During a routine review, a security analyst observes large data transfers occurring outside of business hours from a high-level executive's account to an unknown external server. The executive usually accesses sensitive financial records during standard business hours. Which of the following actions should the analyst investigate as a priority to determine if this is an incident?
Check the integrity of backup files for possible corruption
Verify if the executive was actually responsible for the transfers
Examine the firewall rules for any recent changes
Immediately change the executive account's password
While all the actions listed might be necessary parts of a broader investigation, the first step should be to verify if the executive was actually responsible for the data transfers. This involves checking if the executive’s credentials were used during that time, and if those actions are consistent with the executive's normal work pattern or could be justified by special circumstances. If the executive did not initiate those transfers, it could indicate account compromise, an insider threat, or misuse of credentials which would require immediate action.
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Why is it important to verify if the executive was actually responsible for the transfers?
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What constitutes a typical work pattern for an executive in terms of data access?
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What are the consequences of account compromise in this scenario?