The text categorizes security events into four-category incident severity threat scale:
1. False Alarms: innocent events happening to be ignored as they are legitimate activities (business as usual)
2. Minor Incidents: breaches that the on-duty staff can handle and that do not have broader implications for the organisations.
3. Major Incidents: an impact too large to be handled by the on-duty IT staff and require action by a firm’s staff members outside the IT department.
4. Disasters: events that threaten and impact business continuity.
While speed in incident response to minor/major incidents and disasters is very important as well as the accuracy of the nature, type and level of response given to address, contain and eradicate the impact of the incident, the way to respond both rapidly and correctly is by adequate planning ahead.
The actions taken before an incident usually are more critical than the actions taken after an incident occurs which includes a detailed plan on how they will respond to major incidents and disasters. Hence, the best definition of incident response is reacting to incidents according to plan, as responding to a crisis while it is actively ongoing is not the best time to think about how to respond.
Great insights, on the significance of preparation for incident handling. I’d like to emphasize the importance of practicing the plan to ensure that the team is ready to implement it when a real incident occurs. It’s crucial to establish communication channels and decision making frameworks in advance. In essence you’ve underscored the message that investing in building a plan and response abilities prior to an incident is critical, for achieving success.
In this chapter incident and disaster response there is disaster recovery which is a plan a company uses in case of an emergency that destroyed or damaged some systems of an organization. It is essentially critical to a rapid and successful business continuity plan which is the larger whole of the disaster recovery. An organization must have backup sites and there are two types of backup facilities which can only be a hot site, cold site, or cloud-based hosting. There is so much that goes into disaster recovery like the cost of new computers, restoration of data and programs and after all that you must test the disaster recovery plan to make sure that it works so it can be viable to be apart of the business continuity plan.
I would reiterate that while DR capabilities require significant investment, the costs of not having them when disaster strikes are likely to be far higher. Ongoing testing and maintenance is crucial to ensuring DR plans remain relevant and effective.
This chapter discusses how enterprises should respond to security incidents, categorized into false alarms, minor incidents, major incidents, and disasters. Key response steps include detection, analysis, and escalation. In a major incident, the process involves an Intrusion Detection System alert, IT security staff analysis, and potential escalation to the CSIRT or Business Continuity Team. Immediate actions include isolating the server to prevent further damage. During recovery, companies should restore data from backups and address customers and employees, acknowledging responsibility and potential employee negligence. In natural disasters, responses should focus on people-centric business continuity management.
The IDS alert example highlights the importance of prompt containment, and your note about people-centric responses to disasters is insightful. I would just add that conducting post-incident reviews to identify lessons learned is another critical step for improving resiliency over time.
With the categorization of security incidents, organisations need to document defined criteria that differentiates one category from the other in order to achieve an effective security incident response and management process.
Eyup, yes I agree and that companies should restore data from backups, address customers, and employees because then people will be some what clueless when something happens. I think a company should be open with its clients because I also think that they would be able to get more customers in this manner.
One of my main takeaways from this chapter is the importance of learning from previous incidents (Post incident). This is typically done at the end of the incident response process. Still, it is necessary to remember this step is coming throughout the entire process because you want to keep all evidence or information that will help review how the breach occurred and its cumulative effects before the end. Thoughtful completion of this final step in the incident response process can help the organization better understand all the specifics about how the incident occurred, how widespread the effects of the breach were, and how to better prevent similar and all breaches in the future.
The post-incident review is critical for understanding and preventing future breaches. Keeping detailed records throughout is key to turning these experiences into proactive security improvements.
Accurate information gathering and adequate documentation would strengthen the post-incident activity (lesson learnt) which also adds to improvement to the incident response process and can be evidence for business cases made for more investment in cybersecurity in the organisation.
Effective incident response planning involves continuous cycles of planning, testing, and refinement due to the dynamic threat landscape. An outdated or untested plan offers little security.
The book discusses various response plans like intrusion detection systems, business continuity, and disaster recovery. It underscores the importance of integrated log files and their synchronized centralization for efficient monitoring.
Isolating the logging machine from the main network adds security, preventing attackers from easily covering their tracks. Aggregating alerts enables swift identification and mitigation of attacks, as demonstrated by the book’s example.
