Introduction

This chapter covers the seventh objective for Domain 4.0, Security Program Management and Oversight, of the CompTIA Security+ exam.

In this chapter, we will review the processes of automation and scripting, considering both use cases and the benefits of each, including baseline enforcement, ticket creation, and faster reaction time when dealing with incidents. In the final sections of this chapter, we’ll examine some important financial considerations, such as technical debt.

This chapter will give you an overview of why companies rely on these processes to keep their environment safe, ensuring that you are prepared to successfully answer all exam questions related to these concepts for your certification.

Note

A full breakdown of Exam Objective 4.7 will be provided at the end of the chapter.

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR)

SOAR is an automated tool that integrates all of your security processes and tools in a central location. This is an automated process that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (making it faster than human staff performing the same tasks) to search for evidence of an attack, reduce the mean time to detect (MTTD) and respond to events, and potentially, release members of the IT team to carry out other tasks. The SOAR system is set up with various playbooks that outline the symptoms of an attack, with the action that the SOAR system needs to take, as follows:

• Orchestration: SOAR seamlessly integrates with a variety of security tools, data sources, and APIs to coordinate and execute complex workflows, ensuring that security processes are well-structured, standardized, and executed consistently.
• Automation: Automation empowers organizations to streamline operations by automating routine and time-consuming...

Use Cases of Automation and Scripting

By automating repetitive and manual tasks, organizations can significantly increase their operational efficiency. Security analysts can be freed from the mundane and time-consuming processes of sifting through logs, running routine scans, and patching vulnerabilities, and instead focus their expertise on more strategic tasks. These dynamic tools have transcended their traditional roles and have now emerged as indispensable assets to streamline processes, enhance security, and bolster overall operational excellence. This section considers different use cases for automation and scripting to support security operations:

• User provisioning: User provisioning ensures that user accounts are created, configured, and granted appropriate access rights swiftly and accurately. This not only minimizes manual overhead but also reduces the risk of errors and unauthorized access.
• Resource provisioning: Resource provisioning automation allows organizations...

Benefits

The benefits of automation and orchestration extend beyond the confines of security. They empower organizations to achieve greater efficiency, consistency, and scalability while liberating their staff to focus on strategic endeavors. These benefits include the following:

• Efficiency/time saving: At the core of automation and orchestration lies time-saving efficiency. Tedious, repetitive tasks that once consumed valuable hours are now executed swiftly and accurately by automated processes. This newfound efficiency allows staff to be redirected toward strategic tasks and innovation, increasing productivity throughout the organization.
• Enforcing baselines: Automation ensures that systems consistently adhere to predefined baselines and configurations. This consistency is a foundation for security, as it minimizes the risk of misconfigurations or deviations that could open doors to vulnerabilities. In essence, automation ensures standardization.
• Standard infrastructure...

Other Considerations

While automation holds immense promise in bolstering security operations, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Organizations must carefully assess the complexity, costs, single points of failure, technical debt, and ongoing supportability of their automation initiatives. By doing so, they can strike a balance between efficiency and security and ensure that their automated processes remain resilient and effective in the face of evolving cybersecurity challenges. Ultimately, it’s the thoughtful consideration of the following factors that will pave the way for successful and sustainable automation in the realm of security operations:

• Complexity: While automation promises streamlined operations, it can introduce a layer of complexity to the management and oversight of systems. Automated workflows, scripts, and processes must be carefully designed and maintained, and they can become more intricate as security needs evolve and more steps, triggers,...

Summary

This chapter covered the elements of effective security governance, with particular attention to automation and scripting, including both use cases such as guard rails, ticket creation, and integration with APIs, benefits such as baseline enforcement and shorter reaction time, and other important considerations of automation such as technical debt.

The knowledge gained in this chapter will prepare you to answer any questions relating to Exam Objective 4.7 in your CompTIA Security+ certification exam.

The next chapter of the book is Chapter 21, Explain appropriate incident response activities.

Exam Objectives 4.7

Explain the importance of automation and orchestration related to secure operations.

• Use cases of automation and scripting:
  • User provisioning: Automate user account setup and management
  • Resource provisioning: Automate resource allocation and scaling
  • Guard rails: Enforce security policies and configurations automatically
  • Security groups: Control access to resources with precision
  • Ticket creation: Automate incident reporting and tracking
  • Escalation: Trigger advanced response protocols when necessary
  • Enabling/disabling services: Manage access swiftly and securely
  • Continuous integration: Automate code testing and integration
  • Integrations/APIs: Seamlessly connect systems and application
• Benefits of automation and scripting:
  • Efficient/time saving: Streamline tasks for faster results
  • Enforces baselines: Maintain standardized security configurations
  • Standard infrastructure configurations: Consistency in system setup
  • Secure scaling: Expand resources without compromising security...

Chapter Review Questions

The following questions are designed to check that you have understood the information in the chapter. For a realistic practice exam, please check the practice resources in our exclusive online study tools (refer to Chapter 29, Accessing the online practice resources for instructions to unlock them). The answers and explanations to these questions can be found via this link.

1. You are an IT consultant tasked with explaining the use cases of automation and scripting related to secure operations to a group of business executives during a presentation. You need to clarify which of the following options is a use case for automation and scripting in the context of ensuring secure operations within an organization.
   1. User provisioning
   2. Cost management
   3. Marketing strategy
   4. Office space allocation
2. You are the chief information security officer of a medium-sized company, and you have been asked to present the benefits of automation and orchestration in secure operations...