, reimaging hard drives, and changing passwords need to be used. It is also essential to monitor the systems closely during the recovery stage to detect any unusual activities that might indicate the presence of a leftover threat.

Step 6: Lessons Learned

The final stage involves analyzing the incident, the effectiveness of the response, and identifying the learning points from the incident. This information should help to prevent similar incidents in the future or at least improve response. This step consists of holding team meetings to get feedback, documenting the incident and response, and implementing the learned actions into the Incident response plan.

In conclusion, crafting a reliable Incident response plan cyber security is a continuous process that requires the right approach and constant refining. It's not a one-off task, but a recurring process to keep contrive with emerging cybersecurity threats and landscape dynamism. Enhanced Incident response not only acts as a deterrence towards cyber threats but also boosts the organization's reputation by demonstrating a commitment to protecting clients' and stakeholders' data.