Ultimate Guide To Incident Response and Management
Ultimate Guide To Incident Response and Management
Ultimate Guide To Incident Response and Management
Ultimate Guide to
Incident Response
and Management
E-guide
In this e-guide
In this e-guide:
There have been 446.5 million reported number of sensitive
Introduction
consumer records exposed in 2018, according to Identity
What is incident response?
Theft Resource Center.
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E-guide
In this e-guide
Ultimate guide to incident response and
Introduction management
What is incident response? Kevin Beaver, Principle Logic, LCC
Indeed, we have evolved from a time when executive leaders were mostly
IR methodology
disconnected from the information security function to an era where it's top
of mind for many such former naysayers. And for good reason: There's likely
Creating an incident response
not a day that goes by that your organization isn't under attack or otherwise
plan
exposed to IT-related security risks.
How, when, and why to use IR
Security threats and vulnerabilities, and the subsequent incidents and
tools
breaches that they can lead to, affect organizations of all kinds. Literally
every business -- both large and small and across every industry -- is a
Incident response problem-
solving target for criminal hackers and careless employees alike. The question is:
What are you doing about it?
Prevention is key
Further reading
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Further reading
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In this e-guide
Introduction
Building an IR team
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Networks, software and end users can only reach a certain level of
Creating an incident response
resilience. Oversights will occur, and mistakes will happen. What matters is
plan
what you have done, in advance, to minimize the impact of a security
incident on your organization. You can't prevent hackers from existing, but
How, when, and why to use IR
tools you can be proactive in prevention and response. That's why having a
functional team, the proper technologies and a well-written incident
Incident response problem- response plan are essential for being able to respond to such events in a
solving prompt and professional manner.
Prevention is key
Further reading
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Building an IR team
Threats exploit vulnerabilities, which, in turn, create business risk. The
potential consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive
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information assets, identity theft, systems taken offline, and legal and
compliance violations.
Creating an incident response
Related terms include the following:
plan
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• Network (or security) event: A term that lawyers often to use to refer
In this e-guide to potential security issues that haven't yet been confirmed or the
details of which aren't ready to be released to outside parties or the
Introduction public.
Attacks don't always lead to incidents, and incidents don't always lead to
What is incident response?
breaches. They're all considered network events and are often played down
until the details can be obtained. It all depends on what took place and what
Why do you need it?
can be determined after the fact.
Building an IR team
The purpose of this guide is to give IT and enterprise security teams
actionable incident response strategies to meet today's security threats and
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vulnerabilities more effectively. This is regardless of whether you have an
existing IR program or you're just getting started. It can also serve to help
Creating an incident response
plan get business executives on board with this critical function of a well-run
information security program and highlight ways users may need more
How, when, and why to use IR security training. You can use this information to improve your incident
tools response capabilities, share it with executive management to further their
understanding and get buy-in on your security initiatives, and even use it as a
Incident response problem- basis for your policies and ongoing user security awareness and training
solving
efforts.
Prevention is key
Further reading
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In this e-guide
Introduction
Building an IR team
IR methodology
Prevention is key
Further reading
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Key Takeaways
In this e-guide
1. Incident response is an organized approach to rapidly respond to
Introduction security incidents.
2. A solid IR plan starts with building the right team.
3. Incident response is a process but technology can help automate
What is incident response?
certain functions.
Building an IR team
Building an IR team
A good incident response program starts with building a great team. Without
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the right people, security policies, processes and tools mean very little. An IR
team is made up of a cross-functional group of people from diverse parts of
Creating an incident response
the business, including IT and security, operations, legal and public relations.
plan
One or more of these roles could -- and should -- be at the executive
management level. The reason for this is to ensure the highest level of
How, when, and why to use IR
tools decision-making and that the business's best interests are kept in mind.
Prevention is key
Further reading
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In this e-guide
What does an IR team do?
Introduction The overall goal of an incident response team should be to detect and
respond to security incidents in order to minimize their impact on the
What is incident response?
business. Such teams are often referred to as a computer security incident
response team (CSIRT) or a computer emergency response (or readiness)
Why do you need it?
team (CERT). A larger group of incident response professionals are often
pulled together into a security operations center (SOC), whose scope is
Building an IR team
broader than incident response. The name of your IR team is largely
irrelevant because its goals are the same.
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Whatever the name, the IR team should be working to support its role in the
Creating an incident response overall incident response plan, which itself should complement the goals of
plan
your information security program and overall business. Team goals might
include working on response times and impact minimization, conducting
How, when, and why to use IR
tools
periodic meetings and performing tabletop exercises. In order for these
goals to work, they need to be very specific, written in the present tense and
Incident response problem-
include steps that must be accomplished along with deadlines to help with
solving accountability. The following are examples of IR team goals that might be
developed by the team itself or an overarching security committee:
Prevention is key
• We develop metrics for analyzing our incident response program
initiatives that involve monitoring and alerting, communication among
Further reading
team members, and technology evaluations.
