Security Incident Response Time Estimator
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Security Incident Response Time Estimator
Estimates the total end-to-end incident response time (in hours) based on incident severity, team size, detection method, containment complexity, and organizational readiness factors.
Incident Severity Level
Critical (P1) – Full system compromise / data breach High (P2) – Significant threat, partial compromise Medium (P3) – Limited impact, contained threat Low (P4) – Minor anomaly, no confirmed impact
Detection Method
Automated SIEM / EDR Alert Security Analyst Manual Review User / Help Desk Report External Notification (vendor, law enforcement)
Incident Response Team Size (analysts)
Team Experience Level (1=Junior … 5=Expert)
Number of Affected Systems
Documented Playbook Available?
Yes – Fully documented and tested Partial – Exists but not fully tested No – Ad-hoc response
Containment Complexity
Low – Isolate single endpoint Medium – Multiple systems / network segments High – Cloud, OT/ICS, or supply chain involved
Forensic Investigation Required?
No Yes
Regulatory Reporting Required? (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA)
No Yes
Estimate Response Time
Fill in the fields above and click Calculate.
function secCalc() { // --- Read inputs --- const severity = parseInt(document.getElementById('sec-severity').value); const detectionMul = parseFloat(document.getElementById('sec-detection').value); const teamSize = parseInt(document.getElementById('sec-team-size').value); const experience = parseInt(document.getElementById('sec-experience').value); const systems = parseInt(document.getElementById('sec-systems').value); const playbookMul = parseFloat(document.getElementById('sec-playbook').value); const containMul = parseFloat(document.getElementById('sec-containment').value); const forensics = parseInt(document.getElementById('sec-forensics').value); const regulatory = parseInt(document.getElementById('sec-regulatory').value);
// --- Input validation --- if (teamSize 50) { document.getElementById('sec-result').innerHTML = 'Team size must be between 1 and 50.'; return; } if (experience 5) { document.getElementById('sec-result').innerHTML = 'Experience level must be between 1 and 5.'; return; } if (systems 10000) { document.getElementById('sec-result').innerHTML = 'Affected systems must be between 1 and 10,000.'; return; }
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // PHASE BASE TIMES (hours) by severity // Based on NIST SP 800-61r2 and industry MTTD/MTTR benchmarks // --------------------------------------------------------------- // Severity: 1=Critical, 2=High, 3=Medium, 4=Low const baseDetection = [0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0][severity]; // hours to confirm alert const baseAnalysis = [0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0][severity]; // triage & scoping const baseContainment = [0, 3.0, 5.0, 8.0, 12.0][severity]; // isolate threat const baseEradication = [0, 4.0, 6.0, 10.0, 16.0][severity]; // remove threat const baseRecovery = [0, 8.0, 12.0, 20.0, 32.0][severity]; // restore services const basePostIncident = [0, 4.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0][severity]; // PIR & documentation
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // TEAM EFFICIENCY FACTOR // Larger teams reduce time (diminishing returns via sqrt), // higher experience reduces time. // teamFactor 1 means slower. // teamFactor = (1 / sqrt(teamSize)) * (6 - experience) / 3 // At teamSize=4, experience=3: factor = 0.5 * 1.0 = 0.50 // --------------------------------------------------------------- const teamFactor = (1.0 / Math.sqrt(teamSize)) * ((6 - experience) / 3.0);
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // SYSTEMS SCALE FACTOR // Each additional system adds logarithmic overhead // systemsFactor = 1 + 0.15 * log2(systems) // At 1 system: 1.0; at 10: ~1.50; at 100: ~2.0 // --------------------------------------------------------------- const systemsFactor = 1.0 + 0.15 * Math.log2(systems);
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // FORENSICS OVERHEAD (hours added to analysis + eradication) // Based on SANS IR survey data: forensics adds ~8–24h depending on severity // --------------------------------------------------------------- const forensicsHours = forensics === 1 ? [0, 24, 16, 10, 6][severity] : 0;
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // REGULATORY OVERHEAD (hours added to post-incident phase) // GDPR requires 72h notification; HIPAA 60 days; adds documentation burden // Estimated 4–12h additional coordination overhead // --------------------------------------------------------------- const regulatoryHours = regulatory === 1 ? [0, 12, 10, 6, 4][severity] : 0;
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // PHASE CALCULATIONS // Each phase is scaled by relevant multipliers // --------------------------------------------------------------- const tDetection = baseDetection * detectionMul; const tAnalysis = (baseAnalysis * teamFactor * systemsFactor + forensicsHours * 0.5) * playbookMul; const tContainment = baseContainment * teamFactor * systemsFactor * containMul * playbookMul; const tEradication = (baseEradication * teamFactor * systemsFactor * containMul + forensicsHours * 0.5) * playbookMul; const tRecovery = baseRecovery * teamFactor * systemsFactor * containMul * playbookMul; const tPostIncident = (basePostIncident + regulatoryHours) * playbookMul;
