What's your process for resolving network security incidents?

We are talking about an Incident response process. It works even for incidents unrelated to data leaks, malware or other security incidents. However, every incident needs to be evaluated. The first stage of identification is crucial to have the correct participating actors in the identification process. This first step will identify the severity, system, people responsible and anything necessary for an investigation to begin. It is vital to create a RACI matrix to involve the actors' names, whether directly or indirectly so that everyone knows their role and responsibility during the process.

Detection is the first step in resolving a network security incident. Implement monitoring systems, such as a Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) solution, to identify suspicious activities, anomalies, or security breaches. Once an incident is detected, validate its nature, impact, and severity.

During containment, we must ensure that the collection of evidence is compelling. For this, we must ensure that the evidence will be preserved, the equipment must be quickly turned off, and any manipulation must be avoided to keep the system files intact. That's why it's essential to have a business continuity plan. If it's crucial equipment for the business, it must be able to be exchanged as quickly as possible so that the service continues to run and so that we can save the evidence for a root cause analysis.

Immediately isolate the affected systems or segments of the network to prevent further damage or unauthorized access. This might involve disconnecting affected devices from the network, segmenting affected areas, or temporarily shutting down certain systems if necessary. Perform a thorough investigation to understand the root cause and impact of the incident. Analyze the collected evidence, conduct system forensics, and identify any vulnerabilities or gaps in security controls that contributed to the incident. This step may involve collaboration with IT teams, external security experts, or law enforcement agencies if necessary.

We have to understand what we are dealing with, so it is important to determine the nature of the incident, whether it is malware, unauthorized access, information leak, etc., as eradication may depend on the type of attack. Conduct a thorough investigation to understand how the incident occurred, what vulnerabilities were exploited, and what data or systems were compromised. Analyze log files, traffic patterns, and other relevant data sources.

Develop a plan to mitigate the immediate impact of the incident and prevent similar incidents in the future. This may involve applying security patches, updating configurations, implementing additional security controls, or revising policies and procedures. Prioritize actions based on the severity of the incident and available resources.

When we talk about environment recovery, we not only need to have the process consolidated, but we also need to have recurrences in the business continuity plan execution tests. This is the critical point to ensure everything works after a cybersecurity incident. The plan must be tested at least three times a year, and all business areas involved must play a role in this participation.

We have to be careful not only to register the lessons learned but to emphasize them and present them in internal training and awareness training, as many companies make mistakes at this stage; some even record the lessons learned, but they are not in the habit of to show or consult them. I recommend using a project office approach, where you record the lessons learned and always before a large project or any IT-oriented initiative. These lessons learned are presented and studied beforehand, which is one of the best ways to avoid past mistakes.

Conduct a post-incident analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the incident response process. Identify lessons learned, determine areas for improvement, and update incident response plans and security measures accordingly. Regularly review and update security controls to adapt to evolving threats and vulnerabilities.

This step is significant to improve the process, plan, and maturity with repeated reviews. The incident review must be done in conjunction with a lessons-learned document, as this will avoid future errors. Remember always to repeat these reviews, if not for each incident, at least create something cyclical 3 or 4 times a year by consulting companies of the same industry to make a market benchmark.

Keep stakeholders informed throughout the incident resolution process. Notify appropriate parties, including management, legal teams, affected customers or clients, regulatory bodies (if required), and any other relevant entities. Submit incident reports internally to document the event and outline the actions taken.

You might be quick to destroy the impacted device to prevent the incident from spreading. Make sure you do not do this! The device likely holds evidentiary information that can be integral to your company's after-action procedures. Rather than wipe or destroy the device, try to preserve an offline copy and begin a chain of evidence. Call forensic investigators.

When we talk about incidents, we may be talking about risks, so involving the right actors is vital. In this case, we need to involve the risk area and privacy area, if any, not only to show the results but it can also help improve and create the plan. Good luck!

In my experience there two main areas which need to be thoroughly considered. 1) Adhering to Incident Response Plan 2) Awareness of Incident Response Plan, Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan The major components commonly found in an incident response plan are; Preparation, Detection and Analysis, Containment Eradication and Recovery, Post Incident activities. Within this document the incident response team is defined with their roles. Therefore adhering to this document is very vital in a network security incident. The awareness of the execution sequence of Incident Response Plan, Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan is vital. Wrong execution sequence will negatively impact to the business operation.