An incident response team is a group within an organization that handles cybersecurity incidents like data breaches, malware infections, and other cyber attacks. Having a dedicated incident response team allows organizations to quickly detect, analyze, and respond to security incidents before they turn into major crises. But putting together an effective incident response team requires investment in staffing, tools, and processes. In this article, we’ll look at the main factors that influence the cost of an incident response team and provide average pricing estimates.
What is an incident response team?
An incident response (IR) team is a group of IT security experts focused on promptly identifying, containing, eradicating, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. The team follows a structured incident response plan to handle events like:
- Data breaches
- Malware and ransomware attacks
- Denial-of-service attacks
- Insider threats
- Critical IT outages
The core goals of an IR team are to minimize damage from incidents and restore normal operations as quickly as possible. To do this, the team needs a mix of skills like digital forensics, malware analysis, and communications.
Many organizations maintain an internal IR team. But others choose to outsource incident response to a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) or specialized incident response firm. The right model depends on factors like company size, cybersecurity maturity, and budget.
Key responsibilities of an incident response team
Incident response teams handle a wide range of tasks, including:
- Monitoring networks, endpoints, and security tools for anomalies that may indicate an attack
- Performing digital forensic analysis to determine the root cause and scope of an incident
- Communicating updates with key stakeholders like executives, customers, and regulators
- Suggesting fixes like installing patches, updating firewall rules, and rotating passwords to stop attacks
- Preserving evidence like system log files and malware samples to aid investigations
- Creating reports documenting details of incidents for future analysis
- Updating incident response plans based on lessons learned
Having dedicated staff for these critical tasks allows companies to respond to incidents in a consistent and effective manner.
Staffing costs
The biggest expense for most incident response teams is staffing. At minimum, the team should include:
- Incident manager – Leads the team and makes strategic decisions during events.
- Security analysts – Triage alerts, perform initial investigations, and collect evidence.
- Digital forensics specialists – Conduct deep forensic evaluations of compromised systems.
Larger companies may also need dedicated staff for communications, legal preparedness, and malware analysis.
According to PayScale, average salaries for IR team members are:
| Role | Average base salary |
|---|---|
| Incident manager | $98,000 |
| Security analyst | $74,000 |
| Digital forensics specialist | $83,000 |
So for a 3-person in-house team with one member of each role, estimated salaries would be around $255,000 per year. Many organizations also provide additional benefits like health insurance and retirement matching.
Benefits of dedicated staff include availability, focus, and institutional knowledge. But payroll and overhead costs add up quickly for larger teams. Outsourcing to an MSSP can be a more flexible and cost-effective staffing model for some companies. The provider handles staffing and skills maintenance, allowing you to pay only for the IR services needed.
Cost of tools
Incident responders rely on specialized software and hardware tools to detect, analyze, contain, and recover from events. Key categories of tools include:
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) – Collects and aggregates log data from across the infrastructure to provide visibility into threats.
- Endpoint detection and response (EDR) – Monitors endpoints for suspicious activity and allows remote investigation.
- Digital forensics – Performs tasks like analyzing hard drive images for signs of compromise.
- Malware analysis – Safely examines malware specimens to understand their capabilities.
Top tools in these categories cost around $50-$100 per user or device per year. For a 500 employee company, estimated tool costs are:
| Category | Sample tools | Estimated cost for 500 users |
|---|---|---|
| SIEM | Splunk, IBM QRadar | $25,000 – $50,000 |
| EDR | CrowdStrike, Carbon Black | $25,000 – $50,000 |
| Digital forensics | Encase, FTK | $5,000 – $7,500 |
| Malware analysis | Joe Sandbox, Hybrid Analysis | $5,000 – $7,500 |
So in total, tools for a moderately equipped 5-person IR team may cost around $75,000 per year. Complex environments with diverse legacy systems often require more tooling.
MSSPs can help consolidate tools since each client shares infrastructure. But advanced capabilities like threat intel feeds, deception tools, and threat emulators may bring additional fees.
The costs scale up substantially for larger organizations. Enterprises with tens of thousands of devices can expect to invest hundreds of thousands in IR tooling.
