Run simulations

Running simulations or conducting game days using real-world security event scenarios is crucial for evaluating your organization’s readiness to respond to security threats. These activities allow teams to mimic the tactics of potential threat actors, enhancing the team’s preparedness and exposing areas for improvement in their incident response processes.

Best Practices

Conduct Regular Incident Response Simulations

• Schedule game days at least quarterly to simulate various security incident scenarios.
• Involve all relevant teams, including IT, security, legal, and communication, to ensure a coordinated response.
• Create realistic scenarios based on recent threats and vulnerabilities identified in your environment.
• Evaluate the performance of your tools and processes during the simulation to identify gaps.
• Document lessons learned and incorporate them into your incident response plan and training materials.

Establish Clear Roles and Responsibilities

• Define specific roles for team members during incident response simulations to clarify responsibilities.
• Create an incident response team with designated leads for communication, investigation, and remediation.
• Ensure that all team members are trained on their roles, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness during actual incidents.

Utilize Threat Intelligence and External Resources

• Integrate threat intelligence feeds into your simulations to mirror current threat landscapes.
• Engage with external cybersecurity experts to gain insights and improvement recommendations based on industry trends.
• Regularly update simulation scenarios with newly identified tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by threat actors.

Questions to ask your team

• Have you conducted recent simulation exercises that mimic potential security incidents?
• How frequently do you run game day simulations to test your incident response capabilities?
• What processes do you have in place to document lessons learned from simulation exercises?
• Are all relevant team members trained and involved in the simulations?
• How do you integrate feedback from simulations into your incident response plan?
• What tools and technologies are used during simulation exercises to enhance realism?
• Is there a schedule for future simulations and are they part of your overall security incident response strategy?

Who should be doing this?

Incident Response Manager

• Coordinate incident response activities and manage the incident response team.
• Develop and maintain the incident response plan, including roles, responsibilities, and procedures.
• Schedule and organize simulation exercises (game days) for team practice.
• Review and update incident response playbooks based on lessons learned from simulations.

Security Analyst

• Participate in simulations and provide feedback on incident response processes.
• Analyze the outcomes of simulations to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Assist in developing realistic threat scenarios for simulations.
• Monitor ongoing security events and ensure readiness for actual incidents.

IT Operations Team

• Support the incident response team during simulations and actual incidents.
• Ensure that tools and access required for incident response are in place and functional.
• Provide technical expertise to isolate and contain incidents during simulations.
• Review operational procedures and ensure they align with the incident response plan.

Communications Officer

• Develop and implement communication strategies for both internal and external stakeholders during incident responses.
• Coordinate the dissemination of information during simulations to ensure clarity and effectiveness.
• Ensure all team members are trained on communication protocols during incidents.
• Collect feedback on communication effectiveness after simulations to improve future responses.

Forensic Specialist

• Provide expertise in forensic analysis during simulations and real incidents.
• Develop and conduct training sessions on forensic procedures and tools.
• Ensure proper evidence handling during simulations to support real-world investigations.
• Collaborate with the incident response team to analyze simulated incidents and improve processes.

What evidence shows this is happening in your organization?

• Incident Response Simulation Template: A comprehensive template for planning and executing incident response simulations (game days), including scenario descriptions, roles and responsibilities, and evaluation criteria.
• Game Day Report: A post-simulation report that captures findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for improving incident response processes based on the outcomes of conducted game days.
• Incident Response Playbook: A detailed playbook outlining the steps to anticipate, respond to, and recover from incidents, including specific scenarios that have been covered in game days.
• Simulation Checklist: A checklist designed to guide teams through the preparation and execution of incident response simulations, ensuring all necessary steps are followed.
• Incident Response Strategy Document: A strategic document that provides an overview of the organization’s approach to incident response, including objectives, key performance indicators, and methodologies for conducting simulations.
• Forensics Analysis Guide: A guide designed to assist teams in conducting forensics on incidents during simulations, detailing best practices for isolating and analyzing security events.

Cloud Services

AWS

• AWS CloudTrail: Provides event history of AWS account activity, allowing teams to understand and analyze actions taken in your environment during security incidents.
• AWS Security Hub: Aggregates security alerts and findings from multiple AWS services, providing a comprehensive view for incident response actions.
• Amazon GuardDuty: A threat detection service that continuously monitors for malicious activity and unauthorized behavior, helping to identify threats during simulations.
• AWS Incident Response: Provides a framework for managing incidents in the cloud, including best practices and playbooks to guide responses.

Azure

• Azure Sentinel: A cloud-native SIEM that provides intelligent security analytics for your entire enterprise, helping to detect, respond to, and mitigate threats during simulations.
• Azure Security Center: Provides unified security management and threat protection across hybrid cloud workloads, allowing for enhanced incident response capabilities.
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud: Offers threat protection for your cloud resources, helping to identify vulnerabilities and providing actionable insights during incident simulations.

Google Cloud Platform

• Google Cloud Security Command Center: Provides visibility into security and data risks across Google Cloud services, essential for detecting and responding to potential security incidents.
• Google Cloud Armor: Helps protect applications from DDoS and other web attacks, allowing teams to test their incident response processes against real threats.
• Google Cloud Operations Suite (formerly Stackdriver): Provides monitoring, logging, and diagnostics for applications running on Google Cloud, aiding in incident analysis and response.

Question: How do you anticipate, respond to, and recover from incidents?
Pillar: Security (Code: SEC)