Incident Object

Incident Information about computer security incident response. A computer security incident is a violation or imminent threat of violation of computer security policies, acceptable use policies, or standard security practices. Incidents pertain to one or more adverse events, each of which is modeled as a sighting.

Property	Type	Description	Required?
confidence	HighMedLowString	Represents the level of certainty or trustworthiness associated with the incident. It denotes the reliability of the intelligence associated with the incident. The confidence field can take on several values, including: - info: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with no previous track record or there is no track record for the source reporting the incident. - low: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with a questionable track record or there is limited information about the accuracy of the source. - medium: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with a mixed track record or of uncertain reliability. - high: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with a proven track record and high degree of reliability. The confidence field can be used to indicate the level of trust and confidence that can be attributed to the incident, and it may impact how the incident is prioritized, analyzed and addressed. It can also help in the decision-making process associated with the incident response activities. It is important to note that the confidence field is subjective and can be interpreted differently by different organizations or analysts. As such, it is often used in conjunction with other intelligence attributes, such as the severity field, to provide a more complete picture of the incident.	✓
id	String	Globally unique URI identifying this object.	✓
incident_time	IncidentTime Object	Relevant time values associated with this Incident.	✓
schema_version	String	CTIM schema version for this entity.	✓
status	StatusString	The status field represents the current state of an incident within the incident management process. Its values help in tracking and reporting the progress of the incident from its discovery to its resolution.	✓
type	IncidentTypeIdentifierString		✓
assignees	ShortStringString List	A set of owners assigned to this incident.
categories	IncidentCategoryString List	A set of categories for this incident.
description	MarkdownString	A description of object, which may be detailed.
discovery_method	DiscoveryMethodString	Identifies how the incident was discovered.
external_ids	String List	It is used to store a list of external identifiers that can be linked to the incident, providing a reliable and manageable way to correlate and group related events across multiple data sources. It is especially useful in larger organizations that rely on multiple security information and event management (SIEM) systems to detect security incidents. For instance, it can be used to track events across different network sensors, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS), or log management platforms. The field can also be used to facilitate automation and orchestration workflows, where additional information can be shared among incident management systems. It can be used to cross-reference with other external tools such as threat intelligence feeds and vulnerability scanners.
external_references	ExternalReference Object List	Specifies a list of external references which refers to non-CTIM information. Similar to external_ids field with major differences: - external_ids field is used to store a list of external identifiers that can be used to link entities across different data sources. These identifiers are typically standardized and well-known, such as CVE IDs, US-CERT advisories, or other industry-standard threat intelligence feeds. The external_ids field can be used to facilitate automation and orchestration workflows, where additional information can be shared among incident management systems. - external_references field, on the other hand, is used to provide a more general mechanism for linking entities to external sources of information. The external_references field can include references to blog posts, articles, external documents, threat intelligence reports, and other sources of information that may not have a standardized format or identifier.
intended_effect	IntendedEffectString	Specifies the suspected intended effect of this incident
language	ShortStringString	The language field is used to specify the primary language of the affected system or the target of an attack. It can be used to provide additional context and information about the entity. The primary purpose of this field is to help analysts filter and prioritize entities based on their knowledge and expertise of different languages. For example, if an incident involves an attack on a system in a country where a specific language is predominant, the language field can be used to indicate that language, which can help analysts to quickly identify and respond to incidents that may be geographically or culturally relevant. This information can be used to prioritize incidents based on their potential impact. The language field can also be used to help with correlation of incidents across different systems and regions, as well as to help with data analysis and reporting.
meta	MetaData Object	metadata associated to the incident.
promotion_method	PromotionMethodString	Describes method for promoting an Incident, whether manually or automatically. An Incident may be created manually by a SOAR analyst or SOC operator, or through an automated correlation or aggregation rule or engine that matches a specific set of events or alerts, and promotes them to Incident(s).
revision	Integer	A monotonically increasing revision, incremented each time the object is changed.
scores	IncidentScores Object	Used to indicate the severity or impact score of the threat represented by the incident.
severity	SeverityString	Represents the potential impact of an incident on an organization's security posture and business operations. It helps organizations prioritize and allocate resources for incident response based on the severity level of the incident It helps analysts and incident handlers prioritize incidents by indicating the level of risk and potential impact associated with the incident. This enables organizations to allocate resources efficiently and address the most critical incidents first. Can also be used to generate reports and metrics for measuring the effectiveness of the incident response process and to identify trends and patterns in the threat landscape. It is important to note that the severity field is subjective and can be interpreted differently by different organizations or analysts. Therefore, it should be used in conjunction with other intelligence attributes, such as the confidence field, to provide a more comprehensive view of the incident.
short_description	MedStringString	A single line, short summary of the object.
source	MedStringString	Represents the source of the intelligence that led to the creation of the entity.
source_uri	String	URI of the source of the intelligence that led to the creation of the entity.
tactics	ShortStringString List	Represents the offensive techniques, approaches, or procedures that an adversary may use to achieve their objectives during an attack. It helps in understanding the intent and capabilities of the adversary and can be used to identify indicators of attack (IoAs) or indicators of compromise (IoCs) that are associated with the adversary's tactics.
techniques	ShortStringString List	Represents the specific methods or actions used by an attacker to carry out an offensive maneuver or achieve their goals.
timestamp	Inst (Date)	The time this object was created at, or last modified.
title	ShortStringString	A short title for this object, used as primary display and reference value.
tlp	TLPString	TLP stands for Traffic Light Protocol, which indicates precisely how a resource is intended to be shared, replicated, copied, etc. It is used to indicate the sensitivity of the information contained within the message. This allows recipients to determine the appropriate handling and dissemination of the information based on their clearance level and need-to-know. For example, an entity containing information about a critical vulnerability in a widely-used software might be marked as red, indicating that it should only be shared with a small group of highly trusted individuals who need to know in order to take appropriate action. On the other hand, a message containing more general information about security threats might be marked as amber or green, indicating that it can be shared more broadly within an organization.

