Detect, Contain, Eradicate, Recover—With Evidence
Incident Response (IR) is how you detect, triage, contain, eradicate, and recover from security events—quickly and with audit-grade evidence.
SolveForce implements IR as a system: playbooks in SOAR, signal from SIEM, containment via EDR/NDR/SD-WAN/Identity, and recovery powered by immutable backups and DRaaS—all measured by RPO/RTO and MTTx SLOs.
Connected stack:
📊 SIEM / SOAR → /siem-soar • 🛡️ EDR/MDR/XDR → /mdr-xdr • 🖧 NDR → /ndr
🔑 IAM / SSO / MFA → /iam • 🧰 PAM → /pam • 🔐 DLP → /dlp
💾 Cloud Backup → /cloud-backup • 🔒 Backup Immutability → /backup-immutability • ☁️ DRaaS → /draas
🎯 Outcomes (Why SolveForce IR)
- MTTD/MTTR down— detect and contain in minutes, not hours.
- Least-blast-radius— identity-, device-, and network-level containment with rollback.
- Clean recovery— restore from immutable backups and orchestrated DR.
- Complete evidence— timelines, artifacts, approvals; exportable to auditors.
- Operational calm— rehearsed playbooks, clear comms, and decision trees.
🧭 Scope (What we handle)
- Endpoints/Servers/VDI — malware, ransomware, LOLBins, persistence, lateral movement. → /mdr-xdr
- Network/East-West — C2 beacons, DNS tunneling, exfil, rogue services. → /ndr
- Identity/Access — account takeover (ATO), token/session theft, privilege abuse. → /iam • /pam
- Cloud/SaaS — misconfig, API abuse, key leaks, BEC (Business Email Compromise).
- Apps/Web/API — OWASP Top-10, bot/card testing, L7 DDoS. → /waf • /ddos
🧱 IR Framework (Spelled out)
1) Prepare — playbooks, roles, SLAs, evidence stores, immutable backups, DR runbooks.
2) Detect — high-fidelity rules in SIEM, signals from EDR/NDR/Cloud/Email. → /siem-soar
3) Triage — severity, scope, crown-jewel impact, decision to contain.
4) Contain — EDR isolate, NAC quarantine, SD-WAN path pin/blackhole, ZTNA revoke, WAF/Flowspec blocks. → /nac • /sd-wan • /ztna
5) Eradicate — kill processes, remove persistence, rotate secrets/keys, patch. → /secrets-management • /key-management
6) Recover — restore from immutable backups, validate clean-point, fail back via DRaaS. → /cloud-backup • /backup-immutability • /draas
7) Lessons Learned — RCA, control gaps, policy/module updates, executive report.
Automation: SOAR orchestrates actions with approvals, blast-radius caps, and auto-rollback. → /siem-soar
🚨 Priority Playbooks (ATT&CK-aligned, audit-ready)
1) Ransomware Behavior (Sev-1)
- Detectrapid encrypt/rename + shadow-copy tamper + suspicious parent tree.
- ContainEDR isolate host → NAC quarantine VLAN → SD-WAN pin → revoke sessions.
- Eradicatekill encryptor, remove persistence, rotate secrets/keys.
- Recoveridentify clean point → restore from immutable backups → app probes.
→ /mdr-xdr • /nac • /backup-immutability • /draas
2) Account Takeover / BEC
- Detectimpossible travel + inbox rules + anomalous API calls / OAuth grants.
- Containrevoke tokens → require MFA → lock/rotate privileged accounts (PAM).
- Eradicatedisable rogue apps/keys, reset secrets, DLP checks.
- Recoverrestore mailbox rules, audit delegate access, notify finance/legal.
→ /iam • /pam • /dlp
3) Data Exfiltration
4) Cloud Key/Token Leak
- Detectcloud telemetry (CloudTrail/Activity) anomalous API usage.
- Containrevoke keys; SCP lockdown; quarantine roles/projects.
- Eradicaterotate CMK/keys, re-deploy secrets, patch IaC.
- Recovervalidate drift; re-enable least-privilege.
→ /key-management • /encryption • /infrastructure-as-code
5) L7 DDoS / Bot Surge
- Detectedge metrics, surge patterns, bot heuristics.
- Containrate-limit/challenge at WAF → Anycast withdraw/sinkhole if needed.
- Recoverre-enable routes; publish RCA.
