Overview

A Security Response Plan (SRP) provides the impetus for security and business teams to integrate their efforts from the perspective of awareness and communication, as well as coordinated response in times of crisis (security vulnerability identified or exploited). Specifically, an SRP defines a product description, contact information, escalation paths, expected service level agreements (SLA), severity and impact classification, and mitigation/remediation timelines. By requiring business units to incorporate an SRP as part of their business continuity operations and as new products or services are developed and prepared for release to consumers, ensures that when an incident occurs, swift mitigation and remediation ensues.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish the requirement that all business units supported by the Infosec team develop and maintain a security response plan. This ensures that security incident management team has all the necessary information to formulate a successful response should a specific security incident occur.

Scope

This policy applies any established and defined business unity or entity within the (^Company^).

Policy

The development, implementation, and execution of a Security Response Plan (SRP) are the primary responsibility of the specific business unit for whom the SRP is being developed in cooperation with the Infosec Team. Business units are expected to properly facilitate the SRP for applicable to the service or products they are held accountable. The business unit security coordinator or champion is further expected to work with the (^organizational information security department^) in the development and maintenance of a Security Response Plan.

Service or Product Description

The product description in an SRP must clearly define the service or application to be deployed with additional attention to data flows, logical diagrams, architecture considered highly useful.

Contact Information

The SRP must include contact information for dedicated team members to be available during non-business hours should an incident occur and escalation be required. This may be a 24/7 requirement depending on the defined business value of the service or product, coupled with the impact to customer. The SRP document must include all phone numbers and email addresses for the dedicated team member(s).

Triage

The SRP must define triage steps to be coordinated with the security incident management team in a cooperative manner with the intended goal of swift security vulnerability mitigation. This step typically includes validating the reported vulnerability or compromise.

Identified Mitigations and Testing

The SRP must include a defined process for identifying and testing mitigations prior to deployment. These details should include both short-term mitigations as well as the remediation process.

Mitigation and Remediation Timelines

The SRP must include levels of response to identified vulnerabilities that define the expected timelines for repair based on severity and impact to consumer, brand, and company. These response guidelines should be carefully mapped to level of severity determined for the reported vulnerability.

Policy Compliance

Compliance Measurement

Each business unit must be able to demonstrate they have a written SRP in place, and that it is under version control and is available via the web. The policy should be reviewed annually.

Exceptions

Any exception to this policy must be approved by the Infosec Team in advance and have a written record.

Non-Compliance

Any business unit found to have violated (no SRP developed prior to service or product deployment) this policy may be subject to delays in service or product release until such a time as the SRP is developed and approved. Responsible parties may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, should a security incident occur in the absence of an SRP.