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Security Incident Response Plan (ST-211)

Overview​

This document defines the Security Incident Response Plan (IRP) for Anchorpipe. It outlines procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from security incidents.

Purpose​

  • Provide clear procedures for security incident response
  • Define roles and responsibilities
  • Establish communication protocols
  • Ensure timely and effective incident resolution
  • Meet regulatory and compliance requirements

Scope​

This plan applies to all security incidents affecting:

  • Anchorpipe application and infrastructure
  • User data and privacy
  • Authentication and authorization systems
  • Third-party integrations
  • Development and deployment pipelines

Incident Severity Levels​

Critical (P0)​

Response Time: Immediate (within 1 hour)

  • Active data breach or exfiltration
  • Remote code execution in production
  • Authentication system compromise
  • Database compromise
  • Complete service outage due to security issue

High (P1)​

Response Time: Within 4 hours

  • Privilege escalation vulnerabilities
  • SQL injection or XSS in production
  • Unauthorized access to sensitive data
  • Denial of service attacks
  • Security configuration errors exposing sensitive data

Medium (P2)​

Response Time: Within 24 hours

  • Information disclosure vulnerabilities
  • CSRF vulnerabilities with limited impact
  • Security misconfigurations
  • Suspicious activity patterns
  • Failed authentication attempts (brute force)

Low (P3)​

Response Time: Within 7 days

  • Security best practices violations
  • Minor information leaks
  • Non-critical dependency vulnerabilities
  • Code quality issues with security implications

Detection Mechanisms​

Automated Detection​

  1. CodeQL Analysis

    • Runs on every PR and push to main
    • Detects security vulnerabilities in code
    • Alerts via GitHub Security tab

  2. Dependabot

    • Monitors dependencies for vulnerabilities
    • Creates PRs for security updates
    • Alerts via GitHub Security tab

  3. SAST/SCA Scanning

    • npm audit for dependency vulnerabilities
    • Snyk scanning (if configured)
    • Blocks PRs with critical/high vulnerabilities

  4. Audit Logging

    • Tracks all sensitive actions
    • Monitors for suspicious patterns
    • Rate limit violations
    • Brute force attempts

  5. Rate Limiting Alerts

    • Rate limit violations logged
    • Brute force locks logged
    • Can trigger alerts for patterns

Manual Detection​

  1. Security Reports

  2. Monitoring

    • Application logs
    • Database logs
    • Infrastructure monitoring
    • Error tracking

  3. Security Reviews

    • Code reviews
    • Security audits
    • Penetration testing

Team Roles and Responsibilities​

Incident Commander​

Role: Overall incident response coordination

Responsibilities:

  • Declare and classify incidents
  • Coordinate response activities
  • Make critical decisions
  • Communicate with stakeholders
  • Escalate as needed

Primary: Security Lead / CTO Backup: Engineering Lead

Security Engineer​

Role: Technical investigation and remediation

Responsibilities:

  • Investigate incident details
  • Identify root cause
  • Develop remediation plan
  • Implement fixes
  • Verify resolution

Primary: Security Engineer / Senior Engineer Backup: Engineering Team

Communication Lead​

Role: Internal and external communication

Responsibilities:

  • Notify stakeholders
  • Prepare public statements (if needed)
  • Coordinate with legal/compliance
  • Document incident timeline

Primary: Product Manager / CTO Backup: Engineering Lead

On-Call Engineer​

Role: Initial response and triage

Responsibilities:

  • Receive and triage alerts
  • Initial incident assessment
  • Escalate to Incident Commander
  • Implement immediate mitigations

Primary: Rotating on-call engineer Backup: Engineering team

Incident Response Procedures​

Phase 1: Detection and Triage​

  1. Incident Detection

    • Automated alert received
    • Manual report received
    • Monitoring anomaly detected

  2. Initial Assessment

    • Verify incident is real
    • Classify severity level
    • Document initial details

  3. Incident Declaration

    • Incident Commander declares incident
    • Assign severity level
    • Activate response team

Phase 2: Containment​

  1. Immediate Containment

    • Isolate affected systems
    • Disable compromised accounts
    • Block malicious IPs
    • Revoke compromised credentials

  2. Short-term Containment

    • Implement temporary fixes
    • Add monitoring
    • Preserve evidence
    • Document actions taken

Phase 3: Investigation​

  1. Gather Evidence

    • Collect logs
    • Review audit trails
    • Analyze attack vectors
    • Identify affected systems/data

  2. Root Cause Analysis

    • Determine how incident occurred
    • Identify vulnerabilities
    • Assess impact
    • Document findings

Phase 4: Eradication​

  1. Remove Threat

    • Patch vulnerabilities
    • Remove malicious code
    • Clean compromised systems
    • Update security controls

