A security analyst notices a sudden surge of incoming traffic and detects unknown packets from...

The analyst is in the detection and analysis phase of the incident response process according to NIST SP800-61. In this phase, events are detected and analyzed to determine whether they constitute incidents that require a response. It involves monitoring security events or data collection, correlation, and analysis of log entries and network flow data, among others. The goal is to identify incidents quickly so that appropriate actions can be taken. References := NIST SP800-61, Computer Security Incident Handling Guide, Section 3.2: Detection and Analysis