Incident ResponseIncident ResponseIncident Response

Examples of everyday tasks

• Confirm whether reported activity is an actual incident.
• Choose containment steps and weigh their effect on normal work.
• Coordinate with IT staff, leadership, and communications teams.
• Keep a timeline of actions, decisions, and the reasons for them.
• Guide recovery and check that systems are safe to use again.
• Lead a lessons-learned review and update playbooks.

Related job titles

• Incident responder
• Incident response consultant

These are career areas to explore, not a checklist. Some of these job titles usually require experience, and completing a starter project does not by itself make someone ready for them.

Starter project

Respond to a Simulated Account Compromise

Work through a fictional compromised-account scenario. Document identification, containment, recovery, and follow-up actions.

What you’ll use

• A short fictional scenario that you write, optionally inspired by a published tabletop exercise
• A spreadsheet or document for the exercise timeline
• A document for the response playbook

Resources to start with

• NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 3: Incident Response Recommendations (opens in a new tab)

  The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s guidance on incident response.

• CISA Tabletop Exercise Packages (opens in a new tab)

  Free scenario packages from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for planning discussion-based exercises.

More projects for this path

Each one comes with the framework to follow, five name ideas and a walkthrough for publishing it on GitHub.

• Account Compromise Playbook

  Run a fictional compromised-account incident and write the playbook it produces.

• Ransomware Tabletop

  Run a discussion exercise with injects and capture the decisions people struggle with.

Project walkthrough

1. Write a short fictional scenario, for example: a student organization’s shared social media account starts posting links nobody approved.
2. Identification: list the signs that the account is compromised and the first questions you need answered.
3. Containment: decide what to do immediately, such as changing the password and signing out other sessions, and note what each action might disrupt.
4. Recovery: describe how to remove the intruder’s access, check account recovery settings, and return the account to normal use.
5. Follow-up: decide who needs to be told, what to watch afterward, and what to change so it is less likely to happen again.
6. Record every decision on a timeline with the time, the action, and the reason.

What to publish

• A response playbook for compromised accounts
• The exercise timeline, with the reasoning behind each decision
• A short lessons-learned section
• A clear label that the scenario is fictional

Optional extension

Run a tabletop exercise with another student and revise the playbook based on what was unclear.

Example résumé bullet

Numbers are what make a bullet worth reading, so count them while you work: how much data you searched, how many findings you fixed, how many tests you added. Every figure should be one a reader can find in your report. Write the line after the work is done, and leave out impact or experience you cannot show.

Numbers to record while you work

Project name | tools, datasets and frameworks | link

Give the project a name of its own: “Firebreak” is an example, not a label to copy. List the tools, datasets and frameworks you actually used, since several relevant ones show more than a single tool does. Hyperlink the last part to your published repository or report.

Turn your project into a portfolio piece

A project becomes easier to evaluate when someone can understand what you did, inspect the evidence, and follow your reasoning.

Create a short report, GitHub README, or portfolio page. A clear two-to-four-page report is a useful starting point, not a strict requirement.

Include:

1. Goal: What question or problem did you investigate?
2. Environment: What tools, practice data, or systems did you use?
3. Your work: What did you personally do, and why?
4. Evidence: Include useful screenshots, queries, code, or test results.
5. Findings: What did you discover? What remains uncertain?
6. Fix or recommendation: What should change, and did you test it?
7. Sources and limitations: Credit datasets and guides. Clearly identify simulated work.

Use sample or redacted information in the public version.

Publish the report somewhere accessible without requesting permission, and check the link before putting it on a résumé.

Put numbers in it

Count as you work, and put the figures in the report: records searched, findings confirmed, tests added, checks failing before and after. A reviewer can check every one of them against your evidence, which is exactly why they are worth including. Leave out business impact you cannot show.

Name it, then show your tools

A résumé line works best in three parts: your project’s own name, the tools and frameworks you used, and a link to the work. “Role-Based Access Lab” reads like a class exercise. A name plus a tool list tells a reviewer what you can actually work with, and every tool, dataset or framework you list honestly is another thing an interviewer can ask you about.

Project name | tools, datasets and frameworks | link

• Role-Based Access Lab→Turnstile | Keycloak, RBAC design, NIST SP 800-63, Docker | GitHub
• Login Hunt→Beacon | Python, pandas, Sigma, MITRE ATT&CK | GitHub
• Cloud Project→Bedrock | Terraform, Checkov, AWS IAM, CIS Benchmarks | GitHub

Why link a report?

Your résumé gives a short description of the project. The linked report lets a reviewer inspect your work and gives you concrete evidence and decisions to discuss during an interview.

Not every recruiter will open it, but it makes your work available for review.

Hyperlink the last part to the published work, so “GitHub” or “Project Report” opens your repository or report. Check the link before you send the résumé.

# Project title

> Practice project. Describe the simulated scenario, practice data, or lab used.

## Goal
What question or problem did you investigate?

## Environment
What tools, practice data, or systems did you use? Link datasets and guides.

## My work
What did you personally do, and why?

## Evidence
Screenshots, queries, code, or test results. Use sample or redacted information only.

## Findings
What did you discover?
The numbers behind it (records searched, findings confirmed, tests added).
What remains uncertain?

## Fix or recommendation
What should change, and did you test it?

## Sources and limitations
- Datasets and guides used:
- What was simulated:
- Limitations:

Related paths to explore

• Digital Forensics

  Digital forensic analysts examine computers, phones, and other devices to reconstruct what happened, handling evidence carefully so their conclusions can be checked.

• SOC Analysis

  Security operations center (SOC) analysts review an organization’s security alerts, decide which ones point to real problems, and pass confirmed issues to the people who can act on them.

• Threat Hunting / Detection

  Threat hunters search activity records for attackers that existing alerts missed, and detection engineers turn what they learn into rules that catch the behavior automatically.