Which role in an incident response team is primarily responsible for coordinating the response?

• A. Analysts
• B. Incident response lead
• C. Forensics specialist
• D. IT/Operations technician

Answer: (B)

Coordinating the incident response requires a single point of leadership who oversees the whole effort, makes decisions, and directs actions across teams. This role, the incident response lead, acts as the Incident Commander, setting priorities, issuing action items, and keeping stakeholders informed as the situation unfolds. Having one designated coordinator helps prevent conflicting actions and ensures containment, eradication, and recovery are carried out in a timely and coherent way.

Analysts are focused on detecting and triaging alerts, gathering data, and shaping the understanding of what happened. A forensics specialist handles evidence collection and preservation to maintain integrity for investigations or legal needs. An IT/Operations technician works on implementing fixes and restoring services under the lead’s direction. The incident response lead is the person who pulls all of these pieces together, maintains the plan, and drives a coordinated response.