→ /waf • /ddos • /bgp-management
📐 SLO Guardrails (Commit to numbers)
| SLO / KPI | Target (Recommended) |
|---|---|
| MTTD (Sev-1) | ≤ 5–10 min (SIEM correlation) |
| Triage start (Sev-1) | ≤ 10 min from alert |
| Containment (Sev-1) | ≤ 15–30 min (EDR/NAC/SD-WAN/Cloud) |
| Forensic acquisition start | ≤ 60 min (where applicable) |
| Clean-point identification (ransomware) | ≤ 2–4 h with job logs/checksums |
| RTO (Tier-1 apps) | ≤ 5–60 min via DRaaS runbooks |
| Evidence completeness (Sev-1/2 cases) | = 100% (timeline, artifacts, approvals) |
| Executive comms published | ≤ 24 h initial; updates as agreed |
SLO breaches trigger SOAR escalations and management notifications. → /siem-soar
🔒 Zero-Trust Containment (Practical controls)
- Endpoints: EDR isolate, kill process, quarantine file, rollback (where supported). → /mdr-xdr
- Network: NAC quarantine, SD-WAN pin/blackhole, WAF/Flowspec blocks. → /nac • /sd-wan • /waf
- Identity: revoke sessions, step-up MFA, lock/rotate privileged access (PAM). → /iam • /pam
- Data: DLP quarantine, watermark/read-only, tokenization routes. → /dlp
- Keys/Secrets: disable/rotate keys, re-issue short-lived creds from vault. → /key-management • /secrets-management
📊 Evidence & Communications
- Case timelines— alert → triage → actions → recovery; hash all artifacts.
- Artifacts— PCAPs, memory/drive images (where applicable), logs, configs, screenshots.
- Approvals— who authorized isolate/lock/rotate/restore; change IDs.
- Reports— executive summary, scope, dwell time, impact, controls added, next steps.
- Stakeholders— execs, legal, HR, PR, regulators/customers (as required).
All exported to SIEM with WORM options; SOAR holds action history. → /siem-soar
🧰 Readiness Pack (what we put in place)
- Playbook library— ransomware, ATO/BEC, exfil, cloud key leak, DDoS, insider, supply chain.
- Runbooks— DR cutover, mailbox purge, token revoke, RTBH/Flowspec, cache purge, Anycast withdraw.
- Access matrix— who can isolate hosts, lock users, rotate keys, fail over, talk to press.
- Clean-point catalog— pre-validated restore sets for crown-jewel apps.
- Drills— tabletop & live; lessons learned feed policy & IaC. → /infrastructure-as-code
📜 Compliance Mapping (Examples)
- PCI DSS— incident evidence, carding/WAF logs, key rotation, access approvals.
- HIPAA— audit controls, minimum necessary, breach notifications.
- ISO 27001— A.16 incident mgmt, A.12 ops, A.9 access; change evidence.
- NIST 800-53/171— IR/SI/AU/AC families; chain-of-custody, containment, recovery.
- CMMC— IR maturity; exportable packs (timeline, artifacts, approvals).
🛠️ Implementation Blueprint (No-Surprise Rollout)
1) Assess — crown jewels, threat model, RPO/RTO tiers, comms plan.
2) Instrument — SIEM rules, EDR/NDR coverage, cloud/email integrations.
3) Automate — SOAR playbooks with approvals & rollback; ticket/ITSM linkage.
4) Harden — ZTNA/SASE for users, NAC at edges, WAF/Bot at boundary, secrets/keys posture.
5) Protect — immutable backups, air-gap accounts, DR architecture.
6) Drill — ransomware, ATO/BEC, exfil, region outage; capture artifacts.
7) Operate — SLO dashboards, weekly tuning, monthly reports; refresh clean-point catalog.
✅ Pre-Engagement Checklist
🔄 Where Incident Response Fits (Recursive View)
1) Grammar — signals and actions traverse Connectivity & Networks & Data Centers.
2) Syntax — orchestration & recovery live in Cloud with on-ramps.
3) Semantics — Cybersecurity preserves truth; IR proves it.
4) Pragmatics — SolveForce AI enriches, deduplicates, predicts, and launches safe automation.
5) Foundation — consistent terms via Primacy of Language.
6) Map — indexed in the SolveForce Codex & Knowledge Hub.
📞 Launch Incident Response That’s Fast, Safe & Auditable
Related pages:
SIEM / SOAR • EDR / MDR / XDR • NDR • DLP • IAM / SSO / MFA • PAM • Cloud Backup • Backup Immutability • DRaaS • WAF / Bot Management • DDoS Protection • SD-WAN • NAC • Cybersecurity • Knowledge Hub
Key terms in plain language
Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.
SD-WAN
Software-defined wide area networking. It manages multiple connections and chooses paths based on application needs, performance, and policy to improve resilience and control.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Software accessed as an online service instead of being installed and maintained entirely on the customer’s own computers or servers.
Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)
A plan and service for restoring applications, data, and operations after an outage or disruption. DRaaS provides recovery infrastructure through a managed cloud service.
Cybersecurity
The practices and controls used to protect identities, devices, networks, applications, and data from unauthorized access, disruption, or manipulation.
Zero Trust
A security model that does not automatically trust a user or device because of its location. Access is continuously verified and limited to what is necessary.
SASE
Secure Access Service Edge combines networking and security capabilities in a cloud-delivered architecture so users and locations can receive consistent policy wherever they connect.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
The systems and policies that determine who a user is, what resources they may access, and how that access is authenticated and reviewed.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
A login control requiring more than one form of verification, such as a password plus an authenticator app, security key, or biometric factor.