Why an overlay, not a replacement. The thesis.

This file is one self-contained piece of the AI IR Overlay™ framework. Cross-references to other pieces point to other packages in the same set, which you can obtain at jacobideji.com. —

The AI IR Overlay: Framework Overview

License: Apache 2.0 Latest release Standards: NIST · OWASP · ISO/IEC

Establishing the minimum standard for safe and effective operations of AI agents in production.

Why an overlay, not a replacement

Traditional incident response (codified in NIST SP 800-61 r3, which superseded r2 in April 2025) was built around unauthorized access vectors: malware, exploits, credential theft, lateral movement. AI agents change the failure mode.

AI incidents often manifest through authorized channels:

When the actor is authorized, the question shifts from “who got in?” to “what could it touch, and what did it do?” Crucial evidence now lives in prompts, tool calls, retrieval traces, and configuration state. Not on endpoints.

What stays the same

The core mechanics of effective incident response remain unchanged:

AI doesn’t rewrite the rules of effective IR. It changes the map.

The Overlay model

The AI IR Overlay adds four agent-aware controls (the Minimum Viable Overlay, or MVO) on top of your existing IR program.

Note: The NIST 800-61 r2 phases shown below remain widely understood operational shorthand. r3 (April 2025) restructures incident response around CSF 2.0 functions (Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover). See the AI IR Overlay to CSF 2.0 crosswalk at crosswalks/nist-csf-2.md.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                NIST 800-61 IR Lifecycle                 │
│  Preparation → Detection → Containment → Eradication →  │
│              Recovery → Post-Incident                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                          │
                          ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              AI IR Overlay · MVO Controls               │
│                                                         │
│  1. INVENTORY     · Agents · Identities · Tools ·       │
│                     Write Targets                       │
│  2. SAFE MODES    · Kill-Switch Ladder (Modes 0 to 5)   │
│  3. EVIDENCE      · Minimum AI Evidence Set (A–F)       │
│  4. CONTROLLED    · Staged, validated re-enablement     │
│     RE-ENABLE                                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Reading order

Read the framework in this order. Items 1 through 6 are the core. Items 7 through 9 are the working artifacts.

  1. The Minimum Viable Overlay. The four controls in detail: framework/01-minimum-viable-overlay.md
  2. The Mental Model. Four sentences that govern every decision: framework/02-mental-model.md
  3. The Maturity Roadmap. Where your program is, and how to advance it: framework/03-maturity-roadmap.md
  4. The Six Triage Questions. First-hour discipline: triage/six-questions.md. Printable card: triage/six-questions-card.md.
  5. Kill-Switch Modes. Containment ladder: kill-switches/overview.md
  6. Minimum Evidence Set. What to preserve, and in what order: evidence/minimum-evidence-set.md
  7. Templates. templates/ai-bom.yaml (AI Bill of Materials for MVO-1 Inventory) · templates/agent-privilege-matrix.csv (tool-tier matrix for MVO-2 Mode M3)
  8. Crosswalks. crosswalks/nist-ai-rmf.md (NIST AI RMF 1.0) · crosswalks/nist-csf-2.md (NIST CSF 2.0 and SP 800-61 r3) · crosswalks/owasp-agentic-top-10.md (OWASP Agentic Top 10 2026)
  9. Playbooks. playbooks/01-agent-as-privileged-identity.md (privileged-identity response) · playbooks/03-rag-knowledge-base-forensics.md (RAG and KB forensics, with a 90-minute Freeze-the-World sequence) · playbooks/04-tool-design-is-containment.md (pre-incident tool design) · playbooks/13-six-metrics.md (the six metrics behind the Maturity Roadmap) · playbooks/14-testing-for-agent-failure-modes.md (pre-production Kill-Switch testing) · playbooks/18-post-incident-hardening.md (post-incident hardening with a 5-business-day SLA) · playbooks/20-maturity-roadmap.md (the operating view of the Maturity Roadmap, with quarterly cadence and a 30-minute single-agent reality check) · playbooks/24-board-ready-scorecard.md (executive-layer scorecard across 4 domains). More playbooks ship as MINOR releases. See CONTENT_MAP.md and CHANGELOG.md.

Provenance

The AI IR Overlay was developed and field-tested through the AI IR Overlay LinkedIn newsletter series (Issues 1 through 24, 2025 to 2026), authored by Jacob Ideji. Each newsletter issue maps to one playbook in the full framework. See CONTENT_MAP.md for the issue-to-file index.

