In highly sensitive environments such as secure government networks, the presence of anomalous

DLL injection, beaconing to known interception points, and signs of encrypted data exfiltration

constitutes a critical incident. The appropriate response in such classified contexts involves:

Invoking a pre-established, classified incident response protocol,

Immediately notifying national cyber defense operatives (such as national CERT or military cyber

command),

Prioritizing containment to stop lateral spread,

Proceeding with eradication of malware or backdoors.

This response sequence aligns with the high-severity, immediate-response model described in the

Cisco CyberOps Associate v1.2 curriculum under national defense and classified incident

frameworks. The study guide emphasizes the importance of stakeholder communication and multi-

agency coordination during advanced persistent threat (APT) intrusions involving critical

infrastructure or defense systems.

Reference: CyberOps Technologies (CBRFIR) 300-215 study guide, Chapter: Critical Infrastructure and

Advanced Threat Response, Incident Response Phases for Government Systems.