Property assignees ∷ ShortStringString List

A set of owners assigned to this incident.

• This entry is optional

• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

  • ShortString String with at most 1024 characters.

Property categories ∷ IncidentCategoryString List

A set of categories for this incident.

• This entry is optional

• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

  • Allowed Values:
    • Attrition
    • Denial of Service
    • Exercise
    • Exercise/Network Defense Testing
    • Explained Anomaly
    • Forensics
    • Improper Usage
    • Intelligence
    • Investigating
    • Investigation
    • Malicious Code
    • Malicious Logic
    • Non-Compliant
    • Reconnaissance
    • Root Level
    • Scans/Probes/Attempted Access
    • Unauthorized Access
    • Unsuccessful
    • User Level
    • eDiscovery

Property confidence ∷ HighMedLowString

Represents the level of certainty or trustworthiness associated with the incident. It denotes the reliability of the intelligence associated with the incident. The confidence field can take on several values, including:

• info: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with no previous track record or there is no track record for the source reporting the incident.
• low: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with a questionable track record or there is limited information about the accuracy of the source.
• medium: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with a mixed track record or of uncertain reliability.
• high: Indicates that the incident information is based on sources with a proven track record and high degree of reliability. The confidence field can be used to indicate the level of trust and confidence that can be attributed to the incident, and it may impact how the incident is prioritized, analyzed and addressed. It can also help in the decision-making process associated with the incident response activities. It is important to note that the confidence field is subjective and can be interpreted differently by different organizations or analysts. As such, it is often used in conjunction with other intelligence attributes, such as the severity field, to provide a more complete picture of the incident.

• This entry is required

  • Allowed Values:
    • High
    • Info
    • Low
    • Medium
    • None
    • Unknown
  • Reference: HighMedLowVocab

Property description ∷ MarkdownString

A description of object, which may be detailed.

• This entry is optional

  • Markdown Markdown string with at most 5000 characters.

Property discovery_method ∷ DiscoveryMethodString

Identifies how the incident was discovered.

