AI INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN

[ORGANIZATION NAME]

DOCUMENT CONTROL

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose

This AI Incident Response Plan establishes procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from incidents involving artificial intelligence systems.

1.2 Scope

This Plan covers:
- All AI systems operated by [ORGANIZATION NAME]
- AI-specific incidents as defined in Section 2
- Integration with general incident response

1.3 Objectives

• Minimize harm from AI incidents
• Ensure rapid and effective response
• Meet regulatory notification requirements
• Learn and improve from incidents
• Maintain stakeholder trust

2. AI INCIDENT DEFINITION

2.1 What Constitutes an AI Incident

An AI incident is an event involving AI systems that:

☐ Causes harm to individuals or groups
- Physical, psychological, or financial harm
- Discrimination or unfair treatment
- Privacy violations

☐ Involves significant system failures
- Major accuracy degradation
- Widespread incorrect outputs
- System unavailability affecting operations

☐ Indicates security compromise
- Adversarial attacks
- Data poisoning
- Model theft or extraction

☐ Violates laws or policies
- Regulatory non-compliance
- Policy violations
- Ethical breaches

☐ Threatens organizational reputation
- Public incidents
- Media attention
- Stakeholder complaints

2.2 AI Incident Categories

2.3 Severity Levels

3. INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM

3.1 AI Incident Response Team (AI-IRT)

3.2 Roles and Responsibilities

Incident Commander:
- Overall incident management
- Resource coordination
- Decision authority
- External communication approval

AI Technical Lead:
- Technical investigation
- Root cause analysis
- Remediation implementation
- Technical recommendations

Legal/Compliance:
- Regulatory assessment
- Notification requirements
- Legal risk evaluation
- Documentation review

Communications:
- Internal communications
- External communications (with approval)
- Media management
- Stakeholder updates

Privacy Officer:
- Privacy impact assessment
- Data breach determination
- Privacy notifications
- Data subject rights

Business Representative:
- Business impact assessment
- Customer considerations
- Operational decisions
- Business continuity

Security Lead:
- Security incident aspects
- Forensics coordination
- Security controls

3.3 Escalation Matrix

4. INCIDENT RESPONSE PHASES

4.1 Phase 1: Detection and Identification

Objectives:
- Identify potential incidents quickly
- Determine if AI-specific response needed
- Initial severity assessment

Detection Sources:

☐ Automated monitoring alerts
☐ User/customer reports
☐ Employee reports
☐ Third-party notifications
☐ Regulatory inquiries
☐ Media/social media
☐ Audit findings
☐ Periodic reviews

Initial Assessment Checklist:

☐ Is this an AI-related incident?
☐ What AI system(s) are involved?
☐ What is the apparent impact?
☐ Is harm ongoing?
☐ What is the initial severity?
☐ Who needs to be notified?

Actions:
1. Log incident in tracking system
2. Assign initial severity
3. Notify appropriate personnel
4. Preserve evidence
5. Begin documentation

4.2 Phase 2: Containment

Objectives:
- Stop ongoing harm
- Prevent incident expansion
- Preserve evidence

Containment Actions by Category:

Containment Decision Matrix:

Documentation Requirements:
- Time of containment actions
- Actions taken and by whom
- Decision rationale
- Impact of containment

4.3 Phase 3: Investigation

Objectives:
- Determine root cause
- Assess full impact
- Identify affected parties
- Gather evidence

Investigation Activities:

☐ Technical Investigation
- Analyze system logs
- Review model behavior
- Examine data inputs
- Test hypotheses
- Identify failure points

☐ Impact Assessment
- Determine affected individuals/groups
- Quantify harm
- Assess scope (time, volume)
- Evaluate ongoing risks

☐ Root Cause Analysis
- What happened?
- Why did it happen?
- What controls failed?
- Was this foreseeable?

