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docs/guides/real-time-incident-response-dashboard.md

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+# Real-Time Incident Response and Digital Forensics Dashboard
+
+This guide walks through a three-phase workflow for responding to a live cyber-attack using a real-time incident response and digital forensics dashboard. Each phase combines decisive containment actions with forensic discipline and threat intelligence to keep defenders ahead of the adversary.
+
+## Phase 1: Immediate Alert and Containment (Lockdown Protocol)
+
+When an intrusion alert fires, time is critical. The Lockdown Protocol focuses on isolating the threat and preserving evidence.
+
+### 1a. Isolation (Air Gap)
+- **Why it matters:** Disconnecting affected devices from every network interface halts the attacker’s command and control (C2) channel and stops data exfiltration.
+- **How to do it:** Pull network cables, disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular radios, or power off the device if necessary. Achieving an air gap ensures remote adversaries cannot continue operating on the host.
+
+### 1b. Initiate Chain-of-Custody Log
+- **Why it matters:** A tamper-proof chain-of-custody (CoC) log proves the integrity of evidence, documenting who handled data and when.
+- **How to do it:** Record the incident start time, system identifiers, and alert details in a secure logbook or digital system. Timestamp every action throughout the response to preserve admissible evidence.
+
+### 1c. Capture Ephemeral Memory
+- **Why it matters:** Volatile memory contains live artifacts like running processes, injected malware, network sockets, and plaintext credentials that vanish once power is lost.
+- **How to do it:** Before shutting down the system, run a trusted memory acquisition tool (e.g., Magnet DumpIt, FTK Imager Lite) with administrator rights and save the RAM image to clean removable storage.
+
+By executing these steps, responders contain the attack, stop further damage, and preserve high-value forensic evidence for later analysis or legal proceedings.
+
+## Phase 2: Endpoint Compromise Verification (ECV) and Threat Attribution
+
+After containment, the ECV workflow assesses compromise scope, blocks adversary access, and attributes malicious activity.
+
+### 2a. Block External C2 Channels
+- **Why it matters:** Cutting off malicious IP addresses or domains disrupts the malware’s ability to receive instructions or exfiltrate data.
+- **How to do it:** Use firewall rules, web filters, or DNS sinkholing to block the identified indicators of compromise (IOCs).
+
+### 2b. Force Credential Rotation
+- **Why it matters:** Attackers commonly harvest credentials during intrusions. Resetting passwords, keys, and tokens removes the adversary’s ability to reauthenticate.
+- **How to do it:** Trigger organization-wide resets starting with privileged accounts, revoke active sessions, and replace exposed API keys or certificates.
+
+### 2c. Audit IAM Policies and New Accounts
+- **Why it matters:** Compromised administrators might create backdoor accounts or escalate privileges to maintain persistence.
+- **How to do it:** Review identity logs for unexpected account creations, role changes, or policy modifications and disable anything suspicious.
+
+### ECV Deep Scan & Intelligence Correlation
+- **Risk scoring:** Analysts submit indicators (such as IP address `203.0.113.157`) to the dashboard. Threat intelligence lookups (VirusTotal, AlienVault OTX, OSINT feeds) assess reputation and return a risk score (e.g., 95% flagged as C2).
+- **Action prompts:** High scores (85% or above) trigger urgent recommendations, including legal escalation (e.g., issuing a cease-and-desist notice) when attribution points to a known entity.
+
+By the end of Phase 2, external communications are blocked, compromised credentials are neutralized, and lingering access paths are discovered and dismantled.
+
+## Phase 3: Post-Incident Remediation and Review
+
+With the immediate crisis contained, remediation ensures systems are trustworthy and processes improve.
+
+### 3a. Verify System Integrity (PDR Rig Test)
+- **Why it matters:** Attackers may modify binaries, APIs, or AI components to create backdoors.
+- **How to do it:** Run integrity scripts that compare hashes or deterministic outputs against known-good baselines, focusing on high-value services and AI responses.
+
+### 3b. Enforce the Four-Eyes Principle
+- **Why it matters:** Dual approval reduces the risk of malicious or rushed changes during recovery.
+- **How to do it:** Require two approvers for deployments and configuration updates in CI/CD and administrative tooling.
+
+### 3c. Integrity Check on Logging (M-Record Hash)
+- **Why it matters:** Tamper-evident logs guarantee the reliability of the incident timeline.
+- **How to do it:** Maintain a cryptographic hash chain (e.g., SHA-256) across log entries. Verify the chain post-incident to confirm no entries were altered.
+
+### Restoration and Monitoring
+- Patch exploited vulnerabilities, rebuild or reimage compromised systems, and restore data from clean backups.
+- Deploy enhanced monitoring and detection rules tailored to the incident’s indicators of compromise.
+- Conduct a post-mortem, capture lessons learned, and update internal knowledge bases.
+
+## Threat Intelligence Knowledge Base Highlights
+
+The dashboard integrates a knowledge base that maps observed behaviors to real-world threats and defensive guidance:
+
+- **Supply Chain Code Injection:** Detect tampered dependencies or build scripts by auditing upstream sources and enforcing code signing.
+- **Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA):** Monitor API responses for excessive `401/403` errors and enforce strict object-level access controls.
+- **MFA Fatigue Attacks:** Implement number matching or phishing-resistant MFA to prevent approval spamming attacks.
+- **Living-off-the-Land Binaries (LOLBins):** Restrict or monitor dual-use tools like `powershell.exe`, `mshta.exe`, and `certutil.exe` for abnormal command-line usage.
+- **DNS Tunneling & Exfiltration:** Analyze DNS logs for high-entropy domains or unusual query volumes and limit egress DNS traffic to sanctioned resolvers.
+
+## Legal and Reporting Considerations
+
+- Maintain proportional forensic collection aligned with legal frameworks (e.g., Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)).
+- Fulfill breach notification obligations (GDPR, state laws) when applicable.
+- Use the preserved chain-of-custody documentation and hashed log records to support legal, regulatory, or disciplinary actions.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+The real-time incident response dashboard ensures defenders move through containment, eradication, and recovery with precision. By isolating compromised assets, blocking adversary footholds, validating system integrity, and integrating threat intelligence, organizations emerge from incidents wiser and better prepared for evolving threats.