In incident response, what does containment refer to?

Containment in the context of incident response refers to the actions taken to limit the scope and impact of a security incident. This is a crucial step in the incident response process, aimed at stopping the incident from causing further damage or spreading to other systems. Effective containment strategies can include isolating affected systems, blocking malicious traffic, and applying temporary fixes to vulnerabilities that have been exploited. By taking these measures, the incident response team can prevent additional data loss and secure the environment while they assess the situation and develop a comprehensive recovery plan.

Other options do not align with the definition of containment. Expanding the scope of an incident, for instance, would likely exacerbate the situation rather than limit it. Similarly, while response time is a vital aspect of incident management, it doesn’t define containment itself. Methods for obtaining evidence are part of the evidence collection phase that occurs after containment has been established, and they do not pertain directly to limiting the impact of the incident. Thus, the focus on limiting the incident's scope and impact is what makes the selection of actions to contain an incident the most appropriate choice.