Incident Response
When prevention fails, speed and preparation determine the difference between a contained incident and a catastrophic breach. VSS's incident response services combine pre-built playbooks, AI-powered investigation, and automated response to dramatically reduce mean time to detect and respond.
Built on Microsoft Sentinel SIEM, Defender XDR, and Security Copilot, our incident response practice ensures your organisation has the processes, tools, and expertise to handle security incidents — from initial detection through to full recovery and post-incident improvement.
24/7 security operations and rapid incident response for enterprise environments.
Assume breach. Prepare accordingly.
The Assume Breach principle means designing every system with the expectation that attackers are already inside. VSS helps you minimise blast radius and recover rapidly.
Our incident response retainer provides priority access to certified security engineers with defined SLA response times: P1 within 1 hour, P2 within 4 hours, P3 within 8 hours.
Regular tabletop exercises and attack simulations ensure your team is battle-tested before a real incident occurs.
Our incident response services include:
Pre-defined response procedures for BEC, ransomware, and data exfiltration.
Sentinel-powered detection, correlation, and automated response.
Defender XDR automated investigation and remediation.
Security Copilot for accelerated incident summarisation.
Immutable backups with validated RTO/RPO targets.
Simulated scenarios to test readiness and refine playbooks.
24/7 Incident Response Retainer
Our annual Zero Trust SLA includes quarterly Secure Score reviews, monthly Sentinel threat summaries, and prioritised incident response support with guaranteed SLA response times.
Read MoreRapid Response
P1 incidents responded to within 1 hour under our SLA.
AI-Powered Triage
Security Copilot accelerates investigation and summarisation.
Proven Playbooks
Pre-built response procedures for common attack scenarios.
Recovery Ready
Validated backup and recovery with defined RTO/RPO targets.
Why Incident Response Matters
The Assume Breach principle demands readiness, not just prevention
The MCRA's "Assume Breach" principle mandates that organisations must plan for, detect, and respond to attacks — not just prevent them. The goal of a mature security programme is twofold: block cheap and easy attacks, and find and kick attackers out fast when prevention fails. Without detection and response capability, even well-configured preventative controls fail silently when bypassed.
Core Incident Response Capabilities
Comprehensive detection, investigation, and recovery powered by Microsoft security stack
Sentinel SIEM Incident Management
Cloud-native SIEM with built-in analytics rules, UEBA, and SOAR automation for centralised incident detection, correlation, and automated response across your entire digital estate.
Defender XDR Automated Investigation
Unified Extended Detection and Response correlating signals across endpoints, identity, email, cloud apps, and infrastructure — turning low-confidence individual alerts into high-confidence incident alerts.
Security Copilot AI Triage
AI-powered incident summarisation, attacker script reverse-engineering, and natural language threat intelligence — dramatically multiplying your SecOps team capacity for faster triage and response.
Backup & Ransomware Recovery
Immutable backup strategies with Azure Backup and Microsoft 365 retention policies. Defined Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) validated through tabletop exercises.
Tabletop Exercises & Simulation
Regular tabletop exercises simulating real-world attack scenarios to test playbook effectiveness, team readiness, communication protocols, and decision-making under pressure.
Attack Simulation Training
Controlled phishing simulations via Defender Attack Simulator measuring user susceptibility. Results correlated with targeted security awareness training through the Microsoft Cybersecurity Awareness Kit.
Incident Response Playbooks
Pre-defined response procedures for the most probable attack scenarios
Business Email Compromise (BEC) / Phishing Response
CriticalImmediate containment of compromised mailboxes, credential reset enforcement, Conditional Access policy tightening, forensic review of mail flow rules and inbox forwarding, and user notification protocols.
Ransomware Containment & Recovery
CriticalNetwork isolation of affected endpoints, Defender for Endpoint automated investigation, backup integrity validation, recovery execution against defined RTO/RPO targets, and post-incident hardening.
Compromised Admin Account
CriticalImmediate revocation of privileged access, PIM session termination, forensic audit of administrative actions, Conditional Access emergency policy enforcement, and credential rotation across all privileged accounts.
Data Exfiltration Response
HighDLP alert triage and investigation, Insider Risk Management correlation, data flow forensics through Defender for Cloud Apps, session termination, and regulatory breach notification assessment.
The VSS Incident Response Approach
VSS delivers incident response readiness through a structured, repeatable engagement model. As a Microsoft Gold Partner (MPN ID: 6255974) with certified expertise across Sentinel, Defender XDR, and Security Copilot, we ensure your organisation is prepared to detect, contain, and recover from security incidents with minimal business disruption.
Our approach combines proactive preparation — playbook development, tabletop exercises, and attack simulation — with advanced detection and automated response capabilities that dramatically reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR).
Four-Phase Engagement Model
Structured delivery ensuring consistency, stakeholder alignment, and measurable outcomes
Discovery & Scoping
Whiteboard session mapping current architecture, geography, cloud usage, threats, and compliance. Identify business and technical drivers. Define project sponsor and stakeholder team.
Deliverables:
Current state architecture map, risk and gap register, agreed scope and success criteria
Assessment
Microsoft Secure Score assessment. Compliance Manager regulatory gap analysis. MCRA-aligned architecture review across all six pillars. Privileged access audit. Shadow IT discovery via Defender for Cloud Apps.
Deliverables:
Zero Trust Readiness Report, Secure Score Baseline, prioritised remediation roadmap
Foundation Implementation
Stage 1 & 2 implementation across selected business scenarios. Identity, device, and data protection foundations. Conditional Access policy deployment. Licensing uplift and Microsoft 365 security feature activation.
Deliverables:
Configured Entra ID + MFA + Conditional Access, Intune device enrolment, sensitivity labels and basic DLP, updated Secure Score
Advanced Controls & Handover
SIEM/XDR deployment (Sentinel + Defender), automated labelling, insider risk management, incident response playbooks, threat hunting baseline. Ongoing SLA support and quarterly Secure Score reviews.
Deliverables:
Sentinel workspace live, Defender XDR incident queue, incident response playbooks, compliance progress report
Key Tools & Technologies
Microsoft-native security stack for end-to-end incident response
Microsoft Sentinel
Cloud-native SIEM/SOAR platform for centralised log ingestion, analytics, threat detection, and automated incident response orchestration.
Defender XDR
Unified extended detection and response correlating signals across endpoints, identity, email, cloud apps, and infrastructure.
Security Copilot
AI-powered security assistant for accelerated incident triage, script analysis, threat intelligence summaries, and natural language investigation.
Azure Backup
Enterprise backup with immutable storage for ransomware recovery, with defined RTO/RPO targets validated through recovery testing.
Defender for Identity
Identity threat detection monitoring Active Directory signals for lateral movement, privilege escalation, and compromised account activity.
Attack Simulator
Controlled phishing and social engineering simulations measuring organisational susceptibility and driving targeted awareness training.
Incident Response Lifecycle
A continuous cycle of preparation, detection, containment, and improvement
Preparation
Playbook development, team role assignment, communication protocols, tabletop exercises, and backup validation.
Detection & Analysis
Sentinel SIEM monitoring, Defender XDR correlation, Security Copilot triage, and alert prioritisation based on severity and impact.
Containment & Eradication
Automated and manual response actions — endpoint isolation, credential revocation, network segmentation, and threat removal.
Recovery & Lessons Learned
System restoration from validated backups, post-incident review, playbook refinement, and Secure Score reassessment.