As cybercrimes are becoming more sophisticated, the organizations are scrambling to protect their assets and maintain trust with clients and stakeholders. They are constantly working upon creating a robust security strategy. One of the key components of the strategy is Incident Response.
But what is incident response? In this incident response guide we will delve deeper into this.
Defining Incident Response
Before answering your question – what is incident response? Let’s understand the meaning of an incident.
An incident is any unlawful/unauthorized action that involves a computer device, including IoT that has an Operating System and network connectivity. To put it simply, if it is connected to a network and capable of being compromised, it qualifies as an incident.
Incident Response is a structured approach to validate, contain, and remediate malicious activity. This process starts with threat detection and is completed when there is a resolution to the malicious activity.
Organizations that understand the meaning of both- incident and the need for a strong response strategy are better equipped to defend against attacks in today’s volatile cyber landscape.
Types of Cyber Incidents
As the cyber security landscape is so broad and dynamic, organizations need to be continuously vigilant about a wide variety of potential threats. Some of those threats are:
1. Malware infections
One of the most prevalent types of cyber incidents involves infectious software getting into a host system. Viruses, worms, trojans and spyware are different types of malwares.
2. Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts an organization’s files, making them inaccessible until a ransom amount is paid. Such cyber incidents can shut operations down, causing significant monetary losses.
Social engineering is when an attacker tricks people into sharing out information or providing access to sensitive documents. Methods range from phishing emails to pretexting and baiting, which can lead to significant breaches.
4. Insider threats
Sometimes there are malicious actors present inside the organization; they try to misuse the access provided to them. They give access to the attacker and help them breach your system. These individuals can be employees (current or past), contractors, or business associates.
5. Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) occurs when the captures communications between two parties without their knowledge or consent. With a malicious actor manipulating the conversation, this often enables them to then exfiltrate extremely sensitive information such as login credential or financial data.
6. Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks
A denial-of-service (DoS) attack seeks to overwhelm the resources of an organization, rendering their services unavailable for legitimate users. Attackers cause congestion on a network with traffic spikes and disrupt service, even causing potential loss of revenue.
Knowledge of these different cyber incident types allows organizations to enhance their defenses and thereby develop efficient cyber incident response strategies. With the right knowledge and prudent actions, companies can reduce the likelihood that cyberattack.
What is an Incident Response Plan?
An Incident Response Plan (IRP) is a critical framework designed to help an organization deal with cyberattacks. Imagine it to be a guide that aids teams in maneuvering the maze-like security breach. The main aim of an IRP is to mitigate the consequences of an attack and have work resumed promptly, protecting vital information.
The predominant purpose of an IRP is to define the method associated with a breach; this also defines all protocols in lieu of penalties. It establishes specific accountabilities, so that everyone involved in a crisis knows what they need to do. It’s important to have that clarity because, in the heat of battle (no matter how small), clear-headedness is all we need.
Also, a good IRP is not one that stands still; it changes over time. This necessitates periodic updates guided by knowledge gathered from prior incidents/evolving threats. Continuously perfecting said response plan will build on their preparedness and reliability against any forthcoming attacks. It all goes back to creating a solid incident response plan, showing your dedication towards cybersecurity and confidence you are able to instill both in clients and stakeholders.
How to Approach the Initial Hours of a Security Incident?
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- Is this a real incident?
- What data has been potentially exposed?
- Key Steps for the First 72 Hours
Building an Incident Response Plan
An organization needs an incident response plan tailored to its unique business model and potential cyberthreats. Creating a well-designed plan allows your team to respond quickly, minimize damage, and restore business operations. The seven parts of implementing your own cyber incident response plan are:
1. Establish an Incident Response Team
Establish a cross-functional team involving IT, legal communications and C-suite staff. This ensures everyone knows their role and what needs to be done in the event of a security breach.
2. Define and Categorize Incidents
Categorize incidents based on their severity and potential impact powers. Without clear categorization, minor incidents receive the same level of response as critical events thus this will enable staff to de-allocate their resources when not required.
3. Create Detailed Response Procedures
For each incident category – clearly define steps to be taken in case of a breach. Pre-defined steps will help the team with containment and eradication of threats with quick and effective decision making.
4. Implement Monitoring and Detection Tools
Integrate tools like Network Detection and response (NDR) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) as they are specifically designed to monitor the system in real-time and are capable of sending alerts rapidly.
5. Conduct Regular Training and Simulations
Regularly train the incident response team as well as additional employees so they are prepared as per their assigned roles in case of an incident. Furthermore, identify any strategy gaps that need to be addressed.
6. Establish Communication Protocols
Create direct channels of communication among internal and external parties. Ensure that stakeholders, customers and regulatory bodies are updated if required during an incident as per plan based on pre-approved communication protocols.
7. Post-Incident Review and Updates
After every incident, conduct a “lessons learned” session to evaluate what worked well and what didn’t. Update the cyber incident response plan based on these findings to improve future security measures.
