Table Top Exercise Response (AI Generated)

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(MFA) Provider DDoS & Authentication Collapse: Incident Response Playbook

Scenario Overview

  • Situation: DDoS attack on (MFA) Provider causes global authentication failures and cascading account takeovers.
  • Objective: Assess readiness, response coordination, and resilience.

1. Immediate Technical Response

  • Activate Incident Response Plan (IRP):
    • Declare a security incident.
    • Initiate Crisis Management Team.
    • Escalate to executive leadership and legal/compliance.
  • Isolate Affected Systems:
    • Segment networks to contain exposure.
    • Disable/restrict access to systems dependent on (MFA) Provider authentication.
  • Implement Emergency Authentication Controls:
    • Switch to backup identity providers or local authentication.
    • Enforce manual overrides for critical access (e.g., out-of-band verification, temporary credentials).
  • Monitor for Account Takeover (ATO):
    • Deploy enhanced behavioral analytics and SIEM rules.
    • Flag high-risk transactions/accounts for manual review.

2. Forensic and Threat Intelligence

  • Engage Threat Intelligence Teams:
    • Correlate indicators of compromise (IOCs) with known DDoS and ATO campaigns.
    • Share findings with ISACs (e.g., FS-ISAC) and law enforcement.
  • Conduct Log Analysis:
    • Review authentication logs, failed login attempts, and privilege escalation events.
    • Identify patterns of MFA bypass or credential stuffing.

3. Operational Continuity

  • Communicate Transparently:
    • Notify customers, partners, and regulators of the incident and mitigation steps.
    • Provide guidance on securing accounts and recognizing fraud.
  • Activate Business Continuity Plans (BCP):
    • Shift operations to alternate sites or manual processes.
    • Prioritize critical services (e.g., payments, trading, customer support).

4. Strategic and Long-Term Actions

  • Review Third-Party Risk Management:
    • Reassess SLAs, failover capabilities, and security posture of cloud providers.
    • Consider multi-cloud or hybrid identity architectures.
  • Enhance Authentication Resilience:
    • Invest in adaptive MFA, passwordless authentication, and zero trust models.
    • Simulate similar scenarios in future tabletop exercises.
  • Regulatory and Legal Follow-Up:
    • Document all actions for audit and compliance.
    • Prepare for potential litigation or regulatory scrutiny.

Tabletop Exercise Phases

Phase 1: Detection & Escalation

  • SOC detects login anomalies and failed MFA attempts.
  • (MFA) Provider status page confirms outage.
  • Define escalation path and incident declaration process.

Phase 2: Containment & Access Control

  • Disable federated logins temporarily.
  • Switch to backup identity provider or local AD.
  • Maintain access for critical staff.

Phase 3: Threat Response

  • ATO attempts spike; fraud team sees unusual withdrawals.
  • Deploy enhanced monitoring and behavioral analytics.
  • Set thresholds for manual review/account lockdown.

Phase 4: Communication & Coordination

  • Notify customers, regulators, and internal teams.
  • Draft public statement and customer guidance.
  • Balance transparency with security.

Phase 5: Recovery & Lessons Learned

  • (MFA) Provider restores service after 6 hours.
  • Conduct post-mortem; update IRP and BCP.
  • Plan long-term changes.

Communications Checklist

  • Internal Briefing: Hourly updates via secure Teams channel.
  • Customer Notice: Email + website banner with guidance.
  • Regulatory Disclosure: Within 24 hours per GLBA/FFIEC.

 


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