One of the best practices and steps in incident response planning is incident response plan testing. But, is the testing phase really important?
If you want to know and make sure of the effectiveness of a plan, be sure to test it out. By doing so, you will know where adjustments are necessary. So in this post, we will be focusing on the benefits and importance of the testing phase in incident response planning.
What is Incident Response Plan Testing?
Incident response plan testing is the process of testing the incident response plan to see if it works. It is good to test the plan before the actual occurrence of the incident. This way, you will know whether or not your plan will work in case an incident occurs.
Testing Incident Response Plan
You can also use the testing phase to identify gaps in your system. It can help you determine your weaknesses and strengths when it comes to security. This means that you will be able to make improvements in areas where weaknesses are identified. You will also be able to practice and assess the performance of your personnel in responding to incidents.
Testing Incident Response Plan can be done by simulating an attack on your systems. The most common types that are used are the Red Team Attack and the Blue Team Exercise.
Red Team Attack
In the Red Team Attack, a group of attackers will be in a room and they will attempt to find vulnerabilities in your system by performing a mock attack. Meanwhile, a group of defenders is in another room. During the exercise, they must defend their system from being attacked.
Blue Team Exercise
The Blue Team Exercise is similar to the Red Team Attack in that it also involves two teams. In this type of testing, the blue team is usually made up of management or business personnel. Their role is to assess the performance of the red team in responding to an incident. Meanwhile, the red team is made up of IT personnel. Their role is to reproduce an incident and then respond to it.
What to Follow During Preparation
When preparing for incident response plan testing, make sure that you follow these tips:
- Test the entire plan and not just specific parts of it. Also, test all of your plans continuously, each element of your plan, and test all partners involved in your testing process.
Benefits of Testing your Plan
Here are the benefits of testing your plan:
- Testing your incident response plan can help you see where you need to improve; it will help you identify weaknesses and strengths, and it will help you prioritize your work.
- Determine the scope of an attack. It can give an idea of the damage that it might cause. Testing your plans also helps you see if your plans are realistic or not. This way, if a real incident occurs, then you already have a fighting chance.
- Test how well your management and staff can respond to incidents. In this way, you will know who to rely on when an actual incident occurs.
- Helps in assessing how well-prepared your business is in responding to threats and attacks. It gives a sense of security to the employees and the business owners.
