Runbooks for cyber security recoveries: Key considerations and essential steps to recover

Runbooks are the unsung heroes when recovering from cyber attacks. They provide the crucial step-by-step guidance necessary to effectively recover from security incidents. This blog delves into the world of cyber recovery runbooks, exploring their definition, types, creation process, challenges, and best practices. By understanding and implementing these principles, organizations can significantly enhance their resilience against cyber threats.

Why you need runbooks to recover from cyber security incidents

Runbooks are essential for effective system restoration after a cyber security incident. They provide detailed, step-by-step procedures for responding to various types of attacks, ensuring that teams can react swiftly and decisively. 

Automated runbooks for cyber security recoveries reduce confusion and errors by outlining clear roles and responsibilities, enabling faster containment and mitigation of threats. By documenting best practices and lessons learned, runbooks help organizations continuously improve their incident recovery capabilities, minimizing downtime and potential damage. 

Essentially, disaster recovery runbooks serve as invaluable roadmaps, guiding teams through the complexities of recovering from a cyber attack and facilitating a smoother process.

Types of runbooks in cyber recovery 

Cyber recovery runbooks can be categorized based on their scope and specificity. Below are examples of how recovery runbooks are used.

General recovery runbooks

General recovery runbooks encompass a broad spectrum of potential incidents and provide foundational procedures to recover your technology stack. They often cover:

• System restoration: Procedures for recovering hardware, software, and data from backups.
• Network reconfiguration: Steps to restore network connectivity and security settings.
• Application recovery: Processes for bringing critical applications back online.
• Data recovery: Strategies for restoring lost or corrupted data.

Incident-specific recovery runbooks

Cyber incident recovery runbooks are tailored to address specific types of cyber attacks, offering detailed step-by-step guidance. Examples include:

• Ransomware recovery: Procedures for isolating infected systems, containing the attack, and restoring data from the last known good backups.
• Data breach recovery: Steps for identifying compromised data, notifying affected parties, and implementing measures to prevent future breaches.
• DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack recovery: Procedures for mitigating the attack, restoring network services, and identifying the attack source.
• Phishing attack recovery: Steps for containing the attack, resetting passwords, and educating users about phishing threats.

Hybrid recovery runbooks

Combining elements of both general and incident-specific runbooks, hybrid recovery runbooks offer flexibility for handling a wider range of scenarios. They provide a framework for addressing common cyber incident recovery phases while allowing for customization based on specific circumstances.

By developing a comprehensive suite of recovery runbooks, organizations can significantly enhance their ability to respond effectively to cyber incidents, minimize downtime, and protect critical assets.

Designing effective cyber recovery runbooks

Effective cyber recovery runbooks are essential for a swift and efficient response to security incidents. Here's how to design them:

1. Identify critical systems and data:

• Prioritize assets: Determine which systems and data are most critical to business operations.
• Assess dependencies: Understand the interconnections between systems.
• Define recovery objectives: Establish clear recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) for each asset.

2. Develop detailed recovery procedures:

• Step-by-step guidance: Create clear and concise instructions for each recovery scenario.
• Consider different recovery scenarios: Develop procedures for various incident types (e.g., ransomware, data breach, DDoS).

3. Assign roles and responsibilities:

• Define roles: Clearly outline the responsibilities of each team member.
• Establish communication channels: Determine how team members will communicate during an incident.
• Create escalation paths: Define who to contact in case of issues.

4. Test and update regularly:

• Conduct cyber recovery exercises: Simulate real-world scenarios to identify weaknesses.
• Update runbooks: Incorporate lessons learned from tests and incidents.
• Regularly review and approve: Ensure runbooks remain relevant and up to date.

5. Ensure accessibility and distribution:

• Centralized repository: Store runbooks in a secure, easily accessible and centralized location.
• Provide access: Ensure relevant personnel have access to the necessary runbooks.

6. Automate:

• Identify repetitive tasks: Automate routine procedures to improve efficiency.
• Use orchestration tools: Integrate automation into the recovery process.
• Test automated scripts: Ensure scripts function as expected.

