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Responding to an incident: the first minutes and the alert chain

Between the moment something seems wrong and the moment the alert is raised, the attack keeps progressing. The two costliest reflexes are human ones: trying to fix it alone, and waiting to be certain before disturbing anyone. Isolate the device without switching it off, note the time and what is displayed, raise the alert immediately: these actions are decided in calm conditions, because in the heat of the moment no one improvises properly.

  • Written by Skillrung team
  • Review by a subject-matter expert under way
  • Updated on
Read the first 4 slides, freePlay the Discovery quiz, free

What is this course about?

Hold the first minutes of an incident, alert the right people, and know what the law requires.

This is a core course: the material taught is the same for everyone, only the examples, the tools mentioned and the people you deal with change with your job. It has 3 sections, of which 1 section is followed by a quiz, and reads in 25-30 min. The legal framework cited is French law.

The delay costs more than the mistake

Almost everyone will click one day: making the click feel natural is the attacker's job. What separates a minor incident from a major one is not the click, it is the time that passes before the alert. An alert raised for nothing costs a few minutes; an alert raised too late costs your structure days of work.

Key points

What makes an incident worse, every time

Four understandable reflexes, and costly ones.

  • Trying to fix it alone before telling anyone
  • Waiting to be certain so as not to disturb anyone
  • Switching off the device, which destroys the traces
  • Replying to the attackers, even just to buy time

What you will be able to do

  • Identify what makes an incident worse before it is even understood.
  • Apply the five emergency reflexes and alert the right people in time.
  • Turn the course into five dated actions and measure your level.

The first 4 slides, free

What you read with no account and no card. Here, the generic version; in the player, the examples take the vocabulary of your job.

Try it, before you even create an account

Choose a job: the passage below is rewritten straight away. Nothing is saved, and no extra content opens.

No job selected: the generic version is being shown.

Generic version
Almost everyone will click one day: making the click feel natural is the attacker's job. What separates a minor incident from a major one is not the click, it is the time that passes before the alert. An alert raised for nothing costs a few minutes; an alert raised too late costs your structure days of work.

Real extract from the free slide “The delay costs more than the mistake” of this course.

  1. FreeSlide 1 of 14 · Why the first minutes decide the rest

    The delay costs more than the mistake

    Almost everyone will click one day: making the click feel natural is the attacker's job. What separates a minor incident from a major one is not the click, it is the time that passes before the alert. An alert raised for nothing costs a few minutes; an alert raised too late costs your structure days of work.

  2. FreeSlide 2 of 14 · Why the first minutes decide the rest

    What you will be able to do at the end

    • Apply the five emergency reflexes in order
    • Alert the right people without wasting time
    • Recognise what falls under a notification obligation
  3. FreeSlide 3 of 14 · Why the first minutes decide the rest

    What makes an incident worse, every time

    Four understandable reflexes, and costly ones.

    • Trying to fix it alone before telling anyone
    • Waiting to be certain so as not to disturb anyone
    • Switching off the device, which destroys the traces
    • Replying to the attackers, even just to buy time
  4. FreeSlide 4 of 14 · Why the first minutes decide the rest

    Where do you stand?

    One question to place your reflexes, with no score and no judgement. Answer before you continue.

    1 short questions, marked immediately, inside the course.

These 4 slides can be read in the player, with no account and no card.

Read the first slide

Programme

3 sections, 14 slides and 4 quizzes in total. Each content section ends with a quiz that checks it has been learned.

  1. IntroductionFree

    Why the first minutes decide the rest

    Identify what makes an incident worse before it is even understood.

    • 4 slides
  2. SectionSubscribers

    Responding to an incident

    Apply the five emergency reflexes and alert the right people in time.

    • 7 slides
    • Section quiz: 5 questions
  3. RecapSubscribers

    Your action plan

    Turn the course into five dated actions and measure your level.

    • 3 slides

10 slides are for subscribers

The first four slides of this course can be read without an account and without a bank card. From the fifth on, the €29.99/month incl. VAT subscription is needed. The Beginner level quiz, though, stays free: it measures your level without asking you for anything.

Subscribe, €29.99/month incl. VATPlay the Discovery quiz, free

How your level is measured

  • Beginner
    Questions drawn
    10
    Pass mark
    70 %
    Question bank
    ≥ 30
    Time limit
    20 min

    Free, no account and no subscription.

  • Intermediate
    Questions drawn
    12
    Pass mark
    75 %
    Question bank
    ≥ 36
    Time limit
    24 min

    Subscribers only, once the Beginner level is passed.

  • Expert
    Questions drawn
    15
    Pass mark
    80 %
    Question bank
    ≥ 45
    Time limit
    30 min

    Subscribers only, once the Intermediate level is passed.

The level shown for a course is the highest level you have passed, with your best score and its date. Questions are drawn at random on every attempt. Play the Beginner quiz for this course or read how we measure your level.

Which jobs is it for?

Common core: the examples change with your job, what is taught stays the same. It addresses all 58 jobs in the directory. See courses by job.

Frequently asked questions

Should you switch off the computer during an attack?

No. A hard shutdown destroys traces that are useful to whoever intervenes next. The right action is to isolate the device from the network — unplug the cable, switch off the Wi-Fi — leaving it switched on, then raise the alert without waiting until you are certain what is happening.

Should you pay a ransom to get your files back?

The French authorities recommend not paying. Nothing guarantees that the files will be returned, nothing prevents the publication of data already copied, and the payment directly funds the next attacks. The right answer is prepared beforehand: a recent, disconnected and tested backup.

Does an attack always mean an authority has to be notified?

Not always, and the course sets out the criterion. The notification obligation arises from a personal data breach that presents a risk to the people concerned. Your role is not to assess the incident alone: it is to report it early enough for someone to assess it.

What can I read without a subscription?

The first four slides of every course are available without an account and without a subscription, as is the Beginner level quiz. From the fifth slide onwards, the €29.99/month incl. VAT subscription is required. Creating a free account unlocks no extra slide: it keeps your progress, your job and your results.

How is my level measured?

By three level quizzes: Beginner (10 questions, 70 % to pass), Intermediate (12 questions, 75 %) and Expert (15 questions, 80 %). The level shown is the highest level passed, with the best score obtained and its date.

Who writes and who reviews this course

  • Skillrung team

    Editorial team of skillrung.com

    The skillrung editorial team writes the courses from the publications of the French and European authorities: ANSSI, CNIL, Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, Légifrance and EUR-Lex. Every figure is tied to its primary source, dated and verifiable from the course page. The team does not stand in for an expert reviewer: every course intended for publication is reviewed by a named professional of the field concerned, whose name and review date appear on the course page.

Artificial intelligence assisted the drafting. Editorial responsibility for the published text remains human.

Statements with regulatory scope verified on .

Sources

Every figure stated in this course points to a primary source, dated and verifiable.

  1. Notifier une violation de données personnelles

    CNIL, published on

What Skillrung is not

  • Skillrung is not a French training body certified under the Qualiopi scheme.
  • As things stand, our content is not eligible for the French CPF, OPCO, DPC or FAF funding schemes.
  • A Skillrung certificate of completion is not a diploma, not a professional title and not a qualification registered in any national register. It records a result obtained in an unsupervised online assessment, on a given date.
  • Taking a Skillrung course does not make your organisation compliant and does not replace the obligations that fall on your employer or on you.
  • Our content is educational. It is neither legal advice, nor medical advice, nor a security audit.
  • For a self-employed professional or a company, the subscription is a deductible business expense : confirm this with your accountant.

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