Acronyms

Why an overlay, not a replacement. The thesis.

This file is one self-contained piece of the AI IR Overlay™ framework. Cross-references to other pieces point to other packages in the same set, which you can obtain at jacobideji.com. —

The AI IR Overlay: Framework Overview

License: Apache 2.0 Latest release Standards: NIST · OWASP · ISO/IEC

Establishing the minimum standard for safe and effective operations of AI agents in production.

Why an overlay, not a replacement

Traditional incident response (codified in NIST SP 800-61 r3, which superseded r2 in April 2025) was built around unauthorized access vectors: malware, exploits, credential theft, lateral movement. AI agents change the failure mode.

AI incidents often manifest through authorized channels:

When the actor is authorized, the question shifts from “who got in?” to “what could it touch, and what did it do?” Crucial evidence now lives in prompts, tool calls, retrieval traces, and configuration state. Not on endpoints.

What stays the same

The core mechanics of effective incident response remain unchanged:

AI doesn’t rewrite the rules of effective IR. It changes the map.

The Overlay model

The AI IR Overlay adds four agent-aware controls (the Minimum Viable Overlay, or MVO) on top of your existing IR program.

Note: The NIST 800-61 r2 phases shown below remain widely understood operational shorthand. r3 (April 2025) restructures incident response around CSF 2.0 functions (Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover). See the AI IR Overlay to CSF 2.0 crosswalk at crosswalks/nist-csf-2.md.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                NIST 800-61 IR Lifecycle                 │
│  Preparation → Detection → Containment → Eradication →  │
│              Recovery → Post-Incident                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                          │
                          ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              AI IR Overlay · MVO Controls               │
│                                                         │
│  1. INVENTORY     · Agents · Identities · Tools ·       │
│                     Write Targets                       │
│  2. SAFE MODES    · Kill-Switch Ladder (Modes 0 to 5)   │
│  3. EVIDENCE      · Minimum AI Evidence Set (A–F)       │
│  4. CONTROLLED    · Staged, validated re-enablement     │
│     RE-ENABLE                                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Reading order

Read the framework in this order. Items 1 through 6 are the core. Items 7 through 9 are the working artifacts.

  1. The Minimum Viable Overlay. The four controls in detail: framework/01-minimum-viable-overlay.md
  2. The Mental Model. Four sentences that govern every decision: framework/02-mental-model.md
  3. The Maturity Roadmap. Where your program is, and how to advance it: framework/03-maturity-roadmap.md
  4. The Six Triage Questions. First-hour discipline: triage/six-questions.md. Printable card: triage/six-questions-card.md.
  5. Kill-Switch Modes. Containment ladder: kill-switches/overview.md
  6. Minimum Evidence Set. What to preserve, and in what order: evidence/minimum-evidence-set.md
  7. Templates. templates/ai-bom.yaml (AI Bill of Materials for MVO-1 Inventory) · templates/agent-privilege-matrix.csv (tool-tier matrix for MVO-2 Mode M3)
  8. Crosswalks. crosswalks/nist-ai-rmf.md (NIST AI RMF 1.0) · crosswalks/nist-csf-2.md (NIST CSF 2.0 and SP 800-61 r3) · crosswalks/owasp-agentic-top-10.md (OWASP Agentic Top 10 2026)
  9. Playbooks. playbooks/01-agent-as-privileged-identity.md (privileged-identity response) · playbooks/03-rag-knowledge-base-forensics.md (RAG and KB forensics, with a 90-minute Freeze-the-World sequence) · playbooks/04-tool-design-is-containment.md (pre-incident tool design) · playbooks/13-six-metrics.md (the six metrics behind the Maturity Roadmap) · playbooks/14-testing-for-agent-failure-modes.md (pre-production Kill-Switch testing) · playbooks/18-post-incident-hardening.md (post-incident hardening with a 5-business-day SLA) · playbooks/24-board-ready-scorecard.md (executive-layer scorecard across 4 domains). More playbooks ship as MINOR releases. See CONTENT_MAP.md and CHANGELOG.md.

Provenance

The AI IR Overlay was developed and field-tested through the AI IR Overlay LinkedIn newsletter series (Issues 1 through 24, 2025 to 2026), authored by Jacob Ideji. Each newsletter issue maps to one playbook in the full framework. See CONTENT_MAP.md for the issue-to-file index.

Acronyms