I completely agree with the importance of integrated log files and their centralized management for efficient monitoring. Log files provide a wealth of information about system activity, and aggregating alerts from various sources enables swift identification and mitigation of attacks.
You highlighted the need for continuous updates and tests in incident response plans. Centralizing logs for effective monitoring and isolating logging systems are smart strategies for quick threat detection and response.
Yes so testing is important because if a company is ill prepared in their incident response plan it could be detrimental to a company to the point where they cannot recover from or it may be difficult and expensive. I think every company should have an incident response plan because being prepared in for a bad situation is a plus and looks good on them.
Effective and swift incident response in organizations hinges not just on planning but significantly on rehearsal. Just like a football team practices plays until they become second nature, companies need to rehearse their response to incidents, especially rare major ones, to ensure efficiency and precision. Rehearsals help familiarize personnel with their roles and actions during an incident.
I completely agree with your post! Rehearsal is crucial to incident response; by regularly rehearsing incident response plans, organizations can ensure that their personnel are familiar with their roles and actions, which leads to a more efficient and precise response.
One key point from Chapter 10 is the importance of planning and rehearsal in responding effectively to security incidents and disasters. The authors emphasize that paradoxically, the actions taken before an incident, such as creating detailed response plans and frequently practicing their execution, are often more critical than the actions taken after an incident occurs in enabling an organization to react with the necessary speed and accuracy.
Yannick, That’s a great point! Planning and rehearsal are crucial in responding effectively to security incidents and disasters. Having a detailed response plan before an incident can make all the difference in an organization’s ability to respond quickly and accurately.
This is a good highlight from the text. When an incident response process is tested, gaps and issues are identified before an actual incident occurs and this helps to ensure that the organisation and all teams involved in incident response are well-equipped, aware and competent to manage the process to ensure there is minimal or no disruption to business operations.
I agree Yannick. This approach enhances the speed and accuracy of response and fosters a culture of preparedness within the organization. Ultimately, prioritizing planning and rehearsal empowers organizations to navigate crises confidently and efficiently, safeguarding their assets and reputation.
The text categorizes security events into four-category incident severity threat scale:
1. False Alarms: innocent events happening to be ignored as they are legitimate activities (business as usual)
2. Minor Incidents: breaches that the on-duty staff can handle and that do not have broader implications for the organisations.
3. Major Incidents: an impact too large to be handled by the on-duty IT staff and require action by a firm’s staff members outside the IT department.
4. Disasters: events that threaten and impact business continuity.
While speed in incident response to minor/major incidents and disasters is very important as well as the accuracy of the nature, type and level of response given to address, contain and eradicate the impact of the incident, the way to respond both rapidly and correctly is by adequate planning ahead.
The actions taken before an incident usually are more critical than the actions taken after an incident occurs which includes a detailed plan on how they will respond to major incidents and disasters. Hence, the best definition of incident response is reacting to incidents according to plan, as responding to a crisis while it is actively ongoing is not the best time to think about how to respond.
Great insights, on the significance of preparation for incident handling. I’d like to emphasize the importance of practicing the plan to ensure that the team is ready to implement it when a real incident occurs. It’s crucial to establish communication channels and decision making frameworks in advance. In essence you’ve underscored the message that investing in building a plan and response abilities prior to an incident is critical, for achieving success.
In this chapter incident and disaster response there is disaster recovery which is a plan a company uses in case of an emergency that destroyed or damaged some systems of an organization. It is essentially critical to a rapid and successful business continuity plan which is the larger whole of the disaster recovery. An organization must have backup sites and there are two types of backup facilities which can only be a hot site, cold site, or cloud-based hosting. There is so much that goes into disaster recovery like the cost of new computers, restoration of data and programs and after all that you must test the disaster recovery plan to make sure that it works so it can be viable to be apart of the business continuity plan.
I would reiterate that while DR capabilities require significant investment, the costs of not having them when disaster strikes are likely to be far higher. Ongoing testing and maintenance is crucial to ensuring DR plans remain relevant and effective.
This chapter discusses how enterprises should respond to security incidents, categorized into false alarms, minor incidents, major incidents, and disasters. Key response steps include detection, analysis, and escalation. In a major incident, the process involves an Intrusion Detection System alert, IT security staff analysis, and potential escalation to the CSIRT or Business Continuity Team. Immediate actions include isolating the server to prevent further damage. During recovery, companies should restore data from backups and address customers and employees, acknowledging responsibility and potential employee negligence. In natural disasters, responses should focus on people-centric business continuity management.