7. Provide training and education:

• Conduct training sessions: Educate personnel on runbook usage.
• Create training materials: Develop resources for reference.
• Encourage practice: Promote regular runbook drills.

By following these guidelines, organizations can develop robust cyber recovery runbooks that significantly enhance their ability to respond effectively to security incidents, minimize downtime, and protect critical assets.

Challenges and best practices in creating cyber recovery runbooks

Developing and maintaining effective cyber recovery runbooks is a complex task fraught with challenges. Organizations often encounter difficulties in creating comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date documents. Common hurdles include:

• Resource constraints: Limited personnel, budget, and time can hinder the development and maintenance of detailed runbooks.
• Documentation complexity: Capturing the intricacies of IT systems and recovery procedures in a clear and concise manner can be challenging.
• Keeping pace with change: The rapidly evolving threat landscape necessitates constant updates to runbooks, which can be time consuming.
• Ensuring adherence: Motivating employees to follow runbooks during high-stress incident response situations can be difficult.
• Lack of testing: Insufficient testing of runbooks can expose vulnerabilities and hinder effective response.

To overcome these challenges and create robust cyber recovery runbooks, organizations should implement the following best practices:

• Prioritize and focus: Identify critical systems and data to streamline the runbook development process.
• Codify runbook tasks: Build recovery runbook templates in a centralized platform that can also be used for execution to reduce redundancy and effort.
• Adopt a phased approach: Develop runbooks incrementally, focusing on high-impact areas first.
• Involve key stakeholders: Ensure input from IT, security, and business units to create comprehensive and relevant runbooks.
• Regular updates and reviews: Schedule routine reviews and updates to reflect changes in systems, processes, and threats.
• Conduct exercises: Simulate real-world scenarios to identify gaps and refine response procedures.
• Provide ongoing training: Educate employees on the importance of runbooks and how to use them effectively.
• Leverage automation: Automate repetitive tasks within the runbook to improve efficiency and reduce errors.
• Measure effectiveness: Track runbook usage and identify areas for improvement.

By addressing these challenges and adhering to best practices, organizations can create and maintain effective cyber recovery runbooks that significantly enhance their ability to respond to incidents, minimize downtime, and protect critical assets.

Cyber recovery runbook example

Let’s explore an example of how one of our customers used Cutover runbooks to increase their cyber recovery posture.

Challenge: A leading US bank faced increasing regulatory pressure and the risk of catastrophic downtime due to reliance on manual cyber recovery plans. Traditional methods proved inadequate for handling the complexity and unpredictability of bare metal recoveries, particularly in the face of ransomware attacks.

Solution: The bank implemented Cutover, a collaborative automation platform, to create and execute dynamic, automated runbooks for cyber recovery. This enabled them to:

• Orchestrate complex recoveries: Manage a vast repository of runbooks to coordinate hundreds of tasks efficiently.
• Enhance visibility and communication: Improve collaboration among teams and stakeholders through real-time reporting.
• Meet regulatory requirements: Achieve compliance with a comprehensive cyber recovery plan and robust audit trail.‍
• Drive continuous improvement: Learn from exercises and refine recovery plans.

Results: The bank executed over 30 successful cyber recovery exercises, significantly reducing the risk of downtime and building confidence in their response capabilities.By automating and standardizing their cyber recovery processes, the bank has strengthened its resilience against cyber threats and demonstrated a proactive approach to risk management. By automating and standardizing their cyber recovery processes, the bank has strengthened its resilience against cyber threats and demonstrated a proactive approach to risk management.

How Cutover can help with your cyber recovery runbooks

Manual cyber recovery plans are a recipe for disaster in today's complex threat landscape. Cutover offers a dynamic cyber recovery software solution with its Collaborative Automation platform. By creating and executing dynamic, automated runbooks, Cutover empowers you to manage hundreds of recovery tasks with ease. This not only streamlines the process but also enhances communication and visibility across teams during an incident. 

Cutover ensures regulatory compliance and helps you continuously improve your response through post-recovery analytics. Let Cutover take the stress out of cyber recovery and build confidence in your organization's ability to bounce back from an attack.

Learn more about Cutover and how we can help you with your cyber recovery runbooks. Book a demo now.