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State of the Practice of Computer Security Incident Response Teams ...

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Whoever does this work must not only be trained in <strong>the</strong> technology but must also understand<br />

search and seizure and privacy rights laws, along with o<strong>the</strong>r relevant laws. Collecting evidence<br />

that may be used in court has legal and personnel issues as well. Anyone who does this<br />

kind <strong>of</strong> work must be prepared to stand up in court as an expert witness.<br />

3.7.9 Answering <strong>the</strong> CSIRT Hotline<br />

Not all teams manage or operate a help desk or hotline. 109 Some teams use an existing IT help<br />

desk phone system to report incidents and <strong>the</strong>n pass <strong>the</strong> incidents on to <strong>the</strong> CSIRT. In response<br />

to <strong>the</strong> survey’s questions about who staffs <strong>the</strong> CSIRT hotline and what hours <strong>the</strong> hotline<br />

operates, participants answered as follows:<br />

• 66% said that <strong>the</strong> CSIRT staff manned <strong>the</strong> hotline or help desk during business hours.<br />

• 34% said that <strong>the</strong> CSIRT answered <strong>the</strong> hotline after business hours.<br />

• O<strong>the</strong>rs who answered after business hours were <strong>the</strong> IT staff (10%) and a message center<br />

(14%).<br />

• 83% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> education CSIRTs, 75% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> information and communication CSIRTs, and<br />

50% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> military CSIRTs stated that <strong>the</strong> CSIRT staff answered <strong>the</strong> hotline during business<br />

hours.<br />

3.7.10 Hours <strong>of</strong> Operation<br />

Depending on <strong>the</strong> type and number <strong>of</strong> staff in <strong>the</strong> CSIRT, <strong>the</strong>re can be different types and<br />

hours <strong>of</strong> operation. Many who do not have full-time staff on site after hours still may be able<br />

to provide support through alternative approaches, such as <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> cell phones, pagers, or<br />

third-party answering services.<br />

The CSIRTs participating in <strong>the</strong> survey had varying hours <strong>of</strong> operation:<br />

• 59% have standard business hours, starting at 0700, 0800, or 0900 and ending by 1700 or<br />

1800.<br />

• Only 24% have 24x7x365 hours <strong>of</strong> operation.<br />

A common complaint in <strong>the</strong> CSIRT community is that many teams do not provide after hours<br />

support, <strong>the</strong>refore, it is not always apparent who to contact in an emergency.<br />

109<br />

A hotline is a method for reporting computer security incidents to a CSIRT via a particular telephone<br />

number.<br />

102 CMU/SEI-2003-TR-001

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