Exact Extract: Study Guide p.9: Tier 2 Incident Responder investigates escalated alerts in more depth for response.

Technical Deep Dive: The correct answer is D. When an event is escalated into an incident, the SOC role responsible for deeper handling and response is the incident responder. Tier 1 security analysts handle monitoring and triage. Threat hunters proactively search for complex or hidden threats rather than owning every escalated incident. SOC engineers maintain tools such as SIEM/SOAR platforms but are not the primary incident-handling role. The guide’s SOC role model places escalated response work with the Incident Responder.