What is an Information Security Incident?

An Information Security Incident is an adverse event in an information system and/or a network that poses a threat to computer or network security in respect of availability, integrity and confidentiality. Examples of adverse events are:

• Theft and burglary
  
• Natural disasters, e.g. floods, typhoons, rainstorms
  
• Possible hazards from the surroundings
  
• Data line failure
  
• System crashes
  
• Packet flooding
  
• Unauthorised access or use of system resources
  
• Unauthorised use of another user's account
  
• Unauthorised use of system privileges
  
• Web Defacement
  
• System penetration / intrusion
  
• Massive virus attacks

However, adverse events such as natural disaster, hardware/software breakdown, data line failure, power disruption etc. should be addressed by a system maintenance and disaster recovery plan instead of an information security incident plan.