OpenSecOps Newsletter #5
The Problem
When SOAR's internal infrastructure components experience failures, the system generates basic alerts like "The SOARASFFProcessor state machine has failed" or "The SOARAutoRemediations state machine has failed." However, these minimal alerts provided insufficient context for operations teams to understand:
The specific purpose and criticality of the failed component
Whether the failure was an isolated incident or part of a systemic issue
Targeted troubleshooting steps specific to the failed component
The operational impact and appropriate response urgency
This lack of component-specific diagnostic information made it difficult to prioritize response efforts and apply the right troubleshooting approach for each type of infrastructure failure.
The Solution
OpenSecOps SOAR v2.2.1 enhances AI-powered incident analysis with comprehensive knowledge of all monitored SOAR infrastructure components. The AI now understands the purpose and function of every state machine and Lambda function, enabling it to provide:
Component-Specific Analysis: Detailed explanations of what each failed component does and its role in the security automation pipeline
Targeted Recommendations: Specific debugging steps tailored to the type of component that failed (e.g., GenAI integration checks for AI report failures, cross-account role verification for multi-account operations)
Impact Assessment: Precise understanding of how each component's failure affects overall security operations
Investigation Guidance: Clear criteria for when to investigate systemic issues versus treating events as isolated operational occurrences
Architecture Context: Explanations that emphasize the serverless, stateless design ensuring individual failures don't compromise overall system functionality
The AI now has built-in knowledge of all Foundation and SOAR infrastructure components, from core security processing (ASFF Processor, Auto-Remediations, Incidents) to operational functions (log processing, tagging, reporting), enabling targeted, actionable incident analysis.
Additional Improvements
Enhanced Error Resilience: Added comprehensive state machine error handling across all 30+ autoremediation functions with centralized fallback-to-ticketing coverage
Simplified Error Handling: Streamlined error handling in IAM.8, S3.3, and EC2.6 autoremediations for improved reliability
100% Error Coverage: Implemented centralized SetAutoremediationNotDone state ensuring no failures go unaddressed
Automatic Update
This improvement is automatically active for all SOAR installations - no configuration changes required. The enhanced AI analysis with comprehensive infrastructure knowledge will apply to all new infrastructure incidents and weekly reports, providing operations teams with targeted, actionable guidance for every type of component failure.
This release continues our commitment to providing intelligent, context-aware operational guidance for maintaining robust security automation.