const totalHours = tDetection + tAnalysis + tContainment + tEradication + tRecovery + tPostIncident; const totalDays = totalHours / 24.0;
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // MTTD and MTTR split // MTTD = Detection phase only // MTTR = Everything after detection // --------------------------------------------------------------- const mttd = tDetection; const mttr = totalHours - tDetection;
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // Cost estimate (optional context) // IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2023: avg $4.45M; ~$1,850/hour for critical // Scaled by severity // --------------------------------------------------------------- const costPerHour = [0, 1850, 950, 420, 180][severity]; const estimatedCost = totalHours * costPerHour;
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // Severity label // --------------------------------------------------------------- const sevLabels = ['', 'Critical (P1)', 'High (P2)', 'Medium (P3)', 'Low (P4)'];
// --------------------------------------------------------------- // Format output // --------------------------------------------------------------- function fmt(h) { if (h
Phase Estimated Time % of Total
${fmt(tDetection)} ${(tDetection/totalHours100).toFixed(1)}% 🧪 Analysis & Triage ${fmt(tAnalysis)} ${(tAnalysis/totalHours100).toFixed(1)}% 🔒 Containment ${fmt(tContainment)} ${(tContainment/totalHours100).toFixed(1)}% 🧹 Eradication ${fmt(tEradication)} ${(tEradication/totalHours100).toFixed(1)}% ♻️ Recovery ${fmt(tRecovery)} ${(tRecovery/totalHours100).toFixed(1)}% 📋 Post-Incident Review ${fmt(tPostIncident)} ${(tPostIncident/totalHours100).toFixed(1)}%
TOTAL ${fmt(totalHours)} 100%
Key Metric Value
Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) ${fmt(mttd)} Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) ${fmt(mttr)} Total Response Time ${fmt(totalHours)} (${totalDays.toFixed(2)} days) Estimated Cost Exposure $${estimatedCost.toLocaleString('en-US', {maximumFractionDigits:0})}
⚠️ Estimates are probabilistic. Actual times vary by environment, threat actor, and tooling.
`;
document.getElementById('sec-result').innerHTML = html; }
#### Formulas Used
Phase Time (each phase P):
T_detection = BaseDetection[severity] × DetectionMultiplier T_analysis = (BaseAnalysis[severity] × TeamFactor × SystemsFactor + ForensicsHours×0.5) × PlaybookMultiplier T_containment = BaseContainment[severity] × TeamFactor × SystemsFactor × ContainmentMultiplier × PlaybookMultiplier T_eradication = (BaseEradication[severity] × TeamFactor × SystemsFactor × ContainmentMultiplier + ForensicsHours×0.5) × PlaybookMultiplier T_recovery = BaseRecovery[severity] × TeamFactor × SystemsFactor × ContainmentMultiplier × PlaybookMultiplier T_postincident = (BasePostIncident[severity] + RegulatoryHours) × PlaybookMultiplier
TeamFactor = (1 / √TeamSize) × ((6 − ExperienceLevel) / 3) SystemsFactor = 1 + 0.15 × log₂(AffectedSystems)
TotalTime = T_detection + T_analysis + T_containment + T_eradication + T_recovery + T_postincident MTTD = T_detection MTTR = TotalTime − T_detection CostExposure = TotalTime × CostPerHour[severity]
Base Times (hours) by Severity:
PhaseP1 Critical P2 HighP3 MediumP4 Low
Detection0.5h1.0h2.0h4.0h Analysis2h4h6h8h Containment3h5h8h12h Eradication4h6h10h16h Recovery8h12h20h32h Post-Incident4h4h6h8h
#### Assumptions & References
- NIST SP 800-61r2 (Computer Security Incident Handling Guide) defines the six-phase IR lifecycle used as the structural basis for phase decomposition.
- IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023: Average breach costs $4.45M; average MTTD = 204 days, MTTR = 73 days for undetected breaches. This calculator focuses on active response time once an incident is confirmed.
- SANS Incident Response Survey 2022: Organizations with documented playbooks resolve incidents 35–40% faster; reflected in playbook multipliers (0.80–1.20).
- Team efficiency follows a square-root scaling law (Brook's Law analog): doubling team size does not halve response time due to coordination overhead.
- Systems factor uses log₂ scaling: each doubling of affected systems adds ~15% overhead, reflecting network segmentation and parallel investigation complexity.
- Detection multipliers: Automated SIEM/EDR alerts (1.0×) are fastest; external notifications (3.5×) reflect delayed awareness per Verizon DBIR 2023 data.
- Forensics overhead: Based on SANS FOR508 course estimates; digital forensics for critical incidents typically adds 16–24 hours of analyst time.
- Regulatory overhead: GDPR Article 33 requires 72-hour breach notification; HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires 60-day reporting. Estimated 4–12h of additional coordination and documentation burden.
- Cost per hour: Derived from IBM 2023 breach cost data divided by average active response hours per severity tier.
- All estimates represent median scenarios. Actual times may vary significantly based on threat actor sophistication, tooling maturity, and organizational size.
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