The Transformed Blue Team Defined: Mandate, Functions and Degrees of Delegation

All courses / AI Blue / Module 1 / Chapter 4

Learning objectives

After the lesson the participant can:

Classify response actions into the classes AC-0 to AC-4 and state the default ceiling of each
Apply the six rules of the delegation profile to a proposed delegation
Explain who answers when AI closed an alert and an analyst accepted the closure
Draft a team charter extract and first delegation profile entries with named owners, stop holders and review dates

Key concepts

Team charter: A versioned artefact, identified as ROLE-*, that states the team's mandate (scope, authority, obligation), its decision rights and what is not delegable to any system. It is owned by the CISO and the SOC lead.
Delegation profile: The artefact, identified as DLG-*, that states for every capability the usage mode and the level at which it may act, per function and action class. An unlisted action is not delegated and the lowest ceiling governs.
Action classes AC-0 to AC-4: AC-0 Preserve and AC-1 Narrow and reversible have a default ceiling of Level 3 Bounded; AC-2 Wide or business-critical and AC-3 Partly reversible, or about a person, Level 2 Supervised; AC-4 Irreversible or external, Level 1 Assisted.
Delegation register: The sum of what has been delegated. Each row records the delegation, function and class, level, the record that granted it, the fallback if the AI is removed and the date of the next reversibility test.
Asymmetry of the stop right: Raising a level is a recorded decision by the named grant authority; lowering a level or stopping an agent can be done at once by any holder of the stop right. Restart is the owner's decision after review.

Interactive exercises

Do them here and get feedback at once. Choose a card and then where it belongs, or drag it.

Interactive exercise 1 · Match

The stack of artefacts

Match each artefact of the transformed blue team with the question the chapter says it answers.

Interactive exercise 2 · Scenario

A class that should not keep closing

Use the chapter's decision table and its asymmetry between raising and lowering a level.

Teaching plan

15 min	Teacher presentation of the stack of artefacts: charter, delegation profile, mandate manifest, playbook manifest, delegation register and AI Decision Record, with owner and pace of change.
15 min	Classification drill: participants place twelve response actions in AC-0 to AC-4 and state the default ceiling; disagreements are resolved with the lowest-ceiling rule.
15 min	Close reading of the two worked profiles: what Hansa Mutual runs below its ceiling and what Nordvik Region records as not established.
40 min	Exercise: groups run a compressed version of the working session in the practical guide and produce a first delegation profile.
20 min	Case discussion of the missed intrusion that AI closed and an analyst accepted, using the four points on accountability, then a review of the triggers table.

Discussion

Both organisations use Level 4 for no action at all, a stronger position than the rule requires. What does a bright line make cheaper, and what might it cost?
At Nordvik Region the CISO is both owner and grant authority. How does the charter compensate, and would that compensation be enough in your organisation?
The chapter says 'the AI closed it' is a statement of mechanism, not of responsibility. How would a post-incident review in your organisation need to change to honour that?

Written exercise

Exercise · 40 minutes

A first delegation profile in one working session

Work as the authors named in the practical guide. Inventory the AI capabilities of your team, or of Hansa Mutual's group SOC as the chapter describes it, by name, usage mode and identity. For each, list what it can do and give each action a response class from AC-0 to AC-4, or mark it as having no effect on the estate. Set the level for each action so that the lowest ceiling governs, keep Modes 1 to 3 at or below Level 2, and name the playbook and policy decision point for every Level 3 entry. Name the owner, the stop holders, the grant authority and the decider. Add a reversibility test date and the not-delegable block.

Deliverable: A delegation profile of at least six entries with function, capability, mode, action, class, level, named owner, stop holder and review date, plus the first rows of a delegation register.

Your work

Self-test

Choose an answer to see whether it is right, or open the answer below each question.

What is the default ceiling for an AC-3 action, such as disabling the account of a named user?
Show the answer
C. Level 2 Supervised, with a named human approver
AC-3 covers actions that are partly reversible or about a person; the default ceiling is Level 2 Supervised with a named human approver. The decision table adds that the agent never decides it.
According to the profile rules, what happens to a Level 3 entry that does not name the playbook or closure policy that bounds it and its enforcement by a policy decision point outside the model?
Show the answer
B. It counts as Level 2, because Level 3 must name its enforcement
Rule 4 states that Level 3 names its enforcement; without the playbook or closure policy and an external policy decision point, the entry is Level 2.
What does the review default prescribe when a delegation fails its reversibility test?
Show the answer
D. The entry drops one level at once and further delegation in its function is frozen
The triggers table sets the default for a failed reversibility test as immediate: the entry drops one level and new delegation in its function is frozen.