Incident Response Procedures

This document outlines the procedures for responding to security incidents affecting the Gemforce platform. A well-defined incident response plan is crucial for minimizing damage, restoring services, learning from incidents, and maintaining trust with our users and stakeholders.

1. Incident Response Lifecycle

Our incident response process follows a phased approach:

1.1. Preparation

  • Define Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly assign roles (Incident Commander, Technical Leads, Communication Lead, Legal Counsel, etc.) and responsibilities within the incident response team.
  • Establish Communication Channels: Define internal (e.g., dedicated chat rooms, secure video conferencing) and external (e.g., public statements, customer support) communication protocols.
  • Tools and Resources: Ensure necessary tools (e.g., SIEM, forensic tools, secure remote access) and documented procedures are readily available.
  • Training and Exercises: Conduct regular training and simulated incident exercises (tabletop exercises, red team/blue team drills) to test the plan and identify areas for improvement.
  • Documentation: Maintain up-to-date documentation for all systems, configurations, and incident response procedures.

1.2. Identification

  • Detection Sources: Monitor various sources for suspicious activity, including:
    • Automated alerts from monitoring systems (e.g., SIEM, IDS/IPS, blockchain anomaly detection).
    • User-reported anomalies or security concerns.
    • Threat intelligence feeds.
    • Internal security audits and penetration tests.
  • Initial Triage: Quickly assess the severity and potential impact of a reported incident. Determine if it's a false positive or a legitimate security event.
  • Initial Containment: Take immediate steps to prevent further damage (e.g., isolate affected systems, suspend compromised accounts, pause smart contract functions if necessary and safe to do so).
  • Logging and Evidence Collection: Ensure all relevant logs are being collected and preserved for forensic analysis. Do not alter any systems or data before proper evidence collection.

1.3. Containment

  • Short-Term Containment:
    • Disconnect compromised systems from the network.
    • Block malicious IP addresses at the firewall.
    • Temporarily suspend or revoke compromised credentials.
    • Redirect traffic away from affected services.
  • Long-Term Containment:
    • Improve system configurations to prevent recurrence (e.g., patching vulnerabilities, reconfiguring access controls).
    • Deploy updated security measures.

1.4. Eradication

  • Root Cause Analysis: Identify the root cause of the incident. This involves detailed forensic analysis of compromised systems and logs.
  • Eliminate Threats: Remove the root cause of the incident (e.g., patch vulnerabilities, remove malware, re-secure compromised accounts, deploy updated smart contracts on new addresses if critical flaws are found).
  • Clean Systems: Ensure all compromised systems are thoroughly cleaned or rebuilt from known good states.

1.5. Recovery

  • Verify Cleanliness: Confirm that the threat has been completely eradicated from all systems.
  • Restore Services: Bring affected systems and services back online in a phased, controlled manner. Prioritize critical services first.
  • Monitor Closely: Continuously monitor restored systems for any signs of recurring activity.
  • Post-Incident Validation: Conduct comprehensive testing to ensure full functionality and security.

1.6. Post-Incident Activities (Lessons Learned)

  • Post-Mortem Analysis: Conduct a thorough review of the incident, including:
    • What happened?
    • How was it detected?
    • How effective were the response actions?
    • What was the root cause?
    • What could have been done better?
  • Documentation Update: Update internal documentation, procedures, and runbooks based on lessons learned.
  • Action Plan: Create and implement an action plan for identified improvements (e.g., new security tools, process changes, additional training).
  • Communication: Communicate findings and actions to relevant internal and external stakeholders (e.g., executive team, concerned users, regulatory bodies if required).

2. Communication Plan

Effective communication is paramount during an incident:

  • Internal Communication:
    • Activate the incident response team.
    • Provide regular updates to management and relevant internal teams.
    • Use secure and predefined communication channels.
  • External Communication:
    • Transparency First: Be transparent with users and the public about the incident, providing accurate and timely information.
    • Designated Spokesperson: All external communications should come from a single, designated spokesperson.
    • Timing: Balance speed of communication with accuracy; do not speculate.
    • Channels: Utilize appropriate channels (e.g., official website, social media, email notifications).
    • Legal/Regulatory: Consult legal counsel for advice on mandatory disclosures or regulatory reporting requirements.

3. Incident Severity Levels

Incidents are categorized based on their impact and urgency to prioritize response:

Level Impact Example Response Urgency
Critical Major financial loss, significant data breach, core service outage, reputation collapse. Exploit drains funds from a smart contract; database containing all user data is compromised. Immediate, 24/7 activation of full response team.
High Moderate financial loss, partial service degradation, regulatory non-compliance. DDoS attack affecting some API endpoints; minor data exposure (e.g., employee email list). Urgent, response team activated within minutes, work around the clock.
Medium Minor financial impact, temporary service interruption, isolated security breach. Server compromise with limited access; internal application vulnerability detected. Standard business hours response, but with high priority.
Low Negligible impact, minor security flaw, policy violation. Suspicious login attempt (blocked); non-critical security tool misconfiguration. Document and resolve during regular operations.

4. Contact Information

  • Incident Response Team Lead: [Name/Contact Info]
  • Head of Engineering: [Name/Contact Info]
  • Legal Counsel: [Name/Contact Info]
  • External Security Auditors: [Firm Name/Contact Info]
  • Emergency Communications: [Channel/Contact Info]

This document serves as a high-level guide. Detailed runbooks for specific incident types are maintained separately.