OCM was engaged to review and enhance the design and effectiveness of incident response for a large Federal government entity.
Assessing both the design and effectiveness of an incident response plan is vital for safeguarding operations and assets. A well-designed plan ensures that procedures, roles, and responsibilities are clearly defined, while regular assessments of its effectiveness confirm that the plan works in practice. This dual evaluation aims to identify weaknesses, improve response times, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements .
THE PROJECT
Maintaining incident response design to evolving threats while ensuring its effectiveness requires balancing resource allocation, maintaining staff readiness, and aligning with regulatory requirements. OCM adapted our assessment process to mirror the life cycle of the incident management process:
- Threat and Vulnerability Assessment: Ensuring the incident response process is aligned with the client’s specific needs, risks, and the evolving threat and vulnerability landscape.
- Measuring and Testing Process Effectiveness: Incident evaluations were challenged by inconsistent or incomplete documentation and reporting. Without thorough recording of incident details, responses, and outcomes, it became difficult to assess the process’s effectiveness.
- Applying Lessons Learned: Translating past incident lessons into actionable improvements posed a challenge. This involved identifying relevant lessons, ensuring stakeholder understanding, and integrating them into updated procedures and training.
OUR ROLE
OCM addressed the incident life cycle challenges by conducting a thorough review of the design and operating effectiveness of the client’s incident response process. Our approach was divided into stages:
- Process Design Review: We assessed the structure of the existing incident response process, ensuring it was aligned with the client’s threat landscape and operational requirements.
- Operating Effectiveness Assessment: We evaluated the maturity levels of various processes, determining their effectiveness in real-time operations.
- Improvement Roadmap Development: Based on our findings, we developed a tailored roadmap to enhance the maturity and effectiveness of the incident response process.
Our engagement delivered a comprehensive improvement roadmap that helped the client’s department to enhance several key areas:
- ICT Monitoring Controls: Regular audits, performance metrics, and incident response evaluations were established, improving the effectiveness of monitoring controls. Key metrics such as system uptime, response times, and security incident detection were regularly measured.
- Incident Management Controls: Controls implemented for incident management were mapped against identified risks, with the majority assessed as operating effectively.
- Incident Management Control Environment: Improvements were made in monitoring tools, incident response procedures, logging and detection processes, as well as communication channels for incident reporting and tracking.
- Continuous Improvement Processes: Regular reviews and updates to policies and procedures, based on both past incidents and emerging threats, were recommended for further development to ensure continuous alignment with the evolving risk landscape.
This approach provided the client with a more resilient and adaptive incident response process, ensuring they were better equipped to handle future incidents and continuously improve their security posture.