<p>An incident response plan helps mitigate unexpected and potentially disruptive cybersecurity events. Testing that plan is very much like test-driving a new car. It’s how a potential buyer confirms the experience lives up to the hype. Do all the features work as promised? Does it drive smoothly? Are there issues that could hinder the vehicle’s performance and safety? These are things any conscientious driver would want to learn before driving off the lot.</p>
<p>Test-driving an <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/incident-response”>incident response</a> plan is equally important. It helps identify what in the plan works, what needs to be fixed, whether the resources are appropriate and if the <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/incident-response-team”>incident response team</a> can handle their roles and responsibilities when a real cybersecurity incident strikes.</p>
<section class=”section main-article-chapter” data-menu-title=”Methods to test an incident response plan”>
<h2 class=”section-title”><i class=”icon” data-icon=”1″></i>Methods to test an incident response plan</h2>
<p>Testing an incident response plan is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Just as cybersecurity incidents take many forms, so do planning approaches.</p>
<h3>Tabletop exercises</h3>
<p>A popular option, <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/How-to-conduct-incident-response-tabletop-exercises”>tabletop exercises</a> involve gathering members of the incident response team, on-site or virtually, with a designated facilitator who manages the operation. The facilitator defines a security scenario and participants discuss what they should do as the exercise unfolds, typically following the procedures outlined in the incident response plan and <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/How-to-create-an-incident-response-playbook”>incident response playbooks</a>. Throughout the process, the team identifies responses and actions to protect data and systems. To help the team learn from the exercise, an after-action report examines what worked and what didn’t.</p>
<h3>Functional exercises</h3>
<p>Taking the tabletop exercise model to the next level, functional exercises involve team members performing their duties as if a real event were unfolding. While no production systems are involved, functional exercises help participants test specific activities, such as <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Incident-response-How-to-implement-a-communication-plan”>communication during an event</a> or data recovery.</p>
<h3>Full-scale simulations</h3>
<p>To validate an incident response plan and determine whether team members can perform as needed, full-scale exercises launch seemingly real — but simulated — attacks on production systems. For instance, a simulation to test whether firewalls work properly would require teams to detect the attack and launch remediation activities. Setting up the exercise could require a suitable live test environment. To lend authenticity, internal leadership teams or external stakeholders might take part in the exercise.</p>
<h3>Penetration testing and red team exercises</h3>
<p>While <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Pen-testing-guide-Types-steps-methodologies-and-frameworks”>pen tests</a> are often performed independently to identify vulnerabilities in an enterprise security infrastructure, they can also be part of an incident response plan exercise. <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Red-team-vs-blue-team-vs-purple-team-Whats-the-difference”>Red team exercises</a> involve experienced ethical hackers who launch cyberattacks designed to exploit an organization’s security ecosystem.</p>
</section>
<section class=”section main-article-chapter” data-menu-title=”Cyberattack scenarios”>
<h2 class=”section-title”><i class=”icon” data-icon=”1″></i>Cyberattack scenarios</h2>
<p>Identifying one or more relevant scenarios for an incident response plan test is a critical activity. Following are some suggested scenarios:</p>
<ul class=”default-list”>
<li><a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Ransomware-trends-statistics-and-facts”>Ransomware attacks</a>.</li>
<li>Phishing attacks.</li>
<li>Attacks that steal, destroy or corrupt data.</li>
<li><a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/distributed-denial-of-service-attack”>DDoS</a> attacks.</li>
<li>Social engineering attacks.</li>
<li>Power failures that shut down security
[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.
Read the original article: