Measuring Readiness: Exploring the Incident Response Maturity Model

IT (Information Technology) has become a lot more important to businesses in the last 25 years. Different IT frameworks have been used by businesses to better plan, organize, support, and perform IT services. In many IT areas, these models are necessary because they contain the best ways to manage IT services.

This study is mainly about the Incident Management process, which has grown in importance as more and more companies offer technology support around the clock. This method must be put into action to ensure continuous and effective service.

Many IT systems use the same processes, which can be annoying for companies that want to use more than one at the same time. It is important to find and eliminate these overlaps because they simplify the process and make it more efficient and cost-effective for the company.

Because of the wide range of organizations and IT frameworks, they needed to figure out how mature their incident management processes were. This is what led to the study. The Maturity Model for the incident management process is introduced in this paper. Its goal is to include the main and most commonly used IT frameworks, giving companies a complete way to check and improve their incident management skills.

#1. Ad-Hoc or Reactive: This is the most basic level. Think about a case where an organization only acts after a cyberattack has already happened, like a player who only acts when a mole shows up in a game. Often, they don't find out about these attacks on their own systems, but from outside sources. The standard answer? Using copies, set everything back to how it was. This method works quickly and gets things back up and running, but it doesn't tell us much about the attack itself, like why it happened, how it was carried out, or what could be done to stop it from happening again.

#2. Driven by tools or signatures: At this time, businesses have started using specialized tools to keep an eye on their online world. Like antivirus software and intrusion detection systems, these tools are pretty good at finding known risks and letting the team know about them. If a threat doesn't fit their "known bad" list, though, it might get through. It's kind of like how guard dogs are trained to only notice certain intruders. Also, using these tools too much can make it harder and take longer to deal with new or unknown threats.

#3. Process-driven: Things are getting more organized now. For dealing with cybersecurity incidents, companies set up official roles and rules. They look for threats and deal with them in a way that is both cost-effective and can be done again and again. This level is good for handling the standard mix of small problems, like employees breaking the rules by accident or small-scale attacks. This process-driven method might not be enough to stop sophisticated, well-planned cyberattacks, though. Attacks like these demand more than just following a set plan; they need quick, creative thought and responses that are made just for them.

#4. Intelligence-Driven: This is a big step forward, especially for big businesses that are often the targets of sophisticated cyberattacks. Everyone at this level knows exactly who the attackers are, what they want, and how they work. To do this, you need to know about the newest information about threat players and how they work. To stay up to date, businesses often use outside databases and tools such as the MITRE ATT&CK. By knowing about these dangers, they can make their security system work against them, stopping attackers before they can do a lot of damage.

#5. Predictive Defense: The next level is predictive defense, which is also called active defense. It's about being ready for threats and stopping them before they happen. Imagine putting up a maze of traps and mirrors so that hackers who try to get into the system are either caught in a lie or can't get in at all. During this stage, teams use proactive strategies such as threat hunting to look for possible dangers instead of waiting for them to show up. This is a strong and forward-looking method of cybersecurity that aims to always be one step ahead of cybercriminals.

1. NIST Cybersecurity Framework Security Maturity Models:

How do you describe it?

This system is based on well-known guidelines and methods that can help handle and lower cyber threats.

How does it do its job?

Five major tasks make it up: identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover. You may already know these from the incident response. There are categories for specific goals (like managing assets) and sub-categories that focus on results for each function.

Making It Your Own:

Make a profile for where you are now (your "Current" profile) and one for where you want to be (your "To Be" profile). You can pick and choose the parts that work best for your business. These profiles can help you figure out what you need to work on.

From "just starting" to "fully adopted," the tiers show how well you're using the framework. Remember that these stages aren't about how mature you are; they're more about how you act in real life.

2. Global Framework for CSIRT Maturity:

The book is mostly for national cybersecurity teams, but any incident reaction team can use its ideas.

The Security Incident Management Maturity Model (SIM3) and an ENISA three-tier maturity model are part of the building blocks.

SIM3 is a model that has been helping teams around the world since 2009. It's based on three things: parameters (what you're tracking), categories (organization, people, tools, and processes), and maturity levels (from 0 (not present) to 4 (completely controlled and audited).

How does ENISA work?

There are three levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Each level has its own set of rules. Basic is about getting things organized, Intermediate is about building teams and tools, and Advanced is about organizing how to handle incidents.

Setting up your security maturity level and keeping track of it Getting through SIM3:

• Make people more aware (level 0 to 1),
• write down procedures (levels 1 to 2),
• make them part of normal processes (levels 2 to 3), and
• then add control systems (levels 3 to 4).

Reporting Styles:

A list, a radar map (which is great for seeing where you need to make changes), or a simple chart can all be used.

One who measures?

First, do a self-evaluation. Then, have your peers do the same. If you want to make even more changes, you might want to hire a certified SIM3 auditor.

1. Begin with a simple method - RFC2350:

• How to Understand RFC2350: This document gives you a basic plan for setting up your incident reaction tools. It's like a starting kit for groups that work on cybersecurity.
• Initial Setup: Spend time figuring out who will be on your cybersecurity response team and what their roles and duties will be.
• Clear Objectives: Make sure everyone on the team knows what their job is by setting clear goals and objectives.

2. Create a unique framework for your organization:

• Customize: There is no one-size-fits-all solution here. Your framework should be based on the goals and risks of your business.
• Business Strategy: Make sure that your cybersecurity plan fits in with the general goals of your business.
• Flexible and Scalable: Make sure the system can change with the threats and can be expanded as your business grows.

3. Describe the services and the level of service you expect:

• Service Clarity: Be clear about the protection services your team will offer. This could be anything from keeping an eye on threats to dealing with incidents.
• Set Performance Standards: Make sure there are clear levels of care. To do this, the team needs to decide how quickly and effectively they should handle different kinds of cybersecurity events.
• Communicate Expectations: Make sure that everyone in the company, from the CEO to the newest worker, knows what these service levels mean.

4. Set up a clear hiring process and a program to help employees grow:

• Recruitment Strategy: Make a clear plan for how to hire skilled people in hacking. Try to find someone with a mix of knowledge and possibility.
• Continuous Learning: Set up training and growth programs that run all the time. Since cybersecurity is an area that is always changing, it is important to keep learning.
• Career Pathways: Make sure that safety staff can see how they can move up in the company. This helps keep good employees and makes sure that skills keep getting better.

5. Set up ways for people to complain and get help:

• Action Steps: Make sure you have clear action steps for taking cybersecurity events to the next level. This makes sure that the right people are informed and can act quickly.
• Feedback Loop: Set up ways for everyone involved to give feedback. This can include things like regular meetings, polls, or letting people make ideas at any time.
• Continuous Improvement: Use feedback to make your cybersecurity plans and reactions better all the time.
• Make sure you know where you are and where you want to be, then take the right steps to get there.

The Incident Response Maturity Model is an important tool for businesses that want to test and improve their ability to handle cybersecurity events correctly. This model gives companies a structured way to look at their current incident response processes, figure out what needs to be fixed, and put plans in place to reach higher levels of maturity. By moving through the model's stages, businesses not only get better at responding to cyber threats, but they also make their general cybersecurity stronger. It's important to know that incident response isn't just about responding to threats; it's also about planning ahead, getting ready, and always getting better. Adopting and improving the Incident Response Maturity Model is more than just necessary in a world where cyber threats are changing quickly. SafeAeon via these strategies protects an organization's digital assets and keeps trust in a world that is becoming more and more linked.