Study Cisco CCST Cybersecurity incident handling: preparation, detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, documentation, and escalation.
Incident Handling and Support Workflow is the exam’s safety discipline. CCST candidates should know the order of response and what an entry technician should document or escalate.
| Phase | Entry-level action |
|---|---|
| Preparation | know tools, contacts, playbooks, roles, and logging expectations |
| Detection and analysis | validate alert, collect evidence, identify affected asset and user |
| Containment | limit damage without destroying evidence |
| Eradication | remove root cause such as malware, vulnerable service, or stolen credential |
| Recovery | restore service and verify clean operation |
| Lessons learned | document cause, timeline, actions, and prevention improvements |
| Scenario | Safer containment instinct |
|---|---|
| suspected malware on one laptop | isolate from network according to playbook and preserve evidence |
| compromised user account | disable or reset account/token through approved process |
| malicious domain callbacks | block domain or destination at DNS/proxy/firewall where appropriate |
| vulnerable internet-facing service under attack | restrict exposure, apply mitigation, escalate remediation |
| phishing message in mailboxes | report, remove or quarantine through approved email tooling |
A useful incident note includes the alert, affected asset, user, time discovered, business impact, evidence sources, commands or tools used, actions taken, current containment status, and who owns the next step.
Do not delete suspicious files, wipe disks, clear logs, power off systems, or make undocumented changes unless the playbook or authorized responder directs it. Entry-level incident handling is often about preserving facts and escalating cleanly.