Chapter 13. Future Directions in Incident Response

Predicting the future is fraught with peril, but some advances in the field of incident response appear to be logical and predictable. Human nature being what it is, some of the most desperately needed improvements are years away at best, but the field is maturing, and many of the worst problems, such as legal and technical issues, have been addressed.

Although many of the details of incident response are likely to change (some dramatically), the overall focus of the discipline remains the same ‚ providing organizations with an appropriate response to a security incident that addresses human, technical, and business factors. Although automated tools and improved laws might assist in this goal, the final responsibility lies with management's capability to view incident response as a problem for the organization, related to its goals, and not simply a computer problem.