How Does Cybersecurity Work in Real Companies Today

Foundation Security Checklist:
□ Security policies documented and approved
□ MFA enabled for all employees and admins
□ Least privilege enforced on all systems
□ Data classification policy in place
□ Encryption enabled at rest and in transit
□ Backups configured and tested
□ Employee security training completed
□ Phishing simulation run quarterly
□ Incident response plan documented
□ Vendor security reviews completed

Monthly Review:
□ Are all policies up to date?
□ Is MFA enforced everywhere?
□ Have access rights been reviewed?
□ Are backups tested this month?
□ Did any employee fail phishing training?
□ Are all critical systems patched?
□ Were vendor risks reviewed?
□ Is the incident response plan current?

Notes:
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Daily Security Operations:
7:00 AM — Review overnight alerts from SIEM
8:00 AM — Triage critical and high alerts
9:00 AM — Check EDR for suspicious activity
10:00 AM — Review firewall and IDS logs
11:00 AM — Patch critical vulnerabilities
12:00 PM — Lunch break
1:00 PM — Investigate open incidents
2:00 PM — Update incident tickets
3:00 PM — Review threat intelligence feeds
4:00 PM — Document findings and escalations
5:00 PM — Handover to next shift (SOC)
6:00 PM — Close out and update metrics

Weekly Security Review:
□ Were all critical alerts triaged within SLA?
□ Did any incidents require escalation?
□ Are EDR agents healthy on all endpoints?
□ Were critical vulnerabilities patched?
□ Did new threats appear in threat intel?
□ Are firewall rules up to date?
□ Did we detect any policy violations?
□ Are backup jobs completing successfully?

Incidents this week:
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3.

Actions for next week:
1.
2.
3.

Incident Response Playbook:
1. DETECT — Alert triggered or reported
   - Triage and validate the alert
   - Determine severity (Low / Medium / High / Critical)

2. CONTAIN — Stop the spread
   - Isolate affected systems
   - Disable compromised accounts
   - Block malicious IPs

3. ERADICATE — Remove the threat
   - Identify root cause
   - Remove malware / close vulnerability
   - Patch affected systems

4. RECOVER — Restore operations
   - Restore from clean backups
   - Verify systems are secure
   - Monitor for reinfection

5. REPORT — Document and communicate
   - Notify stakeholders
   - Update incident log
   - Provide status updates

6. REVIEW — Improve for next time
   - Conduct post-incident review
   - Update playbooks
   - Train staff

Post-Incident Review:
Incident ID: _________
Date: _________
Severity: _________

What happened?
_______________________________________________

How was it detected?
_______________________________________________

What was the impact?
_______________________________________________

What worked well?
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What could be improved?
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Actions to take:
1.
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Owner: _________
Deadline: _________

Daily Security Checklist:
Date: _________

☐ Review overnight SIEM alerts
☐ Triage critical and high severity alerts
☐ Check EDR for suspicious activity
☐ Review firewall and IDS logs
☐ Verify backup jobs completed
☐ Patch critical vulnerabilities
☐ Investigate open incidents
☐ Update incident tickets
☐ Check threat intelligence feeds
☐ Document findings and handover

Incidents today:
1.
2.

Actions for tomorrow:
1.
2.

Weekly Security Review:
Week: _____

☐ All critical alerts triaged within SLA?
☐ Any incidents requiring escalation?
☐ EDR agents healthy on all endpoints?
☐ Critical vulnerabilities patched?
☐ New threats from threat intel?
☐ Firewall rules up to date?
☐ Policy violations detected?
☐ Backups tested and verified?

Incidents this week:
1.
2.
3.

Top risks to address:
1.
2.

Actions for next week:
1.
2.
3.

Monthly Security Audit:
Month: _____

☐ All policies reviewed and updated
☐ MFA enforced for all users
☐ Access rights reviewed (least privilege)
☐ Vendor security assessments completed
☐ Penetration test scheduled / completed
☐ Employee training completion rate
☐ Phishing simulation results reviewed
☐ Incident response plan tested
☐ Backup and recovery tested
☐ Compliance status reviewed

Metrics:
Alerts triaged: _____
Incidents resolved: _____
Open vulnerabilities: _____
Training completion: _____%

Next month's priorities:
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