Network Operations

A 90-Minute Threat Resolution Case Every CIO & CISO Should Know About

The Situation: On a routine afternoon, CommandLink’s Network Detection & Response (NDR) platform identified inbound traffic from an external IP address originating in Brazil targeting a regional banking customer’s network.

While the connection was encrypted over port 443 (HTTPS), a common and typically benign protocol, the source IP was flagged as suspicious by our monitoring system.

Rather than dismissing the traffic as routine internet noise, our proactive SOC initiated an immediate investigation.

----- The Investigation -----

Within minutes of the alert:

1️⃣ Our SOC analyst verified the IP address against multiple global threat intelligence databases.
2️⃣ The IP was confirmed to be associated with known malicious activity.
3️⃣ Analysts reviewed connection logs to determine:
- Number of attempts
- Direction of traffic
- Port usage
- Whether any outbound communication occurred

The investigation confirmed:

🔵 Six inbound connection attempts
🔵 No outbound traffic (indicating no command-and-control communication)
🔵 No evidence of compromise inside the customer environment

Although no breach occurred, the risk was real, and proactive containment was critical.

----- The Response -----

Immediately following validation:

1️⃣ The SOC escalated to our Network Operations Center (NOC).
2️⃣ Tier 3 engineers initiated a block on the malicious IP.
3️⃣ The customer was notified within minutes of confirmation.

The customer requested a live call for clarity and transparency. Our SOC & NOC teams joined the call together, providing:

🔵 Background on the malicious IP
🔵 Confirmation of no internal compromise
🔵 Details of the blocking action taken
🔵 Recommendations for additional geographic filtering review

The entire incident, from alert creation to remediation, was resolved in approximately 90 minutes.

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