Incident Response Plan

HIPAADesk - Incident Response Plan

Last Updated: March 2026

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Purpose

This plan outlines procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from security incidents involving HIPAADesk systems and protected health information (PHI).

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Incident Classification

| Critical | Data breach, active attack | PHI exposed, ransomware |

| High | Potential breach | Unauthorized access attempt |

| Medium | Security violation | Policy violation, failed auth |

| Low | Minor incident | Spam, false positive |

SeverityDefinitionExamples

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Response Team

RoleNameContact
Incident Commander[TBD][TBD]
Technical Lead[TBD][TBD]
Legal/Compliance[TBD][TBD]
Communications[TBD][TBD]

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Incident Response Procedures

Phase 1: Detection & Analysis

1. Identify the incident

  • Review system logs
  • Check audit logs
  • Analyze alerts from monitoring

    • 2. Assess severity

  • Determine if PHI is involved
  • Estimate scope (users affected, data exposed)

    • 3. Document findings

  • Time of discovery
  • Initial indicators
  • Affected systems

    • ---

    Phase 2: Containment

    #### Immediate Actions (Within 1 hour)

    1. Isolate affected systems

    ```bash

    Disable user access

    pm2 stop hipaadesk-api

    Block IP if attack detected

    sudo ufw insert 1 deny from [attacker-ip]

    ```

    2. Preserve evidence

  • Screenshot logs
  • Copy relevant files
  • Document system state

    • 3. Assess data exposure

  • Check which fields were accessed
  • Determine if PHI was exposed

    • ---

    #### Short-Term Containment (Within 24 hours)

    1. Reset credentials

    ```bash

    Force password reset for affected users

    Revoke active sessions

    ```

    2. Apply patches/fixes

  • Update vulnerable software
  • Fix configuration issues

    • 3. Enable enhanced monitoring

  • Increase log verbosity
  • Set up alerts for suspicious activity

    • ---

    Phase 3: Eradication & Recovery

    1. Remove threat

  • Delete malware
  • Close vulnerabilities
  • Update security controls

    • 2. Restore systems

  • Restore from clean backup
  • Verify integrity
  • Bring services back online

    • 3. Validate recovery

  • Test functionality
  • Verify encryption keys work
  • Confirm data integrity

    • ---

    Phase 4: Post-Incident

    1. Document lessons learned

  • What happened
  • What worked
  • What needs improvement

    • 2. Update procedures

  • Revise this plan
  • Add new detection rules
  • Improve response times

    • 3. Notification

  • Determine notification requirements
  • Notify affected individuals if required
  • Report to HHS if required (60 days)

    • ---

    Communication Plan

    Internal Communication

    WhoWhenHow
    Response TeamImmediatelyPhone → Email
    ExecutiveWithin 4 hoursEmail/Slack
    All StaffIf neededEmail/Portal

    External Communication

    StakeholderWhenWhat
    Affected UsersWithin 72 hoursWhat happened, what to do
    HHS/OCRWithin 60 daysIf breach (500+ affected)
    MediaOnly if publicPress release

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    Reporting Template

    ```

    INCIDENT REPORT

    Date/Time Discovered: [DATE/TIME]

    Date/Time Resolved: [DATE/TIME]

    Severity: [CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW]

    Description:

    [What happened]

    Systems Affected:

  • [System 1]
  • [System 2]

    • Data Affected:

  • [Data type]
  • [Number of records]

    • Actions Taken:

  • [Action 1]
  • [Action 2]

    • Root Cause:

    [Why it happened]

    Lessons Learned:

    [What we learned]

    Recommendations:

    [What to improve]

    ```

    ---

    Contact Information

    Emergency Contacts

    ServiceContact
    Security Issuessupport@hipaadesk.app
    Microsoft 365admin@protegotechnologies.com
    Hosting (Contabo)Via control panel
    Legal Counsel[YOUR COUNSEL]

    External Resources

    ResourceContact
    HHS Breach Portalhttps://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/breach-notification/index.html
    FBI Cyberhttps://www.ic3.gov
    Local FBI[LOCAL OFFICE]

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    Testing & Maintenance

    Quarterly

  • Test backup restoration
  • Review incident response procedures
  • Update contact information

    • Annually

  • Full incident response drill
  • Update plan based on lessons learned
  • Review and update security controls

    • ---

    Appendix: Quick Reference

    Emergency Shutdown

    ```bash

    Stop API

    pm2 stop hipaadesk-api

    Block IP

    sudo ufw insert 1 deny from [attacker-ip]

    Check logs

    pm2 logs hipaadesk-api --lines 100

    ```

    Data Backup

    ```bash

    Create encrypted backup

    ./backup.sh

    Verify backup

    ls -la /path/to/backups/

    ```

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    *This plan should be reviewed and updated at least annually or after any significant incident.*