The IDS alert example highlights the importance of prompt containment, and your note about people-centric responses to disasters is insightful. I would just add that conducting post-incident reviews to identify lessons learned is another critical step for improving resiliency over time.
With the categorization of security incidents, organisations need to document defined criteria that differentiates one category from the other in order to achieve an effective security incident response and management process.
Eyup, yes I agree and that companies should restore data from backups, address customers, and employees because then people will be some what clueless when something happens. I think a company should be open with its clients because I also think that they would be able to get more customers in this manner.
One of my main takeaways from this chapter is the importance of learning from previous incidents (Post incident). This is typically done at the end of the incident response process. Still, it is necessary to remember this step is coming throughout the entire process because you want to keep all evidence or information that will help review how the breach occurred and its cumulative effects before the end. Thoughtful completion of this final step in the incident response process can help the organization better understand all the specifics about how the incident occurred, how widespread the effects of the breach were, and how to better prevent similar and all breaches in the future.
The post-incident review is critical for understanding and preventing future breaches. Keeping detailed records throughout is key to turning these experiences into proactive security improvements.
Accurate information gathering and adequate documentation would strengthen the post-incident activity (lesson learnt) which also adds to improvement to the incident response process and can be evidence for business cases made for more investment in cybersecurity in the organisation.
I think you are right that keeping a record of previous events is, in my opinion, a very effective way to reduce the impact of similar events.
Effective incident response planning involves continuous cycles of planning, testing, and refinement due to the dynamic threat landscape. An outdated or untested plan offers little security.
The book discusses various response plans like intrusion detection systems, business continuity, and disaster recovery. It underscores the importance of integrated log files and their synchronized centralization for efficient monitoring.
Isolating the logging machine from the main network adds security, preventing attackers from easily covering their tracks. Aggregating alerts enables swift identification and mitigation of attacks, as demonstrated by the book’s example.
I completely agree with the importance of integrated log files and their centralized management for efficient monitoring. Log files provide a wealth of information about system activity, and aggregating alerts from various sources enables swift identification and mitigation of attacks.
You highlighted the need for continuous updates and tests in incident response plans. Centralizing logs for effective monitoring and isolating logging systems are smart strategies for quick threat detection and response.
Yes so testing is important because if a company is ill prepared in their incident response plan it could be detrimental to a company to the point where they cannot recover from or it may be difficult and expensive. I think every company should have an incident response plan because being prepared in for a bad situation is a plus and looks good on them.
Yes, reviewing the log is also an effective way to combat losses.
Effective and swift incident response in organizations hinges not just on planning but significantly on rehearsal. Just like a football team practices plays until they become second nature, companies need to rehearse their response to incidents, especially rare major ones, to ensure efficiency and precision. Rehearsals help familiarize personnel with their roles and actions during an incident.
I completely agree with your post! Rehearsal is crucial to incident response; by regularly rehearsing incident response plans, organizations can ensure that their personnel are familiar with their roles and actions, which leads to a more efficient and precise response.
I agree very true Bo. Ensuring that incident response teams are well-prepared to handle any situation with efficiency and precision is key.
One key point from Chapter 10 is the importance of planning and rehearsal in responding effectively to security incidents and disasters. The authors emphasize that paradoxically, the actions taken before an incident, such as creating detailed response plans and frequently practicing their execution, are often more critical than the actions taken after an incident occurs in enabling an organization to react with the necessary speed and accuracy.
Yannick, That’s a great point! Planning and rehearsal are crucial in responding effectively to security incidents and disasters. Having a detailed response plan before an incident can make all the difference in an organization’s ability to respond quickly and accurately.
This is a good highlight from the text. When an incident response process is tested, gaps and issues are identified before an actual incident occurs and this helps to ensure that the organisation and all teams involved in incident response are well-equipped, aware and competent to manage the process to ensure there is minimal or no disruption to business operations.
I agree Yannick. This approach enhances the speed and accuracy of response and fosters a culture of preparedness within the organization. Ultimately, prioritizing planning and rehearsal empowers organizations to navigate crises confidently and efficiently, safeguarding their assets and reputation.