AI-Specific Investigation Considerations:

Evidence Preservation:

☐ System logs
☐ Model versions
☐ Training data snapshots
☐ Input/output samples
☐ Configuration records
☐ User reports
☐ Timeline documentation

4.4 Phase 4: Notification

Internal Notifications:

External Notification Requirements:

Notification Content:

☐ Nature of incident
☐ Systems/data involved
☐ Approximate impact
☐ Actions taken
☐ Next steps
☐ Contact information

Communication Guidelines:

• Facts only, no speculation
• Approved messaging
• Consistent across channels
• Appropriate level of detail
• Legal review for external

4.5 Phase 5: Remediation

Objectives:
- Fix the root cause
- Restore normal operations
- Prevent recurrence

Remediation Actions by Category:

Remediation Process:

1. Develop remediation plan
2. Prioritize actions
3. Obtain approvals
4. Implement fixes
5. Test thoroughly
6. Deploy with monitoring
7. Verify effectiveness

Remediation for Affected Parties:

☐ Identify affected individuals
☐ Determine appropriate remedy
☐ Communicate with affected parties
☐ Implement remedies
☐ Document remediation

4.6 Phase 6: Recovery

Objectives:
- Return to normal operations
- Restore stakeholder confidence
- Verify remediation effectiveness

Recovery Checklist:

☐ Root cause addressed
☐ Remediation verified effective
☐ Monitoring enhanced
☐ Systems returned to full operation
☐ Stakeholders informed
☐ Documentation complete

Recovery Criteria:

4.7 Phase 7: Post-Incident Review

Objectives:
- Learn from incident
- Improve processes
- Prevent recurrence

Post-Incident Review Meeting:

• Timing: Within [X] days of incident closure
• Participants: AI-IRT, relevant stakeholders
• Duration: [X] hours

Review Agenda:

1. Incident timeline review
2. What worked well
3. What could be improved
4. Root cause discussion
5. Lessons learned
6. Action items

Post-Incident Report Contents:

☐ Executive summary
☐ Incident description
☐ Timeline
☐ Impact assessment
☐ Root cause analysis
☐ Response evaluation
☐ Lessons learned
☐ Recommendations
☐ Action items

Action Item Tracking:

5. COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES

5.1 Internal Alert Template

Subject: AI Incident Alert - [SEVERITY] - [SYSTEM NAME]

Incident ID: [ID]
Severity: [LEVEL]
Reported: [DATE/TIME]
System: [SYSTEM NAME]

Summary:
[Brief description]

Current Status:
[Status]

Actions Taken:
[Actions]

Next Steps:
[Steps]

Contact:
[Incident Commander contact]

5.2 External Notification Template

[Use with Legal approval]

Subject: Notice Regarding [DESCRIPTION]

Dear [RECIPIENT],

We are writing to inform you of an incident involving [DESCRIPTION].

What Happened:
[Description]

What Information Was Involved:
[Information types]

What We Are Doing:
[Actions]

What You Can Do:
[Recommendations]

For More Information:
[Contact]

We sincerely regret any concern this may cause.

[Signature]

6. REGULATORY NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

6.1 EU AI Act

Serious Incident Definition: Per Article 73
Notification Required: Yes, for serious incidents
Timeframe: Per regulation
Notify: Market surveillance authority

6.2 Data Protection

GDPR: 72 hours to supervisory authority
US State Laws: Per state requirements
Documentation: Record all breaches

6.3 Sector-Specific

[ADD SECTOR-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS]

7. PLAN MAINTENANCE

7.1 Testing

7.2 Review and Update

This Plan is reviewed:
- Annually
- After significant incidents
- After regulatory changes
- After organizational changes

7.3 Training

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Contact List

[COMPLETE CONTACT INFORMATION]

Appendix B: Incident Log Template

[INCIDENT LOGGING TEMPLATE]

Appendix C: Checklist Summary

[QUICK REFERENCE CHECKLISTS]

APPROVAL

This AI Incident Response Plan is a living document. All personnel should be familiar with their roles and responsibilities.