Building and refining SOC workflows¶

SOC processes are living artefacts. Iterative development ensures that workflows, runbooks, and playbooks remain effective and relevant.

Key actions¶

• Collaborative design: Involve SOC analysts, SIRT members, and business stakeholders when creating workflows.

• Regular updates: Update workflows after incidents, lessons learned, or exercise feedback.

• Scenario testing: Run tabletop exercises and simulations to validate workflows under pressure.

• Automation with oversight: Automate low-risk repetitive steps, but retain human judgement for complex decisions.

Tips¶

• Use visual, step-by-step runbooks that are easy to follow under stress.

• Treat each update as a small, incremental improvement rather than a major rewrite.

• Encourage feedback from analysts—those on the front line see issues first.

Example scenario¶

A workflow for ransomware alerts may include automatic log collection, alerting SIRT, isolating affected endpoints, and post-incident review. Each step is reviewed and refined quarterly.