Re: Ransomware Playbook

["Barton, Robert W." <bartonrt () LEWISU EDU>]

Three items...
1) I agree on a show and tell.  Maybe that is something worth working on for a local con.
2) I have never seen a right way or a wrong way to do this.  I think the only way to know if it is "right" is how the 
process performs in an emergency.  If you then have a lessons learned meeting and make updates/corrections, you have 
something that is 'righter'.
3) I like what you have here.  I'm working from a phone, but I hope to dig deeper tomorrow.

Thank you.


Robert Barton
Executive Director of Information Security & Policy
Lewis University
One University Parkway
Romeoville, IL  60446-2200
815-836-5663


-------- Original message --------
From: "Hagan, Sean" <sean.hagan () YC EDU>
Date: 10/3/19 5:43 PM (GMT-06:00)
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Ransomware Playbook

(my apologies for the length)

Robert – At some point, it would be great to have a playbook “show and tell”.  I realize they’re very sensitive by 
nature, but it was really hard for me to even get an idea of what to put in one or how it should be structured – and 
I’d imagine I’m not the only one who ran into that when developing their first (and so far only) playbook.  Perhaps 
Educause or Educause SPC would be good venues to share/compare/discuss in person.  I still have no idea if mine is 
“right” or not, but it has a solid mix of descriptive and operational content to help someone understand not only what 
to do in a given situation but how and why we do things and how or why certain systems are configured the way they are.

Ours is kept tightly controlled (mostly because it’s not finished), but our CIO and the Infosec team (Security Analyst 
and myself) have access.  Certain parts of it are exported out to be made available for other people who have a need to 
know (like some IAM and OPS stuff that our Helpdesk makes use of).  There’s not a full communication plan, but there 
are templates for various incidents and/or prompts to allow the experts (e.g. PIO) to have an idea of what and when 
things need to be communicated out.  Based on experiences to date, we would absolutely make use of social media for 
communicating with constituents, but ultimately that’s not my call – it would be our executive leadership and/or PIO’s 
decision to make.

Mine coincidentally has 10 sections as well:


1.       Introduction/Purpose/Audience/Definitions/Major Systems/Vendors/etc.

2.       Security Operations and Incident Handling Standards

3.       Threat and Vulnerability Management

4.       Identity and Access Management

5.       Security Awareness and Training

6.       Data Loss Prevention and Data Protection

7.       Compliance Management

8.       Vendor Security and Vendor Risk Management

9.       Risk Management

10.   Indexes, Key Contacts, Change Log, Appendices


Getting back to the ransomware part of this discussion:

One thing I learned from participating in a recent real-world ransomware recovery was how important the non-technical 
aspects are.  Project management, communication, logistics (!!!) are very critical and perhaps not as planned for as 
the technical components (at least, they weren’t for me).  I came away with pages of notes for where things broke down 
or how things could have been improved to speed recovery or reduce risk.  Just one communication breakdown resulted in 
~200 man-hours being wasted, which was time this organization really didn’t have.  Fetching USB sticks took 5 hours 
because it was a 2+ hour drive (each way) to the nearest store that had sufficient quantities.  Organizations that I 
thought would help with resources and expertise did not (and not because they were unaware).  There were also plenty of 
“heat of the moment” compromises and decisions made that, in hindsight, were problematic or introduced substantial 
additional risk.  Table top exercises (simple discussions, really – nothing more needed) with your team to walk through 
an outbreak and response can go a long way towards minimizing these issues should a real incident occur.

Lots of questions to be asked in advance as well, like whether your organization would even consider paying the ransom 
or not, whether you need to preserve data on (potentially) impacted devices or not, whether you have enough manpower 
(or network capacity) to handle mass reimaging, whether you would make use of community volunteers, whether you could 
quickly source dozens or hundreds of USB sticks or SSDs should you need them (in Arizona and many other states, there 
are plenty of rural or semi-rural educational institutions that could not easily do so), etc.  I’ve also had a dozen or 
so discussions with our cyber liability insurance provider to better understand what would and wouldn’t be covered and 
what support we would get in the event of an incident.  I would encourage others to do the same, even if my discussions 
weren’t always fruitful (an insurance group can be frustratingly cagey in their responses to hypothetical questions).

As a sort of related aside to all of this and the original question – if you have the opportunity to assist another 
organization with responding to a ransomware incident, I highly encourage you to do so.  Not only is it a nice thing to 
do, you’ll likely observe plenty of things both good/bad that can be applied at your organization should an incident 
arise.  It becomes the 21st century equivalent of a barn raising, and helps to build bridges with public and private 
organizations that will hopefully long outlast the actual incident that brought everyone together.


