IT Security Management Midterms

Incident Response Plan Overview and Best Practice

Incident Response

Processes for detecting and responding to cyberthreats.

Incident Response Plan (IRP)

Formal document guiding organization during security incidents.

Security Incident

Breach threatening information system confidentiality or integrity.

Cybersecurity Incident

Event causing potential harm to digital assets.

Ransomware

Malware that encrypts data for ransom payment.

Phishing

Fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information.

DDoS Attack

Distributed denial-of-service attack overwhelming systems.

Supply Chain Attack

Compromising a third-party vendor to access systems.

Insider Threat

Authorized user causing harm to the organization.

Privilege Escalation

Gaining unauthorized access to higher-level permissions.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack

Interception of communication between two parties.

Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT)

Group managing incident response across the organization.

Incident Manager (IM)

Leads incident response and manages communication flows.

Technical Manager (TM)

Subject matter expert coordinating technical response.

Communications Manager (CM)

Handles external communications during incidents.

Retrospective Meeting

Post-incident analysis for lessons learned.

Incident Response Playbook

Document outlining roles during incident response.

Business Continuity Plan

Procedures for restoring critical systems after outages.

Incident Response Methodology

Detailed steps for each phase of incident response.

NIST Incident Response Steps

Preparation, detection, containment, eradication, recovery, review.

Attack Simulation Exercise

Role-playing scenario to practice incident response.

Stakeholder Notification Plan

Identifies key individuals to notify during incidents.

Cybersecurity Training

Educating staff on security roles and reporting.

Press Response Preparation

Pre-planned statements for media inquiries during crises.

Legal Review of IRP

Consultation with attorneys on incident response procedures.

Culture of Security

Organizational commitment to maintaining security awareness.

CSIRT

The team that selects the best possible procedures, tools and techniques to respond, identify, contain and recover from an incident as quickly as possible and with minimal business disruption.

Risk Assessment

A process through which the CSIRT identifies the business environment to be protected, the potential network vulnerabilities and the various types of security incidents that pose a risk to the network.

Detection and Analysis

The phase where security team members monitor the network for suspicious activity and potential threats, analyzing data, notifications and alerts to identify incidents in progress.

False Positives

Alerts that are incorrectly identified as security incidents, which the team works to filter out from real incidents.

SIEM

Security Information and Event Management; a solution used to monitor security events in real time and automate response efforts.

EDR

Endpoint Detection and Response; a security solution that provides comprehensive monitoring, detection, investigation, and response capabilities for endpoints.

Communication Plan

A strategy that outlines how the CSIRT will notify appropriate personnel about the type of threat or breach they are dealing with.

Containment

Steps taken by the incident response team to stop the breach or malicious activity from causing further damage to the network.

Short-term Mitigation

A category of containment activities aimed at quickly addressing immediate threats.

Long-term Containment

A category of containment activities focused on preventing the recurrence of threats over an extended period.

Eradication

The phase where the team moves on to full remediation and complete removal of the threat from the system.

Recovery

The phase where the incident response team restores affected systems to normal operations after confirming the threat has been eradicated.

Post Incident Review

A process where the CSIRT collects evidence of the breach and documents the steps taken to contain and eradicate the threat.

Lessons Learned

Insights gained from reviewing the incident to understand the root cause and resolve vulnerabilities for future prevention.

ASM

Attack Surface Management; processes, tools, and strategies used to identify, monitor, and reduce potential attack surfaces across a digital environment.

SOAR

Security Orchestration, Automation and Response; enables security teams to define workflows that coordinate different security operations in response to incidents.

UEBA

User and Entity Behavior Analytics; uses behavioral analytics and machine learning to identify abnormal and potentially dangerous user and device behavior.

XDR

Extended Detection and Response; a cybersecurity technology that unifies security tools and analytics across the hybrid IT environment.

Malware Removal

The process of eliminating malicious software from a system during the eradication phase.

System Restoration

The process of bringing systems and devices back online after recovery.

Incident Response Technologies

Technologies such as ASM, EDR, SIEM, SOAR, UEBA, and XDR that assist in managing and responding to security incidents.

Behavioral Analytics

The analysis of user behavior patterns to detect anomalies that may indicate security threats.

Threat Intelligence Feeds

Data sources that provide information about potential threats to enhance security measures.

Playbooks

Formalized workflows defined by SOAR that coordinate different security operations in response to incidents.

Continuous Monitoring

The ongoing process of observing and analyzing security events to identify potential threats.

Automated Response

The capability of security solutions to respond automatically to identified threats to minimize damage.

Cyberthreat Kill Chain

Sequence of stages in a cyberattack.

AI-assisted Incident Response

Utilizing AI to enhance incident detection and management.

Anomalies

Deviations from normal patterns indicating potential threats.

Real-Time Monitoring

Continuous analysis of data to detect threats instantly.

Behavioral Analysis

Monitoring user actions to identify suspicious behavior.

Data Correlation

Linking unstructured data to identify emerging threats.

Malware Analysis

Examining files to classify and identify malicious software.

Risk Scoring

Prioritizing incidents based on severity and impact.

Automated Triage

Classifying incidents to streamline response efforts.

Automated Playbook Execution

AI triggers predefined responses during incidents.

Adaptive Playbooks

Evolving response strategies based on past incidents.

Data Mining

Analyzing historical data to identify incident causes.

Pattern Recognition

Identifying trends in incidents to inform defenses.

Scalable Analysis

Processing large data volumes efficiently during incidents.

Reducing Time to Resolution

Automating tasks to speed up threat mitigation.

Automated Reporting

Generating detailed incident reports for stakeholders.

Collaboration

Enhancing team communication during incident responses.

Threat Forecasting

Predicting potential attack methods using historical data.

Vulnerability Management

Identifying and addressing exploitable system weaknesses.

Incident Review and Analysis

Evaluating past incidents for security improvements.

Training and Simulation

Creating realistic scenarios for incident response practice.

Ransomware Attack

Malware that encrypts files and demands ransom.

Complexity

Challenges in setting up AI-driven response systems.

Human Oversight

Need for human judgment in complex decisions.