Part 1 Research Incident Response Plans Notein This Part Of

Part 1 Research Incident Response Plans Notein This Part Of The Lab

Part 1: Research incident response teams to understand their purpose and usage. Review a sample incident response plan and describe its key components. Compare the plan's methodology to a six-step incident response process outlined on a specified website, detailing each step's purpose. Evaluate how closely the plan follows this methodology, considering the importance of evidence documentation and legal preparedness.

Part 2: Create an incident response policy for Bankwise Credit Union. This policy should grant incident response team members full authority to perform forensics, maintain chain of custody, and manage physical and digital evidence during incidents. The policy must define scope, standards, procedures incorporating the six-step response approach, and guidelines addressing implementation challenges. Additionally, develop a scenario for an annual tabletop exercise involving a cybersecurity incident, to be approved by executive leadership.

Paper For Above instruction

Effective incident response planning is fundamental to cybersecurity management in organizations. It enables a structured and swift response to security incidents, minimizes damages, and ensures compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. This paper explores the essential components of incident response plans, compares best practice methodologies, and develops a tailored incident response policy for Bankwise Credit Union, illustrating practical application in a financial institution setting.

Review of Sample Incident Response Plan

To understand the structure and key components of an incident response plan, I examined a publicly available sample from the SANS Institute (SANS, 2023). This plan emphasizes several core components: the preparation phase, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned. The document explicitly defines roles and responsibilities, communication protocols, and documentation procedures. It includes contact lists, escalation procedures, and detailed steps for evidence collection and preservation. A significant feature is the emphasis on maintaining legal compliance and supporting forensic investigations, critical in financial institutions like Bankwise Credit Union (SANS, 2023).

Analysis of the Six-Step Incident Response Methodology

The six-step incident response methodology outlined on the NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide (NIST, 2012) provides a comprehensive framework:

  1. Preparation: Establish policies, tools, and training to ready the team for incidents.
  2. Identification: Recognize and determine the nature of an incident.
  3. Containment: Limit the spread and impact of the incident.
  4. Eradication: Remove the root cause or source of the incident.
  5. Recovery: Restore affected systems and verify they are secure.
  6. Lessons Learned: Analyze the response process to improve future preparedness.

The sample plan aligned well with this methodology by clearly delineating steps, but it sometimes lacked detailed procedures for each phase, especially for containment and lessons learned, which are critical for minimizing recurrence and legal protection.

Creating an Incident Response Policy for Bankwise Credit Union

Policy Statement

The Bankwise Credit Union Incident Response Team (IRT) is authorized to access all physical and digital assets, including systems, data, and facilities, to perform necessary forensic and investigative activities. The IRT has full authority to maintain chain of custody, contain incidents, and perform evidence collection to ensure legal and regulatory compliance during and after security incidents. The team shall act swiftly and decisively to protect the organization’s assets, reputation, and customer information.

Purpose and Objectives

  • Establish a clear command structure for incident response activities.
  • Protect and preserve evidence throughout security incidents.
  • Reduce the impact and duration of security breaches.
  • Ensure compliance with applicable laws, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
  • Maintain operational continuity and data integrity.

Scope

This policy applies to all organizational assets including hardware, software, network infrastructure, data, and physical facilities owned or managed by Bankwise Credit Union. It encompasses all personnel involved in incident response activities and defines their responsibilities and authorities during incidents. Any activity outside of standard protocol, including evidence collection and forensic analysis, requires explicit authorization based on this policy.

Standards

The policy adheres to relevant standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 for information security management and NIST guidelines for incident handling. Hardware and software configurations must comply with organizational baseline security configurations, and all evidence collection procedures must align with forensic best practices, ensuring chain of custody is maintained.

Procedures

The implementation of this policy follows the six-step incident response approach. Upon detection of an incident, the team will initiate containment procedures, isolate affected systems, and document all actions. Evidence must be collected systematically, with proper labels and logs to sustain chain of custody. The team will then analyze the incident, eradicate threats, and restore operations, documenting every step for compliance and post-incident review. Regular training and simulation exercises will ensure readiness.

Guidelines

Potential challenges include resource constraints, personnel training gaps, and ensuring coordination among different departments. To address these, the policy advocates for regular training, clear communication channels, and predefined escalation procedures. Leadership engagement is vital for supporting incident response activities and allocating necessary resources. Furthermore, the organization must ensure legal considerations are integrated, especially regarding evidence handling and privacy concerns, to prevent legal liabilities.

Scenario Development for Tabletop Exercise

The annual tabletop exercise for Bankwise Credit Union involves simulating a cybersecurity breach caused by a ransomware attack. The scenario entails a sudden loss of access to critical customer data and banking systems, demanding immediate response to contain, assess, and mitigate damage. The exercise will evaluate the incident response team’s ability to execute the outlined procedures, maintain evidence chain of custody, communicate with stakeholders, and comply with legal obligations. This scenario will prepare the team for real incidents, identify process gaps, and reinforce the importance of continuous training and plan refinement.

Conclusion

Developing a thorough incident response plan and a supporting high-level policy provides a vital framework for managing cybersecurity incidents efficiently and legally. The integration of best practices, clear roles, and procedural rigor enhances an organization’s resilience, especially within regulated industries such as banking. Regular testing through tabletop exercises ensures continuous improvement and readiness to safeguard organizational assets and customer trust.

References

  • SANS Institute. (2023). Sample Incident Response Plan. Retrieved from https://www.sans.org/security-resources/policies/
  • NIST. (2012). Computer Security Incident Handling Guide (Special Publication 800-61 Revision 2). National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  • ISO/IEC 27001. (2013). Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management systems — Requirements.
  • Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), 1999. Public Law 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338.
  • United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). (2021). Guide to Incident Response. Retrieved from https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-003
  • Fink, S. (2019). Managing and Handling Security Incidents — Insights. Cybersecurity Journal, 15(2), 57-65.
  • Whitman, M. E., & Mattord, H. J. (2021). Principles of Information Security. Cengage Learning.
  • Bruno, L. (2020). Effective Forensic Evidence Collection. Journal of Cybersecurity Practices, 22(4), 334-350.
  • Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (2020). Cybersecurity and Incident Response Practices for Banking Institutions.
  • Jones, A. (2022). Building Resilience: Incident Response Strategies for Financial Institutions. Financial Security Review, 10(3), 11-20.

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