Cyber Incident Response Playbook Examples for 2025

Have you read about the massive Salesloft-Drift breach? Did you follow how the Marks and Spencer cyber attack brought the iconic retail brand to its knees? Recently luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover suffered a pretty similar fate.

What do these recent cyber attacks teach us? For starters, cyber incidents are no longer hypothetical — they are inevitable. From ransomware campaigns that can paralyse entire industries to insider threats that quietly dismantle trust, the spectrum of risks is both vast and evolving. 

If you hope to survive and thrive in this environment, your business needs more than just cybersecurity awareness and technological tools. You need real readiness for real-world cyber chaos. A robust Cyber Incident Response Plan and detailed, structured Cyber Incident Response Playbooks are indispensable to the kind of cyber resilience capabilities you need to build today. 

What is a Cybersecurity Incident Response Playbook?  

A cybersecurity Incident Response Playbook provides predefined steps, roles, and responsibilities for responding to specific types of cyber events. It eliminates guesswork in the heat of the moment. 

If you have a playbook for all relevant cyber crisis scenarios, your teams can act swiftly, decisively, and in unison when the hypothetical scenario becomes a reality. And while having specific playbooks is crucial, the real power lies in making them practical, tested, and scenario-driven.

That’s why looking at real-world examples and scenarios of incident response playbooks is so valuable. They help transform a static document into a living, breathing resource that truly prepares teams for the chaos of a cyber emergency.

What are Cyber Incident Response Playbook Scenarios? 

No two attacks are exactly alike, which is why a “one-size-fits-all” response rarely works. Instead, effective organisations build tailored playbooks for specific situations such as a ransomware outbreak, a data theft incident, or an insider threat.

Each scenario-based playbook outlines clear steps for detection, containment, eradication, and recovery for each of these cybersecurity events. The playbooks should also define the communication flow, escalation paths, and responsibilities of different stakeholders. 

For example, a ransomware scenario will prioritise isolating infected systems and preserving backups. A data theft playbook, on the other hand, will focus on forensic analysis, regulatory reporting, and customer communication. Insider threat scenarios require sensitive handling of HR and legal processes alongside technical investigation. The playbook for this scenario will reflect this sensitivity in crisis management and communication. 

By having dedicated playbooks for different scenarios, your organisation can act with speed and precision when the unexpected happens. These scenario-driven responses reduce confusion and minimise business disruption. Most importantly, they instil confidence across the workforce that the organisation is prepared for whatever form a cyber attack may take.

Top Cybersecurity Incident Response Playbook Scenarios for 2025 

Now that we’ve understood the importance of scenario-specific playbooks, let’s take a deeper look at the key cyber incident response playbook examples your organisation should consider developing in 2025:

• Ransomware Attack Playbook: This playbook should focus on the specific protocols for detecting, containing, and recovering from a ransomware attack. It should detail steps for isolating affected systems and assessing the scope of the encryption. If there is a ransom demand, then evaluating it and deciding who will communicate with the criminals is important.
  
  This playbook should also contain strategies for implementing data recovery and leveraging backups. It's essential to include specific communication plans for notifying affected parties and law enforcement. 

• Phishing Attack Playbook: Designed to combat social engineering attempts, this playbook must outline procedures for identifying and reporting suspicious emails. It should contain specific guidance on managing the spread of phishing attempts, and investigating compromised accounts. It should also include guidance on user education and training to raise awareness about phishing tactics and best practices for email security.
  
  
• Insider Threat Playbook: This insider threat playbook specifically addresses malicious or negligent actions by current or former employees, contractors, or business associates. It is crucial for this playbook to detail how to thoroughly investigate suspicious behaviour, ensuring a structured and legally compliant approach.
  
  The playbook must also include comprehensive procedures for data retrieval and system access revocation. Throughout all these processes, strict adherence to legal and human resources guidelines is paramount. This will ensure your business stays compliant and is protected from further liability.
  
  
  
  

• Cloud Data Breach Playbook: With increasing reliance on cloud services, a dedicated playbook for cloud data breaches is vital. This playbook should cover incident detection within cloud environments. It should have clear containment strategies for compromised cloud instances. Data recovery procedures for cloud-hosted data should definitely be included. It should also emphasise secure configuration of cloud services and regular security audits.
  
  
• Third-Party Vendor Breach Playbook: Third-party breaches have become the most common threat of 2025. It’s clear that third-party vendors have become serious points of vulnerability. This playbook must focus on responding to security incidents originating from or affecting a third-party vendor. It should outline steps for assessing the impact of a vendor breach on your organisation. How to communicate with the affected vendor and how to implement immediate mitigation strategies should form the core of this playbook. 

Each of these playbooks is not a one-size-fits-all solution. They must be meticulously tailored to your unique business model, considering your specific industry, the regulatory landscape you operate within, and your organisation's technology stack.

This customisation ensures that the response strategies are relevant, effective, and align with your operational capabilities and risk profile. Regular review and updates of these playbooks are essential to keep pace with evolving cyber threats and technological advancements.

Final Thoughts

A Cyber Incident Response Playbook is no longer a luxury—it’s a cybersecurity necessity. Whether you’re a startup or a multinational enterprise, having detailed, scenario-specific playbooks can mean the difference between swift recovery and catastrophic loss.

But if you're just starting, use our sample incident response playbook template or NIST incident response playbook guide to get the right direction. At Cyber Management Alliance, we specialise in developing and optimising incident response playbooks that actually work in the real world. 

As the creators of the NCSC Assured Cyber Incident Planning & Response (CIPR) training, we’ve helped thousands of businesses build actionable, compliant, and resilient IR plans and playbooks. If you want to take your cyber readiness to the next level, contact us now for a free consultation.