Gartner Research

Acting on Security Monitoring: Incident Response and Forensics

Published: 12 April 2011

ID: G00210015

Analyst(s): Trent Henry

Summary

Monitoring is an essential element of infrastructure and information protection. The goals of monitoring vary widely, but one issue is common: When monitoring uncovers incidents, IT organizations must investigate them with care and consistency.

Table Of Contents

Business Context

Recommendations Summary

Analyst Perspective

  • What Is an Incident?
    • Incident Origination and Definition
  • Organization, Process, and Tools
  • Creating Incident Response Plans (and Teams)
    • Ownership
  • Resources and Funding
  • A Special Class of Incident: Availability
  • Outsourcing and Incident Handling
  • Incident Volume
  • Incident Reporting
  • Forensics
    • Who Does Forensics?
    • Legal Implications of Forensics
    • Post Mortem
    • Tools for Incident Response and Forensics
  • Planning and Documenting
    • Define Incidents
    • Tie Incident Management to Risk Management
    • Formalize a Response Plan
  • Communicating Internally
    • Enlist the Help of the Entire Organization
    • Create Strong Internal Relationships
    • Assess In-House Talent for Forensics and Investigation
    • Develop Precise Procedures for Forensics and Investigation
  • Responding to Incidents
    • Clearly Define Acceptable Response Actions
    • Train Operational Staff to Handle Low-Consequence Incidents
    • Determine Scope of Responsibility for Fraud and Brand Reputation
    • Correct External vs. Internal Threat Dichotomy
    • Solidify E-Mail Infrastructure and Procedures for Use
  • Communicating Externally
    • Groom External Relationships and Advertise Points of Contact
    • Create SLAs
    • Share with Others
  • Reporting
    • Report to Management

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