Just my two cents and 750+ words… :)


Good luck to all!

Sean


From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> On Behalf Of Barton, Robert W.
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 3:01 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Ransomware Playbook

While I do agree every playbook HAS to be unique, I know from my perspective, there are various items I’m interested in 
hearing from others.

-          When and how do they communicate out.  Social Media first, second or ever?  Do you include a full 
communication plan in your playbook?

-          What sections (descriptive and operational) are there in various playbooks?  I have 10 different 
sections…but somebody could have ones I don’t have that are good ideas.  Sometimes I’ll like something as simple as the 
format and I’ll make a change in mine.

-          Where do people keep all these different documents?  Paper as well as electronic?  Should I be pushing more 
for a document management system (enterprise)?  Are they using a web based system (I’m still fighting trust issues with 
management when you say ‘cloud’)?

-          Are others doing playbooks that are more ‘high level’ than mine?  Why or why not?  What can I learn from 
that?
There are a few more things that I’ve thought up, but ABSOLUTELY the ‘meat’ will be different.  Another playbook is a 
reference to learn from and not a tool you can use.  Isn’t that why we are all here?

Robert W. Barton
Executive Director of Information Security and Policy
Lewis University
One University Parkway
Romeoville, IL  60446-2200
815-836-5663

From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV 
EDUCAUSE EDU>> On Behalf Of Jonathon Poling
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 4:17 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Ransomware Playbook

A ransomware playbook, especially a prescriptive one, is going to be HIGHLY specific to your environment and PPT 
(People, Process, Tooling) and thus will require substantial (and unique) development and refinement for your specific 
organization. There's a reason so many org's (and entire counties/systems) fall victim to just paying the ransom, even 
when it's an inordinate amount of money. There is a lot to it, completely aside from properly testing and restoring 
backups. I only say this all because I've built a lot of specific playbooks running the gamut for a lot of clients in a 
variety of verticals over the years. This is definitely one of our most involved playbooks we help people build, as it 
involves a lot of non-technical preparation that is not readily apparent unless you've gone through it.

This is one of those things you don't want to skimp on or necessarily even copy from what others are doing, as a lot of 
org's aren't building the comprehensive set of processes and procedures needed for properly protecting against, 
operating amidst, and recovering from such attacks.

At any rate, just sharing my experience and hopefully some (useful) food for thought, whichever route you end up going.

Jonathon

On Thu, Oct 3, 2019 at 2:15 PM King, Ronald A. <raking () nsu edu<mailto:raking () nsu edu>> wrote:
Me too, please.

Ronald King
Chief Information Security Officer

Office of Information Technology
(757) 823-2916 (Office)
raking () nsu edu<mailto:raking () nsu edu>
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[NSU_logo_horiz_tag_4c - Smaller]

From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV 
EDUCAUSE EDU>> On Behalf Of Joey Rego
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 5:13 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Ransomware Playbook

I am interested as well.  Thank you.

Joey Rego
Associate Director of Information Security
Information Technology
Lynn University
3601 N Military Trail
Boca Raton, FL 33462
561-237-7982
www.lynn.edu<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.lynn.edu&c=E,1,zkF267g3wzATAzhcs6Em9T9Jvopt25l00KAxkRqZFIZ9X_iq5ZC0soQnTysStHJHzn8ZjY43CJ9lsVG3OQNFhPFkVMrH9UvOlch8aLsRNRvt8Ng6wtG9chJsnA3I&typo=1>
________________________________
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV 
EDUCAUSE EDU>> on behalf of John Ramsey <jramsey () STUDENTCLEARINGHOUSE ORG<mailto:jramsey () STUDENTCLEARINGHOUSE 
ORG>>
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 4:50:20 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE 
EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>>
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Ransomware Playbook

I have one and am happy to share!
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Get Outlook for 
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From: The EDUCAUSE Security Community Group Listserv <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV 
EDUCAUSE EDU>> on behalf of Kip Bates <kbates () HOUSING UCSB EDU<mailto:kbates () HOUSING UCSB EDU>>
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 4:34:08 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> <SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE 
EDU<mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>>
Subject: [SECURITY] Ransomware Playbook

Colleagues:

I am hoping that I can find someone or someplace that has made an effort to develop a Ransomware Response playbook that 
they would not mind sharing. I understand all the preparation that needs to occur prior to an attack but I am looking 
for something that we can provide users, help desk folks, technicians and such on what actions to take if (when) they 
experience a ransomware attack. I have found a few on the web and I was wondering if someone has adapted one of these 
for their institution or have developed one that they think is particularly good.

Feel free to comment here or off-list.


Kip Bates
Associate Chief Information Security Officer
University of California, Santa Barbara


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