Incident Response Automation and Orchestration

Summary

Incident response automation and orchestration refer to streamlining and automating security operations center (SOC) workflows to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of detecting, investigating, and responding to security incidents. Automation involves using scripts, playbooks, and integrations to standardize and execute repetitive workflows and processes to reduce human intervention. SOCs play a critical role in detecting, analyzing, and responding to cyber threats for organizations. This chapter evaluates the impact of automation on SOCs by analyzing its benefits, limitations, and best practices for implementation. It explores the role playbooks play in automating incident response and outlines best practices for designing, implementing, and maintaining effective playbook‐driven automation. Threat intelligence encompasses an organization's collection, analysis, and application of internal and external security data to anticipate emerging risks. To benchmark capabilities and continually enhance SOC effectiveness, defining and tracking operational key performance indicators is essential.