Crisis Control: Close security gaps with incident response and recovery

Crisis control may sound intimidating for some. But for IT and Security teams tasked with closing security gaps with incident response and recovery, it comes with the territory. After all, administrators for both teams effectively serve as first responders whenever threats like malware are identified or vulnerabilities are detected.

Working alongside software and security tooling as part of an integrated and comprehensive security plan, admins minimize risk and mitigate threats while ensuring that devices remain compliant and that the organization’s security posture remains strong.

But it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In our guide, Crisis Control, we discuss some of the strategies that IT and Security teams employ as part of a holistic enterprise IT security plan. Also, we discuss how IT security and compliance complement Apple device management for effective threat prevention for computing devices, including mobile threat defense to shrink gaps in protection across your infrastructure.

What are the five steps of incident response?

Preparation

Gathering the information specific to your organization. Think inventory of assets and resources, risk assessments and regulatory requirements to name a few.

Detection

Tooling implemented to identify threats while providing notifications to stakeholders and obtaining rich telemetry data on endpoint health.

Reporting

Performing threat analysis for triaging incidents and collating logging data by leveraging SIEM technology to categorize and prioritize threats granularly.

Response

After incidents have been identified and verified, responders deploy mitigation workflows, including automation, to make devices compliant again.

Remediation

Effective post-incident activity includes documenting findings and lessons learned, as well as iteratively informing processes throughout the lifecycle.

Comprehensive risk assessment = greater threat response success

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” – Benjamin Franklin

One of the keys to maximizing incident response and threat mitigation lies in performing a holistic and comprehensive risk assessment. By analyzing your inventory and resources, organizations are laying the foundation for not only what needs protection but also answering the following common questions about the needs of their infrastructure:

• Which threats are devices susceptible to?
• What is the probability a particular threat will be exploited?
• How does a vulnerability impact business continuity?
• What is the potential fallout stemming from an attack?
• How can risk factors be minimized and vulnerabilities mitigated?
• What, if any, regulations apply to our business, industry and/or region?
• Which tools and/or software are necessary to enforce compliance?

Thorough risk assessments provide the answers to these questions, guiding IT and Security teams to the assets and resources needed to address concerns. Pairing risk analysis with standards and frameworks, organizations are provided the blueprints required to:

1. Align organizational resources with industry laws or regulations, establishing compliance baselines.
2. Efficiently address detected threats before they escalate, providing the fastest route back to a compliant status.

Taking all of this information into account, the culmination of answers helps organizations design an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) plan that’s customized to their business environment while addressing their unique needs.

Standardizing and integrating compliance made easy

The macOS Security Compliance Project (mSCP), an open-source project by Jamf in collaboration with NIST, NASA, DISA and LANL, inspired the creation of Jamf Compliance Editor (JCE). JCE, integrating with Jamf Pro, helps develop and upload compliance baselines unique to your organization's requirements. With the tap of a button, administrators can upload guidance to Jamf Pro, scope it to Smart Groups and seamlessly deploy mitigation strategies for regulatory compliance.

Discover how Jamf collaborates with your organization to create a tailored incident response and remediation plan, ensuring comprehensive security for all supported endpoints. Using purpose-built software and customized workflows seamlessly integrated into your security stack, Jamf empowers IT and security professionals to:

1. Manage and secure devices accessing organizational resources.
2. Implement best-of-breed threat prevention and mobile threat defense controls.
3. Develop a holistic defense-in-depth strategy covering all device types.
4. Prepare infrastructure through effective inventory management and risk assessment.
5. Monitor endpoints in real-time, providing detection and granular reporting on device health telemetry.
6. Assist responders in collating, analyzing and prioritizing threats, aligning with MITRE ATT&CK.
7. Facilitate researchers in hunting unknown threats, streamlining incident response and accelerating remediation workflows through automation.
8. Leverage and integrate best-of-breed solutions for end-to-end device lifecycle management.
9. Bridge the gap between compliance requirements and security controls with customizable frameworks.
10. Document and record findings, transforming lessons learned into actionable data that informs evolving incident response and remediation efforts, processes, controls and workflows.