Security Orchestration and Automation for Cloud Incident Response

Security response provides analysts with a unified view encompassing the planning, managing, monitoring, and reporting of actions executed after a threat is identified. This consolidated view facilitates collaboration and sharing of threat intelligence across security, network, and systems teams.  

How SOAR Enhances Cloud Incident Response Processes  

1. Actionable Threat Intelligence

SOAR platforms, with advanced capabilities, empower SOC teams to sift through vast data effortlessly. Ingesting threat intelligence in real-time, these platforms connect the dots, providing incident response teams with actionable, contextual intelligence to expedite incident resolution and enhance cloud security orchestration. 

2. Standardized Processes and Streamlined Operations

Automation integrated into SOAR playbooks relieves security teams of tedious tasks. Security orchestration collects data, automation manages low-priority alerts, and incident response simplifies event handling, reducing attack dwell time and overall impact. 

3. Reduced MTTD and MTTR

SOAR tools significantly reduce Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) by providing contextualized incident reports. Simultaneously, security automation lowers Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) by swiftly addressing alerts and incidents in real-time, enhancing overall incident response. 

4. Faster Response Time

The combination of security orchestration’s wide-ranging alert collection and security automation’s swift, human-free response accelerates the alert handling and incident response process. 

5. Easy Integration

Modern SOAR platforms seamlessly integrate with various security tools, simplifying threat or incident response through efficient collaboration among different security technologies. 

6. Lowered Costs

Integrating SOAR into the cloud security framework results in significant cost savings across reporting, playbook creation, alert handling, and analyst training. 

7. Automated Reporting and Metrics Capabilities

SOAR platforms automate incident metric reporting, saving time and providing organizations with regular, simplified metrics for streamlined incident processes. 

8. Improved Collaboration

Advanced SOAR platforms, powered by cyber fusion technology, facilitate collaboration among diverse internal security teams. This cohesive approach ensures an effective cyber incident response by bringing together SOC, threat hunting, vulnerability management, and threat intelligence teams. 

SOAR Use Cases in Incident Response 

1. Malware Management

Employing SOAR solutions aids in diminishing the risk of malware infection. This involves meticulous tracking and monitoring of all malware-related activities, implementing mitigation and containment measures, and analyzing key detection parameters for indicators of compromise (IOCs) and threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).  

2. Incident Management

SOAR facilitates a comprehensive 360-degree response by assisting in incident triage, investigation, and actioning within an automated response workflow. Enabled by cyber fusion collaboration among internal security teams, this approach ultimately reduces false alarms and analyst fatigue through streamlined post-detection and incident triage methods driven by data enhancement, correlation, and enrichment processes.  

3. Vulnerability Management

SOAR tools simplify vulnerability monitoring by establishing a unified database. This allows for the tracking, mitigation, and correlation of threat actors, malware, incidents, and assets to proactively neutralize further exploitation.  

4. Customized Playbooks

Security teams can efficiently manage multiple incidents/threats from a single dashboard using SOAR tools. They can ingest threat intelligence, streamline workflow automation, and handle complex threat campaigns to reduce false alarms, noise, and overall mean time to respond (MTTR). Additionally, security teams can utilize a vast library of out-of-the-box SOAR playbooks, customizing them to automate responses to sophisticated attacks.  

What are Playbooks? 

Playbooks are integral to SOAR success, offering predefined automated actions that can be prebuilt or customized. Multiple interconnected playbooks enable the completion of complex actions. For example, if a malicious URL is detected in an employee’s email during a scan, a playbook can be activated to block the email, alert the employee about the potential phishing attempt, and blocklist the IP address of the sender.  

Conclusion 

SOAR solutions streamline incident response, minimizing the need for human involvement, enabling security teams to allocate resources to vital business operations. Automated SOAR incident response ensures business continuity and swift recovery post-incidents.  

At CloudArmee we take time to clearly understand the gaps existing in your current workflows. Our SOAR capabilities include robust and fully automated incident management, fostering collaborative and timely responses from security teams. As an AWS WAR partner, we focus on not just security, but aspects like cost transparency, control, forecasting, and optimization.