• This entry is optional

  • Allowed Values:
    • Agent Disclosure
    • Antivirus
    • Audit
    • Customer
    • External - Fraud Detection
    • Financial Audit
    • HIPS
    • IT Audit
    • Incident Response
    • Internal - Fraud Detection
    • Law Enforcement
    • Log Review
    • Monitoring Service
    • NIDS
    • Security Alarm
    • Unknown
    • Unrelated Party
    • User

Property external_ids ∷ String List

It is used to store a list of external identifiers that can be linked to the incident, providing a reliable and manageable way to correlate and group related events across multiple data sources. It is especially useful in larger organizations that rely on multiple security information and event management (SIEM) systems to detect security incidents. For instance, it can be used to track events across different network sensors, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS), or log management platforms. The field can also be used to facilitate automation and orchestration workflows, where additional information can be shared among incident management systems. It can be used to cross-reference with other external tools such as threat intelligence feeds and vulnerability scanners.

• This entry is optional
• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

Property external_references ∷ ExternalReference Object List

Specifies a list of external references which refers to non-CTIM information.

Similar to external_ids field with major differences:

• external_ids field is used to store a list of external identifiers that can be used to link entities across different data sources. These identifiers are typically standardized and well-known, such as CVE IDs, US-CERT advisories, or other industry-standard threat intelligence feeds. The external_ids field can be used to facilitate automation and orchestration workflows, where additional information can be shared among incident management systems.

• external_references field, on the other hand, is used to provide a more general mechanism for linking entities to external sources of information. The external_references field can include references to blog posts, articles, external documents, threat intelligence reports, and other sources of information that may not have a standardized format or identifier.

• This entry is optional
• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

• ExternalReference Object Value
  • Details: ExternalReference Object

Property id ∷ String

Globally unique URI identifying this object.

• This entry is required

  • IDs are URIs, for example https://www.domain.com/ctia/judgement/judgement-de305d54-75b4-431b-adb2-eb6b9e546014 for a Judgement. This ID type compares to the STIX id field. The optional STIX idref field is not used.

Property incident_time ∷ IncidentTime Object

Relevant time values associated with this Incident.

• This entry is required
• Dev Notes: Was 'time'; renamed for clarity

• IncidentTime Object Value
  • Details: IncidentTime Object

Property intended_effect ∷ IntendedEffectString

Specifies the suspected intended effect of this incident

• This entry is optional

  • Allowed Values:
    • Account Takeover
    • Advantage
    • Advantage - Economic
    • Advantage - Military
    • Advantage - Political
    • Brand Damage
    • Competitive Advantage
    • Degradation of Service
    • Denial and Deception
    • Destruction
    • Disruption
    • Embarrassment
    • Exposure
    • Extortion
    • Fraud
    • Harassment
    • ICS Control
    • Theft
    • Theft - Credential Theft
    • Theft - Identity Theft
    • Theft - Intellectual Property
    • Theft - Theft of Proprietary Information
    • Traffic Diversion
    • Unauthorized Access

Property language ∷ ShortStringString

The language field is used to specify the primary language of the affected system or the target of an attack. It can be used to provide additional context and information about the entity. The primary purpose of this field is to help analysts filter and prioritize entities based on their knowledge and expertise of different languages.

For example, if an incident involves an attack on a system in a country where a specific language is predominant, the language field can be used to indicate that language, which can help analysts to quickly identify and respond to incidents that may be geographically or culturally relevant. This information can be used to prioritize incidents based on their potential impact. The language field can also be used to help with correlation of incidents across different systems and regions, as well as to help with data analysis and reporting.

• This entry is optional

  • ShortString String with at most 1024 characters.

Property meta ∷ MetaData Object

metadata associated to the incident.

• This entry is optional

• MetaData Object Value
  • Details: MetaData Object

Property promotion_method ∷ PromotionMethodString

Describes method for promoting an Incident, whether manually or automatically. An Incident may be created manually by a SOAR analyst or SOC operator, or through an automated correlation or aggregation rule or engine that matches a specific set of events or alerts, and promotes them to Incident(s).