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Why do you need it? The IR team -- or program manager -- would flesh out each of these goals
with specific steps needed to meet each one, along with deadlines so that
Building an IR team everyone on the team knows what's expected and what to aim for.
IR methodology Another thing to keep in mind with your incident response team goals is to
make sure that they are both reasonable and achievable and, most
Creating an incident response importantly, that they are being reviewed and followed. Otherwise, they can
plan become an afterthought and evolve into a liability rather than an asset. It's
even more complicated if, after an incident or confirmed breach, someone
finds that documented incident response procedures were nonexistent or
How, when, and why to use IR
tools not followed at all.
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In this e-guide
Introduction
Building an IR team
IR methodology
Prevention is key
Further reading
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liaise with law enforcement. There are specific questions that can help
In this e-guide organizations better hire these team members.
Introduction But technical skills are not all that's required for successful incident
response. As noted above, a solid IR team will need cross-functional
What is incident response? members who can execute on nontechnical tasks, such as talking with the
media and responding to legal issues. The actual titles for each of these
Why do you need it? roles can vary from organization to organization depending on your existing
staff structure, staff expertise and your specific business needs. The
Building an IR team important thing is that you have the right people on board.
IR methodology In terms of team building, rather than pulling people into your incident
response team who may not want to be there, seek out those in the
Creating an incident response organization who are interested in the topic and are eager to add value to
plan this critical aspect of security. Each IT and security team member has his or
her own interests, and incident response may not be one of them. Moreover,
How, when, and why to use IR it's critical to have both technical and nontechnical people on your IR team.
tools
The technical people will know the network environment and can help dig
into the details in system logs, network packet captures, vulnerability
Incident response problem-
solving
scanner reports and the like. Nontechnical people can help lead the
oversight and team communications required to keep everyone in the know,
Prevention is key
ask the not-so-obvious questions, and help in the decision-making process
so that business interests are properly represented. You might consider
Further reading
linking to an overall business communication plan that may exist.
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In this e-guide
IR methodology
Introduction An incident response plan is a go-to document for when the going gets
rough with security issues. It outlines the who, what, when, why and how of
What is incident response?
addressing security events, incidents, and, once confirmed, breaches. It's
important because the last thing you need to be doing under duress is
Why do you need it?
figuring out how to respond to these challenges. In fact, when you don't have
a documented plan, you'll be reacting. And when you react, you lose your
Building an IR team
ability to reason. You're flying by the seat of your pants. You can't think
clearly, and you're quite likely not going to make good decisions. By having a
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documented IR plan, you can respond with clarity and direction and avoid
letting emotions drive your response efforts.
Creating an incident response
plan
Prevention is key
Further reading
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In this e-guide
Creating an incident response plan
Introduction An incident response plan should be developed by the team or IR
coordinator in advance and should contain the components detailed in the
What is incident response?
chart below.
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Why do you need it? Eradication Provides the general steps for cleaning up the incident
steps and may include network traffic and system log analysis,
Building an IR team forensics review and subsequent vulnerability testing to
confirm resolution.
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The recovery Details tasks in the recovery phase, such as reinstalling
Creating an incident response phase or reimaging hosts, resetting passwords, and adjusting
plan firewall rules and related network configurations.
How, when, and why to use IR Breach Outlines the how and when to alert those impacted by a
tools notification confirmed breach as required by contracts or law.
Prevention is key
Further reading
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Call list (in the Provides contact information for incident response team
In this e-guide
appendix) members and involved outside vendors, such as internet
service providers and cloud service providers.
Introduction
Testing Outlines specific testing scenarios that have been or will
What is incident response? scenarios be carried out.
(appendix)
Why do you need it?
Revision Outlines details on plan updates and improvements,
Building an IR team history including who did it and when it was done.
(appendix)
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Additional frameworks are available from the SANS Institute, the Institute of
In this e-guide Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Internet Engineering Task Force
and the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security.
Introduction
An incident response plan should not be combined with documents on other
What is incident response? organizational security plans and procedures, such as such as an overview
of security policies or disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
Why do you need it? Instead, it works best as a stand-alone document that all your incident
response team members know about and have easy access to -- both on
Building an IR team the network and in hard-copy form. In addition to consulting frameworks
from the organizations mentioned above, it can help to start with an incident
IR methodology response plan template to guide you in the right direction.
