Counteractive Incident Response Plan Template

Standard Operating Procedure: Counteractive Incident Response (CIR)

Document ID: SOP-SEC-CIR-001
Effective Date: 2023-10-27
Version: 1.0.0
Review Cadence: Semi-Annual (or post-incident)

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1. Executive Summary & Purpose

This document establishes the institutional framework for Counteractive Incident Response (CIR). Unlike standard reactive playbooks, CIR emphasizes active neutralization of threats and automated containment to minimize dwell time. The objective is to standardize the technical response to security breaches, ensuring operational continuity and integrity.

2. Scope & Prerequisites

• Scope: Applies to all cloud-native infrastructure, on-premise servers, and managed endpoints within the Template Registry ecosystem.
• Required Tools: SIEM/SOAR integration (e.g., Splunk, Sentinel), EDR (CrowdStrike/SentinelOne), Immutable Backup access, Network segmentation controls (VPC/NSG).
• PPE/Hardware: Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) for root certificate rotation, Out-of-band management console access.

3. Roles & Responsibilities (RACI Matrix)

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4. Step-by-Step Procedure

Phase 1: Detection & Verification

• Validate alert trigger via telemetry logs (SIEM).
• Determine scope (affected assets, compromised credentials, exfiltrated data).
• Assign Incident Commander (IC) to maintain the Incident Log.

Phase 2: Counteractive Containment

• Execute automated "Isolate Host" command via EDR.
• Revoke active sessions for suspected compromised identities (IAM).
• Deploy dynamic firewall rules to block egress/ingress to identified C2 servers.

Phase 3: Eradication & Recovery

• Perform forensic imaging of volatile memory (RAM) and disk snapshots.
• Purge malicious binaries and unauthorized persistence mechanisms.
• Rotate all high-privilege secrets and API keys associated with the affected scope.
• Restore services from clean, immutable backups if corruption is detected.

Phase 4: Post-Mortem & Hardening

• Conduct a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) meeting within 72 hours.
• Implement permanent configuration drift remediation.
• Archive logs for regulatory compliance.

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5. Quality Assurance & Pro-Tips

Best Practices:

• Automate, Don't Hesitate: If a threat matches a known high-fidelity pattern, allow the SOAR to initiate containment before human intervention.
• Clean Room Operations: Always perform analysis in an isolated sandbox to prevent lateral movement.

Common Pitfalls:

• Panic-Driven Cleanup: Deleting logs before they are captured leads to forensic loss. Capture first, remediate second.
• Communication Silos: Failing to update the legal team during an active breach can create significant liability.

Metric Thresholds:

• MTTD (Mean Time to Detect): < 15 minutes.
• MTTC (Mean Time to Contain): < 30 minutes.

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6. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: At what point should I disconnect an asset from the production network?
A: Immediately upon confirming unauthorized execution or lateral movement. Do not wait for confirmation of data loss; prioritize environment integrity.

Q: If the threat appears to be a state-sponsored actor, do I follow standard protocols?
A: Execute standard containment immediately. Escalation to the legal team and relevant law enforcement agencies must occur in parallel, not as a replacement for technical containment.

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End of Document. Authored by Julian Vance, Chief Architect, Template Registry.