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Incident response services decide how quickly an organization can contain a cyberattack, recover operations and meet its reporting obligations. In India, that window is short: CERT-In requires covered entities to report cyber incidents within 6 hours of noticing them. This blog explains what incident response is, compares the top 10 incident response service providers in India, and shows how to choose the right one.
What is Incident Response?
Incident response is the structured process an organization follows to detect, contain, investigate and recover from a cybersecurity incident, such as ransomware, a data breach or account takeover. A typical incident response lifecycle covers preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication, recovery and post-incident review.
Incident response services provide the specialists, forensic tools and playbooks to run this process under pressure, often through a retainer agreed in advance. For a detailed introduction, read SISA’s guide to what incident response is.
Top 10 Incident Response Service Providers in India Compared
The table below compares each provider’s India presence, strengths, experience and response model. Providers are grouped by type: global incident response specialists, advisory firms and managed security providers.
Top Incident Response Service Providers in India Explained
Each provider brings a different strength. Here is what sets them apart.
1. SISA
SISA is a Bengaluru-headquartered, forensics-driven cybersecurity company focused on the payments and financial services ecosystem. Its digital forensics and incident response services cover ransomware incident response, cloud forensics, compromise assessments and payment forensic investigations, with a DFIR retainer service for guaranteed access to responders. SISA’s digital forensics and incident response are core to its business, not one service among many.
2. Mandiant (Google Cloud)
Mandiant, now part of Google Cloud, is one of the best-known names in breach investigation. Its retainer offers 2-hour remote response and 24x7 access to responders, and unused funds can go towards proactive services such as tabletop exercises and red teaming. It suits large enterprises facing advanced, targeted attacks.
3. CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike’s incident response is built around its Falcon platform. Responders deploy Falcon sensors to gain visibility, contain the attacker and investigate in real time, and customers can then move to CrowdStrike’s managed detection and response service. It suits organizations that want response and ongoing endpoint protection from one vendor.
4. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42
Unit 42 is Palo Alto Networks’ threat intelligence and incident response team, handling more than 1,000 incident response investigations a year. Its retainer uses prepaid credits across four tiers, with remote response from 24 hours down to 2 hours, and credits can also fund assessments. It is an approved provider for more than 70 cyber insurance carriers.
5. KPMG in India
KPMG in India runs a dedicated Cyber Defence and Incident Response practice covering readiness, forensic investigation, containment and recovery in line with local regulations. It offers retainership and on-call services, and an on-demand response model built around IRDAI’s requirements, which suits insurers and insurance intermediaries.
6. Deloitte India
Deloitte India’s cyber incident response solution covers preparing for, responding to and recovering from incidents. Its services include compromise assessments, tabletop exercises, cyber wargaming and an incident response retainer, backed by more than 100 practitioners across the Deloitte network, which suits multinational organizations.
7. PwC India
PwC India delivers cyber incident response through its forensic services practice, with Forensic Technology Labs in Mumbai and Gurugram and a center of excellence in Kolkata. Its services include incident response preparedness, evidence preservation and cyber crime investigations, making it a fit for incidents that may lead to legal or regulatory action.
8. EY India
EY India provides cyber incident response through its Forensic & Integrity Services practice. Alongside forensic investigation, it supports litigation, regulatory inquiries and insurance claims after an incident, and agrees response terms in advance through a framework agreement so work can start quickly.
9. Inspira Enterprise
Inspira Enterprise offers incident management and response as part of its managed security services, delivered from Cyber Fusion Centers including one in Mumbai. Its managed extended detection and response (MXDR) service includes automatic disruption of attacks such as ransomware. It suits organizations that want monitoring and response from one managed provider.
10. Seqrite
Seqrite, the enterprise arm of Quick Heal Technologies, offers Ransomware Recovery as a Service. The service covers impact assessment, system isolation, decryption, data restoration and post-incident hardening, with the aim of recovering without paying a ransom. It suits organizations that need focused help recovering from ransomware.
How to Choose the Right Provider for Incident Response Services
The right incident response service provider depends on your industry, regulatory obligations and in-house capabilities. Evaluate providers on these six factors:
- Regulatory knowledge. Choose a provider that understands CERT-In’s 6-hour reporting rule and 180-day log retention requirement, as well as sector rules. For example, IRDAI requires regulated insurance entities to empanel incident response and digital forensics experts in advance.
- Guaranteed response times. Ask for response commitments in writing. Retainers usually define remote response in hours and on-site response in days.
- Forensic depth. Check whether the provider can preserve evidence that holds up with regulators, auditors and courts, and whether it handles your environment, such as cloud, endpoints or payment systems.
- Specialization. Payment and financial services incidents often need specialist investigations, such as PCI forensic investigations, that general responders may not offer.
- Retainer flexibility. Prefer retainers where unused hours or credits can fund proactive work such as readiness assessments, tabletop exercises or compromise assessments.
- Insurance alignment. If you hold cyber insurance, confirm whether the provider is on your insurer’s approved panel before an incident occurs.
Conclusion: Prepare Before the Incident
The best time to choose a provider of incident response services is before an attack. Global specialists bring threat intelligence, advisory firms add legal and regulatory support, and managed security providers combine monitoring with response. SISA offers specialist forensic depth in payments and financial services. Whichever you choose, a retainer agreed in advance means investigation starts in hours, not days.
FAQs
1. What do incident response services include?
Incident response services typically include triage, containment, digital forensic investigation, malware analysis, recovery support and post-incident reporting, and often proactive readiness services.
2. How much do incident response services cost in India?
Incident response providers in India do not publish fixed prices. Costs depend on the scope and severity of the incident, the response time required and whether you have a retainer. Retainers usually cost less than emergency engagements because rates are agreed in advance.
3. What is an incident response retainer?
An incident response retainer is a pre-agreed contract that gives an organization guaranteed access to incident responders, with defined response times and rates. Unused hours or credits can often be used for proactive security services.
4. How quickly must cyber incidents be reported in India?
Under CERT-In’s directions of 28 April 2022, covered entities must report specified cyber incidents to CERT-In within 6 hours of noticing them. Sector regulators, such as IRDAI for insurers, also set 6-hour reporting timelines.
5. What is the difference between incident response and digital forensics?
Incident response focuses on containing a cyberattack and restoring operations quickly. Digital forensics focuses on collecting and analyzing evidence to find out how the attack happened, what data was affected and who was responsible. Most incident response services combine the two, which is why providers often offer them together as digital forensics and incident response (DFIR).
6. When should an organization engage an incident response service provider?
Ideally, before an incident happens. Agreeing on a retainer in advance fixes response times, rates and contacts, so responders can start within hours of an attack. For regulated sectors in India, it also helps meet CERT-In’s 6-hour incident reporting requirement.