create a incident response plan
Preparation
- Identify individuals from relevant departments (such as IT, legal, HR) who will be part of the incident response team
- Communicate with the identified individuals and get their commitment to be part of the team
- Assign specific roles and responsibilities to each team member based on their expertise and skills
- Ensure that each team member understands their assigned role and responsibilities
- Determine the primary communication channels to be used during incidents (e.g., email, phone)
- Define protocols for reporting incidents, sharing information, and escalating issues within the team
- Map out the organization's network infrastructure and identify critical assets
- Document the locations, configurations, and dependencies of key systems and applications
- Conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities
- Consider both internal and external threats, including physical security risks
- Identify critical data and systems that need to be backed up regularly
- Define backup procedures, including frequency, storage locations, and restoration processes
- Draft an incident response policy that outlines the organization's approach to handling security incidents
- Review and obtain approvals from relevant stakeholders, such as management and legal teams
Detection and Analysis
- Ensure that monitoring tools are properly configured and regularly updated
- Set up alerts and notifications to immediately notify the incident response team of any detected incidents
- Regularly review and analyze monitoring logs and reports to identify any potential incidents
- Define clear guidelines for team members to report incidents, including the necessary information to be included in the report
- Establish a centralized incident reporting system to ensure consistency and accessibility of incident information
- Document all incidents, including their timeline, actions taken, and outcomes, for future reference and analysis
- Provide training on incident analysis techniques, such as root cause analysis and impact assessment
- Familiarize team members with incident response tools and resources available for analysis
- Conduct regular drills and exercises to enhance incident analysis skills and decision-making abilities
- Define criteria for classifying incidents, considering factors like potential damage, data loss, and operational impact
- Create a classification matrix or scale to assign severity levels to incidents
- Regularly review and update the classification system based on lessons learned and evolving threat landscape
Containment and Eradication
- Identify and isolate affected systems or networks
- Disconnect affected systems or networks from the internet
- Disable compromised user accounts or access credentials
- Implement network segmentation to prevent lateral movement
- Create a separate network segment for affected systems
- Implement firewall rules to restrict communication to and from affected systems
- Disable remote access to affected systems
- Monitor network traffic for any signs of lateral movement
- Preserve relevant logs and evidence for forensic analysis
- Engage a qualified incident response team if necessary
- Conduct interviews with relevant personnel to gather information
- Perform system and network analysis to identify vulnerabilities
- Patch or update affected systems with the latest security patches
- Remove malicious software or code from affected systems
- Implement stronger access controls and authentication mechanisms
- Enhance network monitoring and intrusion detection capabilities
- Inform IT team about the incident and involve them in the response
- Consult legal team regarding any potential legal or regulatory implications
- Coordinate with HR team if employee misconduct is suspected
- Engage external vendors or law enforcement agencies if required
Recovery and Restoration
- Identify the affected systems and networks
- Determine the necessary steps to restore them
- Document the procedures for each system and network
- Define metrics to measure the success of restoration
- Create benchmarks and criteria for validation
- Document the guidelines for future reference
- Identify the stakeholders involved
- Prepare clear and concise communication messages
- Distribute the communication to the appropriate stakeholders
- Assess the extent of the incident's impact
- Identify areas that need improvement or mitigation
- Develop and implement strategies to enhance incident response in the future
Post-Incident Review
- Review the incident from start to finish, examining all actions taken and their effectiveness
- Identify any gaps or areas for improvement in the incident response process
- Engage all relevant stakeholders to gather their insights and perspectives
- Evaluate how well the plan was followed during the incident
- Assess if the plan adequately addressed the incident and if any steps were missing
- Make any necessary updates or revisions to the plan based on the analysis
- Record all modifications or updates made to the incident response plan
- Document any changes or improvements made to the organization's infrastructure or systems
- Ensure that the documentation is easily accessible and regularly updated
- Schedule regular training sessions and drills to keep team members familiar with their roles and responsibilities
- Simulate various incident scenarios to test the team's ability to respond effectively
- Review and debrief after each training or drill session to identify areas for improvement
- Implement a feedback system to collect input and suggestions from team members and stakeholders
- Regularly review and analyze the feedback to identify trends and areas that need improvement
- Use the feedback to make adjustments to the incident response process and plan
Use in Manifestly