Lifecycle of Incident Response
The cyber incident response procedure is broken down into 6 key phases.
Why is Incident Response Important?
According to findings from the 2018 Ponemon Breach Report, the average cost (incident containment) of a compromised or lost record due to a breach was $148 per record and the cost savings of having an Incident Response program to address compromised/lost records would be $14 per record.
As the world continues to move further towards being completely digital, cyber threats are inevitable, and a solid incident response plan is essential. As an effective incident response solution identifies, validates, and remediates incidents in a structured way minimizes the adverse impact (etc. disruption of service and loss of data) for an organization. The goal of an incident response security solution is to ultimately restore the organization back to normal operating standards before the incident occurred. Below are some benefits of Incident Response:
1. Minimizes Downtime
An incident response plan ensures immediate detection of security breaches and helps you in reducing system downtime. This feature ensures business continuity by reducing the number of operational interruptions, which is key to companies with an expansive service/product delivery output.
2. Reduces Financial Losses
Incident Response reduces direct financial losses in the form of data breaches and ransomware. An incident response plan helps reduce these risks by responding to threats early on and stopping attackers from escalating their attacks; thereby saving you the costs of recovery, legal fines or negative brand image.
3. Preserves Customer Trust and Reputation
With a robust incidence response companies can effectively handle their incidents so that customer confidence in your organization is not tarnished. Quick and upfront responses to breaches establish accountability, something that may help reassure customers and partners of your credibility.
4. Mitigates the effects of cyber incidents
With the predefined protocols to manage incidents, organizations can address and isolate threats faster before expansion occurs which would result in irreversible damage. The goal being to minimize the ripple effect of an attack.
5. Ensures Regulatory Compliance
Data protection regulations like GDPR or HIPAA mean many industries have to meet strict requirements. It aids organizations respond to incidents in a manner that complies with these legal obligations, thereby ensuring they do not face fines or any form of litigation.
Detect and Respond to Incidents Faster
In today’s fast-paced digital world, quick response to incidents is essential. A swift and orderly response can significantly reduce the costs associated with breach. Fidelis Endpoint® and Fidelis Network® — These provide powerful capabilities to not only identify malicious activity, but they also allow you to successfully contain threats before they become catastrophic.
These solutions provide comprehensive remediation steps and capabilities, empowering your team to eradicate threats efficiently while strengthening your security posture against future attacks. By leveraging these advanced tools, you ensure that your organization is not just reacting to incidents, but proactively fortifying itself against evolving cyber threats. In an era where every second counts, embracing such robust incident response capabilities can make all the difference in safeguarding your assets and maintaining trust with your stakeholders.
Don’t wait for the next attack to expose vulnerabilities in your defense and harm your business, Let’s fortify your security posture and build resilience against ever-evolving threats.
Frequently Ask Questions
What are the NIST incident response process steps?
The National Institute Standards and Technology (NIST) incident response process is a framework for handling cybersecurity incidents response. The NIST incident response process has four key phases:
- Preparation: This is the phase where organizations create policies, procedures and tools to allow them successfully respond incidents
- Detection and Analysis: It involves detecting incidents & analyzing them for their impact.
- Containment, Eradication & Recovery: This aims to limit the damage of threats, removing any threats, and bringing the system back to normal operations.
- Post-Incident Activity: This is the last phase of NIST incident response steps. On this step, you retrospect on an incident to have a better response for future incidents.
What is the role of a Security Operations Center (SOC) in Incident Response?
The Security Operations Center (SOC) is the brain for all incident response in an organization. It is always monitoring the security posture of the company. The SOC incident response team detects, analyzes and responds to security incidents in real time. It serves as the “command center” for incident management, communication with other teams, ensuring adherence to policies, and performing investigations.
What tools are commonly used in Incident Response?
There are several tools designed to enhance cybersecurity incident response by providing advanced detection, investigation, and threat mitigation capabilities. Here are some of the key tools Fidelis Security® provides for effective incident response:
Fidelis Network®
Fidelis Network® is an advanced solution that provides full network visibility to allow organizations detect and respond to attacks in real time. Our Security Content and Classification System (SCCS) is used to keep an eye on both known and previous detected threats by examining traffic, protocols as well as data flows for the security teams to spot any abnormalities or harmful activities at a very early stage of attack lifecycle.
Fidelis Endpoint®
Fidelis Endpoint® EDR capabilities enable organizations to overview endpoint devices. This is a tool which is specifically designed to look for malicious activities and behaviors in endpoints such as malware infection or unauthorized access. Fidelis Endpoint® empowers security teams to inspect incidents, segment infected devices and react swiftly before the threats spread to other devices.
Fidelis Deception®
This tool helps organizations to create deceptive environments for attackers and deviates them from their target digital asset. Fidelis Deception® identifies attackers through fake decoys and assets. By doing so, it not only thwarts threats from reaching their goals but also provides intel for analysis and response that can help security teams act on potential intrusions proactively.
3. Social Engineering