Creating an incident response Creating an incident response plan requires the expertise and input of all
plan your incident response team members. A good way to go about establishing
an incident response plan -- or, even, fleshing out your existing one -- is to
How, when, and why to use IR divvy up the various parts to the necessary team members. Once everyone
tools
has fleshed out their section, the incident response team can pull it all
together into a single document and start working on editing and forming
Incident response problem-
solving
the final version. Keep in mind that your incident response plan is not unlike
any given security policy; it's a work in progress. So, you want to make sure
Prevention is key
that it's reviewed periodically and adjusted appropriately as changes to your
network, security and business come about.
Further reading
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To put a fine point on it: Your incident response plan needs to be kept
In this e-guide current, or it cannot keep your organization safe.
Introduction
Prevention is key
Further reading
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In this e-guide
Introduction
Building an IR team
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Prevention is key
Further reading
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Prevention is key
• net flow and traffic analysis;
• vulnerability management;
• security incident and event management;
Further reading
• endpoint detection and response;
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Introduction Most technology products in this space are commercial, so you'll need the
budget -- sometimes a big one -- for both capital and operating
What is incident response? expenditures associated with these tools. As an alternative, there are open
source software offerings for most of these areas. You'll have to decide
Why do you need it? whether open source can meet your specific business requirements and
what level of effort will be involved in doing so. You must also consider
Building an IR team whether the open source software will be around over the long haul after
you've invested so much in establishing your incident response efforts.
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Of course, as with any new technical control you put in place, you'll need to
Creating an incident response make sure you have the staff and expertise. Having the necessary resources
plan is critical not only in terms of initial design and implementation, but also with
day-to-day administration, troubleshooting and so on.
How, when, and why to use IR
tools One final point: Does it make sense to fully integrate the OODA loop with
your incident response efforts? It depends. You might at least consider it as
Incident response problem- a guideline for your approach to incident response and customize your
solving
methodology according to your needs. Similarly, you can't simply depend on
IR tools to run your entire incident response program. The reality is, the
Prevention is key
success of the IR function depends on many factors, such as business
culture, security buy-in, network design, budget and people. As with your
Further reading
incident response plan document, your IR methodology and tools are going
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Further reading
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You'll find that many security issues you're forced to address fall into the
Creating an incident response
plan
first two categories above. Although they may need to be addressed in
some way, they'll likely only serve as a distraction. This is why you must be
How, when, and why to use IR
good at filtering out the noise and focusing on the things that really matter
tools for your particular environment. The third category -- both urgent and
important -- is where you'll find most of your incident response resources
Incident response problem- should be dedicated. What's important is that you take the bigger picture
solving into account and address the security events that are most impactful
towards your critical network resources and information assets.
Prevention is key
Further reading
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In today's technology-centric world where decisions are often made for us,
In this e-guide it's becoming more of a struggle to find IT and security staff who can truly
solve problems, especially when under the pressure of a security event. As it
Introduction
relates to incident response in your security program as a whole, ensure that
problem-solving involves the proper areas, which include defining the
What is incident response?
problem, determining all possible solutions, deciding on the best solution and
then taking purposeful action.
Why do you need it?
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incidents and breaches occur, so it's up to the incident response team or the
In this e-guide security committee to determine where the gaps and opportunities lie and
then vow to not let them lead to the downfall of your business.
Introduction
Rather than implementing more paperwork and technical controls policies,
What is incident response? processes and technologies -- many of which can serve as mere
bureaucracy or a false sense of security -- what's often needed most is
Why do you need it? discipline. The discipline to acknowledge security threats and vulnerabilities.
The discipline to acknowledge weaknesses in your information security
Building an IR team program, including incident response. The discipline to take reasonable
steps to prevent most incident scenarios. And the discipline to have the
IR methodology proper visibility and control in place to minimize the impact of the exploits
that do get through.
Creating an incident response
plan
Prevention is key
Further reading
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Incident response is not just an IT and security issue that's overseen and
In this e-guide executed by technical professionals. Instead, it's a core business function
that's arguably as important as anything on the legal, financial or operations
Introduction
side of the business. Business leaders must understand that information
security is a critical underpinning of the enterprise that must be supported at
What is incident response?
the highest of levels. Unless and until critical aspects of security are
mastered, including incident response, it's a matter of time before the going
Why do you need it?
gets rough, the questioning begins and intrusive investigations ensue. It's
unreasonable to expect a perfect security program. Still, it's better to get
Building an IR team
started on improving your incident response efforts now before you're
forced to.
IR methodology
Prevention is key
Further reading
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In this e-guide
About SearchSecurity
Introduction
IT security pros turn to SearchSecurity for the information they require to
keep their corporate data, systems and assets secure. We're the only
What is incident response?
information resource that provides immediate access to breaking industry
news, virus alerts, new hacker threats and attacks, security certification
Why do you need it?
training resources, security standard compliance, webcasts, white papers,
Building an IR team
podcasts, Security Schools, a selection of highly focused security
newsletters and more -- all at no cost.
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Prevention is key
Further reading
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