Identity Incident Response (IR)

The Sovereign Recovery of the Perimeter

Identity Incident Response (IR) is the “Sovereign Recovery” of your digital ecosystem. When an identity is compromised, it’s not just an “Account” that’s at risk; it’s the entire trust model of your organization. IR is the tactical process of identifying a breach, containing the lateral movement, and restoring the integrity of the identity perimeter. For the IAM architect, IR is about Response Finality—ensuring that once a threat is detected, every active session is purged, every credential is reset, and the vulnerabilities that allowed the breach are systematically eliminated to prevent recurrence.

INCIDENT RESPONSE

Defense Sovereign

Core Mission

Post-Breach Restoration. Establishing a standardized "Playbook" for the rapid identification, isolation, and remediation of compromised identities to minimize data loss and restore organizational trust.

Like a Biological Quarantine: Imagine a highly contagious virus has entered your facility (Your Cloud). The "Identity Response Team" is the HAZMAT unit. First, you don't just treat the person; you "Quarantine" them (Suspend the Account). Then, you "Sterilize" every room they entered (Revoke all active OIDC/SAML sessions and cookies). Finally, you find out how they got in (Forensics) and "Vaccinate" the rest of the facility (Hardening) so the virus can't enter the same way again.

Account Takeover (ATO) Recovery / Session Revocation / Credential Rotation / Forensic Audit Extraction

The IR Action Matrix

Effective incident response requires a tiered approach depending on the severity and scope of the compromise.

Strategic Response Stages

Stage	Strategic Responsibility	IAM Implementation
Identification	The Signal.	Detecting anomalies via ITDR/SIEM logs (e.g., successful login from unrecognized ASN).
Containment	The Kill Switch.	Suspending the account and revoking all refresh/access tokens instantly across all clouds.
Remediation	The Cleanup.	Forcing password resets, rotating API keys, and clearing MFA enrollments (if MFA was compromised).
Post-Mortem	The Learning.	Reviewing audit logs (CloudTrail/Admin Logs) to find the entry point and missed guardrails.

The Identity Remediation Flow

A successful response follows a rigid sequence of actions to ensure the attacker is truly purged from the environment.

graph LR
    Isolate[Isolate Identity] --> Purge[Purge Sessions]
    Purge --> Restore[Harden & Restore]

1

Immediate Isolation (The Suspension)

The moment a breach is confirmed, the **"Sovereign Kill Switch"** is triggered. Change the user's status to "Suspended" or "Disabled" in the master IdP. This prevents new logins, but critically, **it does not stop an attacker who already has an active session.**

2

Global Session Purge (The Sterilization)

This is the most omitted step. You must call the IdP APIs to **Revoke Refresh Tokens** and **Clear Browser Sessions**. If the compromise involves SAML, you must wait for the assertion to expire or implement SLO (Single Logout). In AWS, you would apply a Deny policy specifically to the user's current session ID (`aws:SourceVpc` or similar markers).

3

Hardened Restoration

Before re-enabling the account, forensic analysis must confirm the entry point. If the attacker bypassed MFA, you must assume the user's device is compromised. Only re-enable after a full password reset, a mandatory re-enrollment in a **Phishing-Resistant MFA** (FIDO2), and a reset of all recovery codes.

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Technical IR Implementation

Using the CLI to instantly revoke all sessions for a compromised AWS user is a critical skill for any cloud architect.

Session Revocation (AWS CLI Example)

# Applying an 'Inline Deny' policy to a compromised IAM user
# Effective immediately for all subsequent API calls
aws iam put-user-policy \
    --user-name "compromised-user" \
    --policy-name "Emergency-Lockdown" \
    --policy-document '{
        "Version": "2012-10-17",
        "Statement": [{
            "Effect": "Deny",
            "Action": "*",
            "Resource": "*"
        }]
    }'

IR Implementation Guides

Master the technical ceremonies of identity breach remediation and forensic recovery.

ITDR Detection

Using real-time signals to catch identity breaches before they escalate to an incident.

VIP Protection

Specialized response playbooks for the compromise of Super-Admin or High-Privilege accounts.

Forensic Auditing

How to use your IdP and Cloud logs to reconstruct an attacker's steps during a compromise.

MFA Recovery

Strategies for secure account recovery when a user's primary second factor is lost or stolen.

Next Steps

• Explore NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide.
• Review Okta Incident Response Playbooks.
• Check Emergency Access ‘Break-Glass’ Patterns for redundant restoration paths.