Training and certification costs
Incident responders need continuous training to stay up-to-date on the latest threats, tools, and response tactics. Popular IR training options include:
- Infosec and SANS institute courses
- Certifications like GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH)
- Conferences like BSides and DEF CON
- In-house exercises and mock incident drills
Here are estimated training costs for a 5-person team:
| Item | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| Conferences and travel | $15,000 |
| On-demand courses | $5,000 |
| GIAC certifications | $7,500 |
| In-house training | $5,000 |
| Total | $32,500 per year |
These costs provide valuable returns through improved incident response capabilities. MSSPs also maintain broad in-house expertise that gets passed to clients. But certification fees and travel expenses may still apply.
Incident response processes and plans
Effective incident response relies on having clear processes and documentation in place ahead of time. Important items that require upfront planning and maintenance include:
- Incident response plan – Provides guidance on roles, responsibilities, tools, and reporting during events.
- Playbooks – Documents response procedures for common scenarios like malware outbreaks, DDoS attacks, and lost devices.
- Communication plans – Defines internal and external notification procedures.
- Post-incident reports – Documents details of each incident for future review and process improvement.
If outsourcing, make sure the provider has robust documentation that aligns with your environment and requirements. For both internal and external teams, processes need regular review and updating to optimize response workflows.
Tabletop exercises that simulate incidents are extremely valuable for validating and enhancing plans.
While difficult to quantify, thoughtful planning and preparation can greatly reduce the costs caused by actual incidents. For example, skilled communications can minimize reputation damage and customer losses.
Incident response retainers
Many MSSPs offer IR services on a retainer basis. This provides access to their team and tools at pre-agreed rates when incidents occur. Retainers allow you to only pay for what you need, when you need it.
Common retainer options include:
Incident response readiness packages
These foundational retainers cover access to:
- Dedicated account manager
- Incident response plan customization
- Playbook development
- Tabletop exercises and training
- Discounted incident response rates
Pricing is commonly $5,000-$10,000 per year.
Emergency incident response retainers
Higher-tier retainers provide a set number of annual hours for emergency incident response needs. For example, 50 hours retainer with 5 dedicated handlers may cost around $15,000 per year. Unused hours can roll over or renew.
Additional response beyond the set hours is billed hourly at discounted rates, commonly around $300 per hour.
Unlimited emergency response
For critical environments that need constant priority access, unlimited emergency response retainers are available. However they are very expensive, easily $1 million-plus per year for 24/7 access to a team with guaranteed SLAs. This model is typically only used by major corporations and government agencies.
Factors that influence costs
The size of your incident response budget depends on several risk factors:
- Company size – Larger companies need more tools, staff, and documentation.
- Industry – Heavily regulated sectors like finance and healthcare demand rigorous response capabilities.
- Data sensitivity – Companies with large volumes of sensitive data have higher breach costs.
- Threat profile – Visible companies face more external attacks and warrant increased defense.
- IT complexity – More systems and users require more tooling and effort to monitor.
- Maturity level – New teams need more training and resources to reach proficiency.
Conducting risk assessments focused on these areas helps determine budget requirements. For example, equities firms and hospitals may need $500,000+ budgets, while small retailers may only require $50,000.
There are also legal considerations that dictate IR preparedness. Regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and various state laws include incident response standards. Non-compliance can lead to major fines, especially for mishandled breaches.
Conclusion
While building an effective incident response team requires significant investment, the cost is minor compared to that of a major breach. Damages from cyber attacks can easily reach millions in terms of direct financial loss, legal and regulatory costs, and reputational harm.
With staffers’ salaries and benefit averaging around $250,000, tools costing $50,000-100,000, and ongoing training expenses, plan for a minimum budget of $300,000 per year for a basic 5-person internal team. Costs scale up considerably for larger or highly regulated companies.
Given the specialized skills required, outsourcing incident response to an MSSP is often more efficient than building large in-house teams. Retainer models allow you to right-size capabilities and costs to your risk profile. MSSPs also provide access to expensive tooling and infrastructure.
To balance effectiveness and value, many organizations use a hybrid approach with a small internal team for first-level incident triage, backed by an MSSP for specialized response capabilities.
Regardless of specific staffing and tooling solutions, incidents will happen. With proper planning, documentation, training, and partnerships, companies can optimize their incident response function and reduce breach-related damages.