Root Cause Analysis: How to Get to the Heart of a Breach

Cybersecurity is a top concern for most businesses and consumers. The threat landscape is evolving and expanding, making more businesses susceptible to cybersecurity incidents. One of the main goals of any company’s cybersecurity program is to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. However, there’s no silver bullet that companies can use to prevent attacks.

One technique that can help an organization improve its cybersecurity posture is root cause analysis. Continue reading to learn about root cause analysis and why it’s becoming an increasingly popular cybersecurity technique.

What Is Root Cause Analysis?

A root cause analysis (RCA) is a cybersecurity method teams use to get to the heart of a data breach or cybersecurity incident. When a cyberattack occurs, the SecOps team must come together and – as its name suggests – find the “root cause” of the problem by conducting an analysis.

Breaches and attacks happen in a variety of ways. For example, attacks can fall under a few categories like malware, phishing, and insider misuse. As a result, every cyber incident has a unique, singular cause or multiple causes. Not every incident will have the same cause, which is why IT professionals use the RCA method.

Security problems sometimes stem from multiple root causes. A root cause investigation typically uncovers a range of problems lurking beneath the surface. By identifying them through root cause analysis, one can decrease the likelihood of a repeat attack happening in the future.

Benefits of Root Cause Analysis

What are some primary benefits of root cause analysis? Explore some examples below:

• Reduces errors coming from the same root cause
• Puts tools and solutions in place to prevent or address future issues
• Enables teams to resolve incidents more efficiently
• Implements tools to log and monitor for potential issues

The goal for IT teams is to learn as much as possible about the incident so they can remove the threat from their systems. Organizations can analyze each link in the chain of events that led up to the incident.

There are several instances where performing a root cause analysis is helpful, such as when problems are first identified or a quick fix is necessary.

The 3 Types of Root Causes

A root cause can fall into one of three categories: Physical, human, or organizational. Learn more about each type below.

Physical

If a physical piece of hardware breaks down or fails, it could cause a potential security problem for IT staff. Cybercriminals will use any means to gain access to a corporate network, and going after broken hardware is no exception.

Human

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 81% of hacking-related data breaches had a root cause of weak or stolen passwords from employees. Human employees are the first defense against external cybersecurity threats, which is why training is so important. The average employee might not know enough about cybersecurity to practice good cyber hygiene, opening companies up to more cyber risks.

Organizational

Root causes under the organizational category occur when company leaders make administrative mistakes. For example, if a marketing team fails to update its content management software (CMS), it could leave them vulnerable to a cyber incident.

Understanding 3 Root Cause Analysis Methods

Organizations can choose from three root cause analysis methods – mapping, the “5 Whys,” and Fishbone – for security incident response. Learn more about these three methods below.

Mapping

After an incident occurs, teams can use the root cause analysis mapping method, which involves creating a detailed cause map. The map creates a visualization of data to help leaders respond to the incident appropriately. It should answer three essential questions:

• What type of incident happened
• Why the incident happened
• What actions to take to prevent the same incidents in the future

The map should connect all individual cause-and-effect relationships so it eventually reveals the root cause of the incident.

The “5 Whys”

The “5 Whys” root cause analysis approach is another way to determine an incident’s root cause. The only thing a company needs to do with this approach is to ask the question “Why?” five times consecutively. By asking the question, finding an answer, and questioning “Why?” again, IT teams can reach the heart of the issue.

While using this approach, continue asking why and other questions like when, what, and how. Keep in mind that some root causes are a symptom of another root cause, so you might have to ask why more than five times!

Fishbone

The Fishbone root cause analysis, also known as the Ishikawa diagram, is the third method one can use to identify root causes. As mentioned before, an incident can occur due to a larger problem. The Ishikawa diagram is helpful in determining the symptoms of a problem versus the root cause.

Originally, the Ishikawa diagram was used to monitor quality-control issues in the shipbuilding industry. Now, the diagram is widely used by companies in a variety of industries, such as cybersecurity, marketing, and finance.

6 Essential Steps to Conduct a Root Cause Analysis

Employees with knowledge of the subject matter, cybersecurity expertise, or a direct connection to the incident should be involved in all root cause analyses. No matter which method a company uses, IT and SecOps must work together to find the root cause of a cybersecurity incident to boost their defenses and mitigate future risks.

Here are six steps companies should follow to conduct an effective root cause analysis.

1. Define Event

Once an action or incident response team forms, the next step is to define the event. Was it a data breach? Was it a social-engineering attack? Define the specific details of the incident.

2. Identify Potential Causes

The second step is to identify any potential causes of the issue. It might help if the security team organizes potential causes by categorizing them as physical, human, or organizational.

3. Finding the Root Cause

After time spent deliberating, use the process of elimination to determine the root cause of the cyber incident. Did an employee use a weak password? Was someone using an outdated software solution? Now is the time to decide the method of attack used, the suspected party, and any impacted customers, clients, and employees.

4. Find a Solution

The main purpose of an incident response plan is to find a solution to the problem. One reason why root cause analyses work so well is because, once the root cause is identified, it’s much easier for cybersecurity professionals to rectify the issue.

5. Implement Solution

After coming up with a feasible solution to the attack, implement it. Let all parties involved know about what’s happened, and always be transparent about attacks. If customer data was hacked, it’s critical they’re made aware of the attack so they can take prompt action.

6. Monitor

Once the solution is implemented, the IT and SecOps teams should monitor its effectiveness. No organization wants to follow these steps and conduct a root cause analysis unless the issues can be avoided in the future. The monitoring step is just as important as the other steps in a root cause analysis approach.

Using RCA in the Cybersecurity Industry

In the general cybersecurity industry, it’s important to gather data and glean insights before making any decisions. RCA provides the information an incident response team needs in order to recover from an attack. Companies should refer to the tips outlined above when handling cybersecurity attacks to prevent future breaches.