• This entry is optional

  • Allowed Values:
    • Automated
    • Manual

Property revision ∷ Integer

A monotonically increasing revision, incremented each time the object is changed.

• This entry is optional

  • Zero, or a positive integer.

Property schema_version ∷ String

CTIM schema version for this entity.

• This entry is required

  • A semantic version matching the CTIM version against which this object should be valid.

Property scores ∷ IncidentScores Object

Used to indicate the severity or impact score of the threat represented by the incident.

• This entry is optional

• IncidentScores Object Value
  • Details: IncidentScores Object

Property severity ∷ SeverityString

Represents the potential impact of an incident on an organization's security posture and business operations. It helps organizations prioritize and allocate resources for incident response based on the severity level of the incident It helps analysts and incident handlers prioritize incidents by indicating the level of risk and potential impact associated with the incident. This enables organizations to allocate resources efficiently and address the most critical incidents first. Can also be used to generate reports and metrics for measuring the effectiveness of the incident response process and to identify trends and patterns in the threat landscape. It is important to note that the severity field is subjective and can be interpreted differently by different organizations or analysts. Therefore, it should be used in conjunction with other intelligence attributes, such as the confidence field, to provide a more comprehensive view of the incident.

• This entry is optional

  • Allowed Values:
    • Critical
    • High
    • Info
    • Low
    • Medium
    • None
    • Unknown

Property short_description ∷ MedStringString

A single line, short summary of the object.

• This entry is optional

  • MedString String with at most 2048 characters.

Property source ∷ MedStringString

Represents the source of the intelligence that led to the creation of the entity.

• This entry is optional

  • MedString String with at most 2048 characters.

Property source_uri ∷ String

URI of the source of the intelligence that led to the creation of the entity.

• This entry is optional

  • A URI

Property status ∷ StatusString

The status field represents the current state of an incident within the incident management process. Its values help in tracking and reporting the progress of the incident from its discovery to its resolution.

• This entry is required

  • Allowed Values:
    • Closed
    • Closed: Confirmed Threat
    • Closed: False Positive
    • Closed: Near-Miss
    • Closed: Other
    • Closed: Suspected
    • Closed: Under Review
    • Containment Achieved
    • Hold
    • Hold: External
    • Hold: Internal
    • Hold: Legal
    • Incident Reported
    • New
    • New: Presented
    • New: Processing
    • Open
    • Open: Contained
    • Open: Investigating
    • Open: Recovered
    • Open: Reported
    • Rejected
    • Restoration Achieved
    • Stalled

Property tactics ∷ ShortStringString List

Represents the offensive techniques, approaches, or procedures that an adversary may use to achieve their objectives during an attack. It helps in understanding the intent and capabilities of the adversary and can be used to identify indicators of attack (IoAs) or indicators of compromise (IoCs) that are associated with the adversary's tactics.

• This entry is optional

• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

  • ShortString String with at most 1024 characters.

Property techniques ∷ ShortStringString List

Represents the specific methods or actions used by an attacker to carry out an offensive maneuver or achieve their goals.

• This entry is optional

• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

  • ShortString String with at most 1024 characters.

Property timestamp ∷ Inst (Date)

The time this object was created at, or last modified.

• This entry is optional

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

Property title ∷ ShortStringString

A short title for this object, used as primary display and reference value.

• This entry is optional

  • ShortString String with at most 1024 characters.

Property tlp ∷ TLPString

TLP stands for Traffic Light Protocol, which indicates precisely how a resource is intended to be shared, replicated, copied, etc.

It is used to indicate the sensitivity of the information contained within the message. This allows recipients to determine the appropriate handling and dissemination of the information based on their clearance level and need-to-know.

For example, an entity containing information about a critical vulnerability in a widely-used software might be marked as red, indicating that it should only be shared with a small group of highly trusted individuals who need to know in order to take appropriate action. On the other hand, a message containing more general information about security threats might be marked as amber or green, indicating that it can be shared more broadly within an organization.

