This CC practice question tests your understanding of business continuity, dr & incident response. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
According to the NIST 800-61 incident response lifecycle, after containment and eradication have been performed, what is the next phase?
Recovery
Recovery follows containment and eradication to bring systems back online.
Post-incident activity
Why wrong: Post-incident comes after recovery.
Detection and analysis
Why wrong: Detection occurs before containment.
Preparation
Why wrong: Preparation is the initial phase, not after response.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Recovery
According to the NIST 800-61 incident response lifecycle, the phases are Preparation, Detection & Analysis, Containment/Eradication, and Recovery. After containment (isolating the threat) and eradication (removing malware, patching vulnerabilities), the next phase is Recovery, where systems are carefully restored to normal operations, often using clean backups and verifying system integrity before reconnecting to the network.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Recovery
Why this is correct
Recovery follows containment and eradication to bring systems back online.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Post-incident activity
Why it's wrong here
Post-incident comes after recovery.
Detection and analysis
Why it's wrong here
Detection occurs before containment.
Preparation
Why it's wrong here
Preparation is the initial phase, not after response.
Common exam traps
ISC2 often tests the exact NIST 800-61 phase order, and the trap here is that candidates confuse 'Post-incident activity' as the immediate next step after eradication, when in fact Recovery must occur first to restore operations before conducting the final review.
Detailed technical explanation
In practice, Recovery involves tasks such as restoring from verified backups (e.g., using rsync or volume shadow copies), applying security patches (e.g., via WSUS or SCCM), changing compromised credentials, and monitoring for signs of re-infection. A subtle but critical behavior is that systems must be scanned for persistence mechanisms (e.g., registry run keys, scheduled tasks) before reconnecting to production networks to avoid immediate re-compromise.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A security team runs a vulnerability scan on a web application and discovers an unpatched SQL injection flaw. The team prioritises remediation by CVSS score — critical flaws are patched within 24 hours, high within 7 days. Questions like this test whether you understand vulnerability management processes, scanning tools, and remediation prioritisation.
What to study next
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FAQ
Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response — This question tests Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Recovery — According to the NIST 800-61 incident response lifecycle, the phases are Preparation, Detection & Analysis, Containment/Eradication, and Recovery. After containment (isolating the threat) and eradication (removing malware, patching vulnerabilities), the next phase is Recovery, where systems are carefully restored to normal operations, often using clean backups and verifying system integrity before reconnecting to the network.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CC exam.
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