Incident Handling and Response

Introduction:

In today's rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, organizations face an increasing number of threats and security incidents. The Incident Handling and Response course equips IT professionals with the essential knowledge and skills to effectively manage and respond to security incidents. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the incident response lifecycle, including preparation, detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident review. Participants will learn how to develop incident response plans, implement best practices, and use tools to detect and respond to incidents, ensuring the continuity and security of their organizations.

Course Objective:

By the end of this course, participants will:

• Understand the key concepts of incident response and the incident response lifecycle.

• Develop and implement effective incident response plans tailored to organizational needs.

• Learn how to identify, analyze, and respond to security incidents using industry best practices.

• Gain hands-on experience with tools and techniques for incident detection, containment, and recovery.

• Improve skills in forensic analysis and post-incident review to enhance future incident response efforts.

Course Outline:

Module 1: Introduction to Incident Response

• Overview of the importance of incident response in modern organizations.

• The role of incident response in the broader context of cybersecurity.

• Key concepts and definitions: Incidents, threats, and vulnerabilities.

• Understanding the incident response lifecycle: Preparation, Detection and Analysis, Containment, Eradication, and Recovery, and Post-Incident Review.

• Hands-On: Assessing the current state of an organization’s incident response readiness.

Module 2: Preparation for Incident Response

• Developing an incident response plan: Key components and considerations.

• Importance of training and awareness for staff and stakeholders.

• Setting up an incident response team (IRT): Roles and responsibilities.

• Tools and technologies for incident response: SIEM, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and endpoint protection.

• Hands-On: Creating a draft incident response plan tailored to an organization’s needs.

Module 3: Detection and Analysis of Incidents

• Methods for detecting security incidents: Log analysis, anomaly detection, and user behavior analytics.

• Using threat intelligence to enhance detection capabilities.

• Analyzing incidents: Identifying indicators of compromise (IOCs) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of attackers.

• Importance of incident documentation and maintaining chain of custody.

• Hands-On: Analyzing logs and alerts to detect potential security incidents.

Module 4: Containment and Eradication

• Strategies for containing security incidents: Isolation, quarantine, and rollback.

• Understanding the eradication process: Removing threats and vulnerabilities.

• Implementing patches and updates: Ensuring systems are secure post-incident.

• Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders during containment and eradication efforts.

• Hands-On: Simulating a containment and eradication response to a security incident.

Module 5: Recovery and Restoration

• Planning for recovery: Restoring systems and services to normal operation.

• Validating system integrity and ensuring security controls are in place.

• Importance of backup and recovery strategies in incident response.

• Communicating with stakeholders during recovery efforts: Transparency and trust.

• Hands-On: Creating a recovery plan for a simulated incident scenario.

Module 6: Post-Incident Review and Improvement

• Conducting a post-incident review (PIR): Gathering insights and lessons learned.

• Importance of updating the incident response plan based on findings.

• Metrics for measuring incident response effectiveness: Mean time to detect (MTTD), mean time to respond (MTTR), and more.

• Developing a culture of continuous improvement in incident response.

• Hands-On: Performing a post-incident review and drafting a report with recommendations.

Module 7: Legal and Ethical Considerations in Incident Response

• Understanding the legal landscape: Data protection laws, compliance regulations, and notification requirements.

• Ethical considerations in incident handling and data privacy.

• Collaborating with law enforcement and regulatory bodies during major incidents.

• Importance of maintaining evidence integrity and legal documentation.

• Hands-On: Analyzing a case study on legal considerations in incident response.

Final Project:

• Participants will work in teams to respond to a simulated security incident, including detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident review. They will present their findings and recommendations.

Course Duration: 30-40 hours of instructor-led or self-paced learning.
Delivery Mode: Instructor-led online/live sessions or self-paced learning modules.
Target Audience: IT professionals, security analysts, incident responders, and anyone involved in the incident response process.