• This entry is optional

  • Default: green
  • Allowed Values:
    • amber
    • green
    • red
    • white

Property type ∷ IncidentTypeIdentifierString

• This entry is required

  • Must equal: "incident"

ExternalReference Object

ExternalReference External references are used to describe pointers to information represented outside of CTIM. For example, a Malware object could use an external reference to indicate an ID for that malware in an external database or a report could use references to represent source material.

Property	Type	Description	Required?
source_name	MedStringString	The source within which the external-reference is defined (system, registry, organization, etc.)	✓
description	MarkdownString
external_id	String	An identifier for the external reference content.
hashes	String List	Specifies a dictionary of hashes for the contents of the url.
url	String	A URL reference to an external resource.

• Reference: External Reference

Property description ∷ MarkdownString

• This entry is optional

  • Markdown Markdown string with at most 5000 characters.

Property external_id ∷ String

An identifier for the external reference content.

• This entry is optional

Property hashes ∷ String List

Specifies a dictionary of hashes for the contents of the url.

• This entry is optional
• This entry's type is sequential (allows zero or more values)

Property source_name ∷ MedStringString

The source within which the external-reference is defined (system, registry, organization, etc.)

• This entry is required

  • MedString String with at most 2048 characters.

Property url ∷ String

A URL reference to an external resource.

• This entry is optional

  • A URI

IncidentTime Object

Property	Type	Description	Required?
opened	Inst (Date)	Time the incident was first opened.	✓
closed	Inst (Date)	Time that the incident was last closed.
discovered	Inst (Date)	Time the incident was first discovered.
rejected	Inst (Date)	Time that the incident was first rejected.
remediated	Inst (Date)	Time that the remediation of the damage from the incident was completed.
reported	Inst (Date)	Time the incident was first reported.

Property closed ∷ Inst (Date)

Time that the incident was last closed.

• This entry is optional

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

Property discovered ∷ Inst (Date)

Time the incident was first discovered.

• This entry is optional

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

Property opened ∷ Inst (Date)

Time the incident was first opened.

• This entry is required

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

Property rejected ∷ Inst (Date)

Time that the incident was first rejected.

• This entry is optional

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

Property remediated ∷ Inst (Date)

Time that the remediation of the damage from the incident was completed.

• This entry is optional

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

Property reported ∷ Inst (Date)

Time the incident was first reported.

• This entry is optional

  • ISO8601 Timestamp Schema definition for all date or timestamp values. Serialized as a string, the field should follow the rules of the ISO8601 standard.

MetaData Object

Property	Type	Description	Required?
Keyword	String	custom field relevant to attach meta data to.

Property Keyword ∷ Either

custom field relevant to attach meta data to.

• This entry is optional

  • Only one of the following schemas will match

IncidentScores Object

Property	Type	Description	Required?
Keyword	Number	Field is used to indicate the severity or impact of the threat represented by the incident. It's an open-type dictionary object with score types and numeric value of the score. For example, systems can have the following score types: - asset - assesses the potential damage or harm that the threat can cause to the affected asset(s). The scale ranges from 0 to 10, with 10 indicating the highest potential harm. - global - assesses the overall impact or significance of the threat to the organization or wider community. The scale ranges from 0 to 1000, with 1000 indicating the highest impact. - ttp - a measure of the threat actor's proficiency in utilizing TTPs. Typically, ranges from 0-100, with a higher score indicating a greater threat or concern.

Property Keyword ∷ Number

Field is used to indicate the severity or impact of the threat represented by the incident. It's an open-type dictionary object with score types and numeric value of the score.

For example, systems can have the following score types:

• asset - assesses the potential damage or harm that the threat can cause to the affected asset(s). The scale ranges from 0 to 10, with 10 indicating the highest potential harm.

• global - assesses the overall impact or significance of the threat to the organization or wider community. The scale ranges from 0 to 1000, with 1000 indicating the highest impact.

• ttp - a measure of the threat actor's proficiency in utilizing TTPs. Typically, ranges from 0-100, with a higher score indicating a greater threat or concern.

• This entry is optional

  • Allowed Values:

    • :asset
    • :global
    • :ttp

  • A non-negative score number.