Indicators of Compromise
2025-01-01

Overview#

Observable artifacts that suggest systems were breached. Examples include malicious hashes, domains, IPs, registry changes, and anomalous logins.

Core objectives#

  • Establish shared definitions of Indicators of Compromise for security, engineering, and leadership teams.
  • Connect Indicators of Compromise activities to measurable risk reduction and resilience goals.
  • Provide onboarding notes so new team members can quickly understand how Indicators of Compromise works here.

Implementation notes#

  • Identify the primary owner for Indicators of Compromise, the data sources involved, and the systems affected.
  • Document the minimum viable process, tooling, and runbooks that keep Indicators of Compromise healthy.
  • Map Indicators of Compromise practices to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or CIS Controls.

Operational signals#

  • Leading indicators: early warnings that Indicators of Compromise might degrade (e.g., backlog growth, noisy alerts, or missed SLAs).
  • Lagging indicators: realized impact that shows Indicators of Compromise failed or needs investment (e.g., incidents, audit findings).
  • Feedback loops: retrospectives and metrics reviews that tune Indicators of Compromise continuously.
  • Align Indicators of Compromise with defense-in-depth planning, threat modeling, and disaster recovery tests.
  • Communicate updates to stakeholders through concise briefs, dashboards, and internal FAQs.
  • Pair Indicators of Compromise improvements with tabletop exercises to validate expectations.