ISC2 CC Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response Practice Question
Which THREE are phases of the incident response process according to NIST SP 800-61?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests whether candidates recognize that 'Containment, Eradication, and Recovery' is a single phase in NIST SP 800-61, not three separate phases, and that 'Risk Assessment' and 'Vendor Management' are common distractors because they appear in other security frameworks but are not part of the incident response process.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Containment, Eradication, and Recovery
NIST SP 800-61 defines the incident response process as four phases: Preparation; Detection and Analysis; Containment, Eradication, and Recovery; and Post-Incident Activity. The 'Containment, Eradication, and Recovery' phase is explicitly grouped together as a single phase in the standard, making A a correct choice.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Containment, Eradication, and Recovery
Why this is correct
Third phase.
- ✗
Risk Assessment
Why it's wrong here
Not an IR phase.
- ✓
Detection and Analysis
Why this is correct
Second phase.
- ✓
Preparation
Why this is correct
First phase of IR.
- ✗
Vendor Management
Why it's wrong here
Not an IR phase.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Incident Response and Management
Key term
Containment
Containment is the incident response phase where security teams isolate a compromised system or network to prevent the threat from spreading further while preserving evidence.
Key term
Incident
An incident is a security event that violates an organization's policies or threatens its data, systems, or operations, requiring a structured response.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on CC
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Variation 1. According to the NIST 800-61 incident response lifecycle, after containment and eradication have been performed, what is the next phase?
hard- ✓ A.Recovery
- B.Post-incident activity
- C.Detection and analysis
- D.Preparation
Why A: 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.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.