SEC10-BP04: Develop and test security incident response playbooks

Overview

A key part of preparing your incident response processes is developing playbooks. Incident response playbooks provide prescriptive guidance and steps to follow when a security event occurs. Having clear structure and steps simplifies the response and reduces the likelihood for human error.

Implementation Guidance

Playbooks should be created for incident scenarios such as:

Expected incidents: Playbooks should be created for incidents you anticipate. This includes threats like denial of service (DoS), ransomware, and credential compromise.

Known security findings or alerts: Playbooks should be created to address your known security findings and alerts, such as those from Amazon GuardDuty. When you receive a GuardDuty finding, the playbook should provide clear steps to prevent mishandling or ignoring the alert. For more remediation details and guidance, see Remediating security issues discovered by GuardDuty.

Playbooks should contain technical steps for a security analyst to complete in order to adequately investigate and respond to a potential security incident.

Implementation Steps

Items to include in a playbook include:

Playbook overview: What risk or incident scenario does this playbook address? What is the goal of the playbook?
Prerequisites: What logs, detection mechanisms, and automated tools are required for this incident scenario? What is the expected notification?
Communication and escalation information: Who is involved and what is their contact information? What are each of the stakeholders’ responsibilities?
Response steps: Across phases of incident response, what tactical steps should be taken? What queries should an analyst run? What code should be run to achieve the desired outcome?
- Detect: How will the incident be detected?
- Analyze: How will the scope of impact be determined?
- Contain: How will the incident be isolated to limit scope?
- Eradicate: How will the threat be removed from the environment?
- Recover: How will the affected system or resource be brought back into production?
Expected outcomes: After queries and code are run, what is the expected result of the playbook?
Implementation Examples

Example 1: Comprehensive Incident Response Playbook Framework

Example 2: Ransomware Response Playbook with Jupyter Integration

Resources

AWS Services for Playbook Implementation

AWS Systems Manager Automation - For automated playbook execution
AWS Step Functions - For orchestrating complex playbook workflows
AWS Lambda - For custom playbook actions and integrations
Amazon GuardDuty - For threat detection and finding-based playbooks
AWS Security Hub - For centralized security finding management
Amazon Detective - For security investigation and analysis
AWS CloudTrail - For audit logging and forensic analysis
Amazon CloudWatch - For monitoring and alerting

Playbook Templates and Examples

Interactive Playbook Tools

Jupyter Notebooks - For interactive playbook execution
AWS CloudShell - For browser-based AWS CLI access
AWS Systems Manager Session Manager - For secure instance access
Phantom/Splunk SOAR - For security orchestration

Common Incident Types and Playbooks

Credential Compromise:

Unauthorized API calls
Privilege escalation
Account takeover
Access key exposure

Ransomware:

File encryption detection
System isolation
Backup restoration
Payment decision framework

Data Exfiltration:

Unusual data access patterns
Large data transfers
Unauthorized S3 access
Database compromise

DDoS Attacks:

Traffic pattern analysis
AWS Shield activation
CloudFront configuration
Rate limiting implementation

Malware Infection:

Instance compromise
Lateral movement detection
System remediation
Network isolation

Testing and Validation

Tabletop Exercises: Regular scenario-based discussions
Red Team Exercises: Simulated attack scenarios
Purple Team Activities: Collaborative defense testing
Automated Testing: Continuous playbook validation
Metrics and KPIs: Response time and effectiveness measurement

Compliance and Regulatory Considerations

GDPR: Data breach notification requirements (72 hours)
HIPAA: Healthcare data incident response procedures
PCI DSS: Payment card data security incident handling
SOX: Financial reporting system incident procedures
NIST: Cybersecurity Framework incident response guidelines

Best Practices for Playbook Development

Keep playbooks current: Regular updates based on threat landscape changes
Make them actionable: Include specific commands, queries, and procedures
Test regularly: Conduct regular drills and simulations
Document everything: Maintain detailed logs and evidence chains
Automate where possible: Reduce manual effort and human error
Train your team: Ensure all responders are familiar with playbooks
Measure effectiveness: Track metrics and continuously improve