Cybersecurity: When Plans Meet Reality (And Chaos Grins Back)

Ah, cybersecurity. If you’re looking for a realm where humans combine boundless ingenuity with an almost gravitational pull toward catastrophe, you’ve found your nirvana. This week, two particularly juicy morsels emerged from the ever-churning digital cauldron: a draft plan from the U.S. government outlining how we should all respond to cyber incidents, and a cybersecurity firm demonstrating, in spectacular fashion, why such plans are necessary. It’s a little like announcing a new fire safety protocol while the fire trucks are racing down the street.

Let’s start with the more optimistic note: the National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP), a draft lovingly crafted by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Now, if you’re the sort of person who has ever read the instructions for assembling an IKEA bookcase and thought, this is too exciting for me, you’re going to love the NCIRP. It’s essentially a roadmap for dealing with “significant cyber incidents,” which, for the uninitiated, are the sorts of events that make government officials twitch and CEOs break into a cold sweat.

These aren’t your garden-variety mishaps like forgetting your Netflix password. No, we’re talking about the kind of cyberattacks that could disrupt national security, tank the economy, or—heaven forbid—make the Wi-Fi go down. The NCIRP, rather sensibly, doesn’t try to dictate every move for such scenarios. Instead, it offers a structure—a kind of choose-your-own-adventure for disaster management, though hopefully with fewer dragons and more coordinated government responses.

The plan outlines key roles for everyone from private companies to tribal governments, which sounds noble until you realize it’s a bit like asking everyone at Thanksgiving dinner to pitch in with the cooking. In theory, it’s a wonderful idea. In practice, the turkey’s still frozen, the stuffing’s on fire, and Aunt Susan’s arguing with Uncle Bob about whose job it was to bring the mashed potatoes.

Still, one has to admire the sheer optimism of it all. The NCIRP even has a section encouraging public comment on the draft. By January 15, no less. I’d wager a solid half of those comments will be variations of “Good luck with that.”

Now, speaking of good luck, let’s pivot to BeyondTrust, a cybersecurity company that just got a very public reminder of why the NCIRP exists. In early December, they detected what can only be described as “anomalous behavior” in their Remote Support SaaS instances. For those unfamiliar with corporate euphemisms, “anomalous behavior” in cybersecurity circles usually translates to something like the cat is in the bag, the bag is on fire, and we have no idea where the bag is.

Sure enough, hackers had managed to exploit an API key to reset passwords for local accounts. BeyondTrust responded admirably, swiftly revoking the compromised key and notifying customers. Unfortunately, they also discovered two vulnerabilities—one so severe it might as well have come with a neon sign that read, “Hackers, this way!”

These vulnerabilities—dubbed CVE-2024-12356 and CVE-2024-12686, because even disasters in cybersecurity need names—allowed attackers to execute commands remotely and upload malicious files. It’s unclear whether these flaws were actively exploited, but you can bet the hackers are grinning like Cheshire cats either way.

And here lies the irony: BeyondTrust is a company that specializes in securing privileged access. They’re the cybersecurity equivalent of a locksmith, and yet here they are, trying to explain why the back door was left wide open. It’s not that they handled things poorly—they didn’t. They patched the vulnerabilities, updated customers, and brought in third-party experts to investigate. But it’s a stark reminder that even the most secure fortresses have cracks.

The Big Picture: Chaos, Plans, and the Spaces In Between

What ties these two stories together is the unavoidable truth that cybersecurity is, at its core, a tug-of-war between planning and improvisation. The NCIRP is a shining example of forward-thinking organization, while BeyondTrust’s breach showcases the reality that even the best-laid plans are often tested by forces no one can fully predict.

The good news is that both stories highlight progress. The NCIRP shows a growing recognition that cyberattacks are not just IT problems but societal ones. And BeyondTrust’s response—swift, transparent, and thorough—demonstrates that while breaches are inevitable, how we handle them makes all the difference.

The bad news? Cybersecurity is like Whac-A-Mole on steroids. For every vulnerability patched, a dozen new ones pop up. For every clever response plan, there’s an equally clever attacker waiting to throw a wrench in the works.

Still, one can’t help but marvel at the sheer drama of it all. Somewhere, right now, someone is poring over the NCIRP draft, tweaking its sections on incident detection and response. Elsewhere, BeyondTrust’s team is probably guzzling coffee and sifting through logs, trying to ensure the next attack isn’t as catastrophic.

And here we are, caught between their efforts, hoping the next breach isn’t our password or our website. But hey, at least it’s never boring.