Crisis Team Alerts

When a critical incident occurs, minutes matter. Automated crisis alerts ensure leadership is notified immediately.

Crisis Contact Lists

Maintain two tiers of crisis contacts:

• Core Management: CEO, CTO, CISO - notified for all critical incidents
• Extended Management: Legal, PR, HR, Board - notified based on incident type

[Screenshot: Crisis Contact Management] Placeholder: Contact list with phone numbers and notification preferences

Alert Channels

Crisis alerts use multiple channels:

• SMS: Text message to mobile phones (fastest, highest urgency)
• Email: Detailed incident summary with response instructions
• In-app notifications: Dashboard alerts for logged-in users
• Escalation: Repeat notifications if not acknowledged within threshold

When to Alert

Trigger crisis alerts for:

• Critical severity incidents: All incidents marked critical
• Data breaches: Confirmed or suspected personal data exposure
• System compromise: Widespread or privileged access compromise
• Regulatory triggers: Incidents requiring regulatory notification
• Business disruption: Events affecting core business operations

[Screenshot: Alert Configuration] Placeholder: Alert trigger rules and contact list selection

Alert Content

Crisis SMS includes:

• Incident ID: Reference number for tracking
• Severity: Critical/High severity indicator
• Brief description: One-sentence incident summary
• Status: Current incident status
• Response needed: Immediate actions required
• Contact: Incident commander phone number

Alert Tracking

Monitor alert effectiveness:

• Delivery status: Confirmed SMS and email delivery
• Read receipts: Who opened email alerts
• Response time: How quickly team acknowledged
• Communication log: Complete record for audit trail

[Screenshot: Alert History] Placeholder: Log of sent alerts with delivery and read status

SMS Credits and Limits

Crisis alerting requires SMS credits:

• Purchase SMS credits from billing settings
• Monitor remaining credit balance
• Set low-balance alerts
• Critical alerts queue if credits exhausted

Testing Alerts

Test crisis alerts regularly:

• Send test SMS to verify phone numbers
• Confirm email delivery and formatting
• Verify contact list is current
• Practice response procedures

Next Steps

• Document investigation progress
• Complete incident reports after resolution