PlexTrac Update Release Notes — October 1st, 2020

Read About the Newest Additions to the PlexTrac Platform

October 1st, 2020

With the release of Runbooks for PlexTrac, our release notes will now include notes on both the core PlexTrac platform and the Runbooks module.

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR SELF-HOSTED PARTNERS:

If you have not yet performed the required database migration to Couchbase 6.5.1, you will not be able to access this (or future) updates.
If you need to perform this migration, please take a moment now to self-schedule a time using this link: https://calendly.com/plextrac-success/plextrac-database-upgrade
If you performed your migration on or before Wed, 23 September, this update will require a database update (not a migration – this is a self-service function). Please follow the steps here that include a database update: https://docs.plextrac.com/plextrac-documentation/product-documentation/updated-long-living-db
If you performed your migration after 23 September, you will simply ./plextrac_run.sh from the /opt/plextrac folder on your server.
In the past, each update required the database to be taken down and restored – this is no longer the case. However, we still encourage you to either manually perform a local backup as a normal part of your update process, or automate this process via a chron job for the command
- sudo ./plextrac_backup_restore.sh backup
This probably goes without saying to our community, but we also highly encourage you to automate off-server backups. This can be done at the OS level (e.g. snapshots), or simply by pushing newly created backups (stored in /opt/plextrac/backups and /opt/plextrac/uploads) to an off-server solution (e.g. S3 bucket).
- This command will tarball the required files from both directories for ease of transfer. Run from /opt/plextrac:
  sudo tar -zvcf $(hostname)_$(date “+%Y-%m-%d”)_backup.tar.gz backups/ uploads/

PlexTrac Core

Finding Sub-Status

Prior to this release, each finding could be assigned one of three remediation statuses: Open, In Process or Closed.

Many of our partners have communicated a desire for more options, and with this release, we now provide the flexibility to define your own.

To configure your Sub-Statuses:

In this settings module, you are presented with the ability to define as many Sub-Status for each major status as desired:

Whenever you interact with the Status Tracker for a Finding you will have an option for assigning any sub-statuses you create:

In addition, a Custom Field is created in the finding generated from the question, allowing you to easily reference the attachments submitted within the context of that question:

Assessment Editing Workflow Enhancements

With the recent additions of custom input fields, custom content fields and the ability to create multiple sets of radio button questions, users can spend quite a bit of time creating a single question. To help prevent loss of work, we have implemented two new features:

Sticky Save Bar

No matter how far down the page you scroll, the save indicator is now always within view:

Unsaved Work Notifications

If you attempt to navigate away from a question you are editing, you will now receive a warning notification until you save:

Bug Fixes

Addressed issue where the “Description” field contents were truncated when submitting an assessment
Fixed inability to remove parent/child relationship from an asset

Runbooks

Preview of Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

When building a new Runbook, you can now expand Tactics, Techniques and Procedures to view the description:

Mark as Completed

It’s true – sometimes the Blue Team’s defenses thwart an attack straight away. In these circumstances, completion of all the execution steps for a procedure is not possible, but the attack is technically complete. You can now mark procedures as complete with a simple slider:

Procedures marked as complete are annotated as such in the Overview:

Updating Your Instance

If you are self-hosting your PlexTrac Instance, gain access to all these enhancements by updating to the latest release using the procedures in our documentation.

Note: This release requires a database update for users who performed their migration on or before September 23^rd, 2020.

https://docs.plextrac.com/plextrac-documentation/product-documentation/updated-long-living-db

Encountering a friction point? You can always obtain email support by dropping us a line at support@plextrac.com. Feel like your issue would be better addressed with a screen share? Self-schedule a Zoom support slot using this link:

https://calendly.com/plextrac-success/plextrac-support

Our development roadmap is 100% driven by our customer requirements. If you have an idea for how PlexTrac can better support your needs, drop us a line!

Cheers!