  2. Verify Removal

    • Confirm threat eliminated
    • Test fixes
    • Validate security controls

Phase 5: Recovery​

  1. Restore Services

    • Restore from backups (if needed)
    • Deploy fixes
    • Re-enable services
    • Monitor for issues

  2. Validation

    • Verify services operational
    • Confirm security controls working
    • Monitor for recurrence

Phase 6: Post-Incident Review​

  1. Lessons Learned

    • Review incident timeline
    • Identify improvements
    • Update procedures
    • Document findings

  2. Action Items

    • Assign remediation tasks
    • Update security controls
    • Improve detection mechanisms
    • Update documentation

Communication Procedures​

Internal Communication​

  1. Incident Channel

    • Create dedicated Slack/Teams channel
    • Include all response team members
    • Use for real-time coordination

  2. Status Updates

    • Hourly updates during active incident
    • Daily updates for ongoing incidents
    • Final summary at resolution

External Communication​

  1. User Notification (if required)

    • Prepare clear, honest communication
    • Include what happened, impact, and actions taken
    • Provide contact information for questions

  2. Regulatory Notification (if required)

    • GDPR: 72 hours for data breaches
    • Other regulations as applicable
    • Coordinate with legal team

  3. Public Disclosure (if required)

    • Security advisories for vulnerabilities
    • GitHub Security Advisories
    • Blog post (for significant incidents)

Escalation Procedures​

See escalation.md for detailed escalation procedures.

Escalation Triggers​

  • Incident severity increases
  • Response time exceeded
  • External assistance needed
  • Legal/compliance involvement required
  • Public disclosure required

Escalation Path​

  1. Level 1: On-Call Engineer → Incident Commander
  2. Level 2: Incident Commander → CTO / Security Lead
  3. Level 3: CTO → Executive Team / Board
  4. External: Legal, Compliance, Law Enforcement (if needed)

Response and Recovery Procedures​

Critical Incidents​

  1. Immediate Actions (within 1 hour)

    • Declare incident
    • Activate response team
    • Contain threat
    • Notify stakeholders

  2. Short-term Actions (within 4 hours)

    • Complete investigation
    • Implement fixes
    • Restore services
    • Document actions

  3. Follow-up Actions (within 24 hours)

    • Post-incident review
    • Update security controls
    • Communicate with users (if needed)

High Severity Incidents​

  1. Immediate Actions (within 4 hours)

    • Declare incident
    • Investigate
    • Contain threat
    • Plan remediation

  2. Short-term Actions (within 24 hours)

    • Implement fixes
    • Verify resolution
    • Document incident

Medium/Low Severity Incidents​

  1. Actions (within 24-168 hours)
    • Triage and investigate
    • Plan and implement fixes
    • Document resolution

Post-Incident Review​

Review Meeting​

Timing: Within 7 days of incident resolution

Participants:

  • Incident Commander
  • Security Engineer
  • Communication Lead
  • Relevant team members

Review Topics​

  1. What Happened

    • Incident timeline
    • Root cause
    • Impact assessment

  2. What Went Well

    • Effective response actions
    • Good detection mechanisms
    • Effective communication

  3. What Could Be Improved

    • Detection improvements
    • Response time improvements
    • Process improvements
    • Tool improvements

  4. Action Items

    • Assign owners
    • Set deadlines
    • Track completion

Documentation​

  • Incident report
  • Lessons learned
  • Updated procedures
  • Security control improvements

Tabletop Exercises​

Purpose​

Test and improve incident response procedures through simulated scenarios.

Schedule​

  • Frequency: Quarterly
  • Duration: 2-4 hours
  • Participants: Response team members

Exercise Scenarios​

  1. Data Breach

    • Simulated database compromise
    • Test containment and recovery
    • Practice communication

  2. Authentication Compromise

    • Simulated OAuth/HMAC compromise
    • Test credential rotation
    • Practice user notification

  3. Dependency Vulnerability

    • Simulated critical vulnerability
    • Test patching procedures
    • Practice coordination

  4. Denial of Service

    • Simulated DDoS attack
    • Test mitigation procedures
    • Practice scaling response

Exercise Process​

  1. Preparation

    • Select scenario
    • Prepare materials
    • Brief participants

  2. Execution

    • Present scenario
    • Team responds
    • Observe and document

  3. Debrief

    • Review actions taken
    • Identify gaps
    • Update procedures

Exercise Outcomes​

  • Updated procedures
  • Improved team coordination
  • Enhanced detection mechanisms
  • Better communication protocols

Maintenance​

Regular Updates​

  • Quarterly: Review and update procedures
  • After Incidents: Update based on lessons learned
  • After Exercises: Update based on exercise findings
  • Annually: Comprehensive review

Ownership​

  • Owner: Security Lead / CTO
  • Reviewers: Response team members
  • Approvers: Executive team

Revision History​

VersionDateAuthorChanges
1.02025-11-08Security TeamInitial IRP document