Review of Human Decision-making during Computer Security Incident Analysis

Abstract

We review practical advice on decision-making during computer security incident response. Scope includes standards from the IETF, ISO, FIRST, and the US intelligence community. To focus on human decision-making, the scope is the evidence collection, analysis, and reporting phases of response, which includes human decision-making within and connecting these phases. The results indicate both strengths and gaps. A strength is available advice on how to accomplish many specific tasks. However, there is little guidance on how to prioritize tasks in limited time or how to interpret, generalize, and convincingly report results. Future work should focus on these gaps in explication and specification of decision-making during incident analysis.