Incident Classification and Severity Levels

Establishing clear incident classification helps teams prioritize response efforts and allocate resources appropriately. A typical classification system includes:

Severity Level 1 - Critical:

Widespread system compromise
Large-scale data breach
Complete service outage
Response time: Immediate
Team activation: Full team plus executives

Severity Level 2 - High:

Limited system compromise
Small-scale data exposure
Partial service degradation
Response time: Within 1 hour
Team activation: Core team members

Severity Level 3 - Medium:

Isolated security events
Attempted but unsuccessful attacks
Minor service issues
Response time: Within 4 hours
Team activation: On-call responder

Severity Level 4 - Low:

Security anomalies
Policy violations
Informational events
Response time: Next business day
Team activation: Regular security operations