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Cyber Threat Analysis: A Call for Clarity
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Joe Stanganelli
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Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/29/2015 | 2:32:43 PM
Re: Respectful Disagreement
Well put, Palladium.

I recently attended the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium at the MIT campus, and during a cybersecurity panel session, one of the speakers hammered home the point that you could have the best security system in the world, but if you don't lock the doors and you leave your windows open, it's all for naught.

And yet, that's exactly what many companies are doing.
Paladium
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Paladium,
 User Rank: Moderator
5/29/2015 | 5:39:02 AM
Re: Respectful Disagreement
I agree with Joe on this but from a slightly different take.  The article is another in a long string of nice fluffy articles.  Another in a long string of "noise" that is not really helping with the reality we call Security Operations (SecOps).  Far too many security firms and researchers trying to gin up their brand or latest idea are clouding the waters, adding an intense amount of noise that's masking that basic security problem we see virtually every week in the news.

Security basics are just that.  A foundation on which to build FROM, after which you can begin building in specialized security solutions for the unique business you're in.  But without those basics in place first, nothing else really matters.

Take for instance the large amount of vendor product noise out there right now.  Some SecOps Team somewhere is struggling to keep pace with their existing security-specific workload because they are still considered a Cost Center and do not have any extra staff laying around to look into the latest slice of bread security product.  Then along comes some Director or CISO, back from his latest conference, all ginned up on new, fantastical, "solve all your security woes" solutions.  He/she wants the SecOps team to look into widget X and get a trial going for widget Y. Both activities pull security analysts away from real world threat analysis and response.  You know... some of the key basics.

At some point that five man team gets whittled down 1-2 people guarding the gate.  The rest are doing trials, attending extra meetings for the boss, answering Internal Audits latest barrage of useless questions, and working with the Risk group in formulating the latest Risk deck for the upcoming board meeting.  Let's not forget the vacations, sick days, and similar activities that come with being human.  To hell with the basics!

Then along comes another article talking about how Secutiry needs to relook at how they classify or prioritize threats.  Joy.  Just what we needed.  More talking points with no actual solutions to existing BASIC problems.  Just more noise.

Despite the many breaches in the news there are still many, many Directors and CISO's who just don't get it, don't care, or have given up.  There backgrounds are in Risk Management or Audit and have no clear understanding of WHAT SecOps is, its needs, and how to keep the organization truly safe.  They just don't understand the BASICS.

...and they are just another breach waiting to happen.

 
Joe Stanganelli
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Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/28/2015 | 10:59:04 PM
Re: A way forward
More to the point, basics have to be employed first and foremost.  You have the most sophisticated security systems in the world, but if you're not taking basic precautions, they are all for naught.
Joe Stanganelli
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Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/28/2015 | 10:56:51 PM
Re: Respectful Disagreement
Seems perfectly reasonable to me -- particularly in the wake of the Gartner study that found that the vast majority of businesses cease to exist two years after a major data loss.
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/26/2015 | 1:39:54 PM
Re: Tradecraft
Sure. That is clear indicator that we will continue to be in a security aware industry and we will continue to spend a lot for money for it. Cybersecurity firms will grow into something that nobody would be able to control.
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/26/2015 | 1:37:25 PM
Re: Respectful Disagreement
I do not have any evidence to prove but we may be. If not, one thing for sure there is now an industry built for security, lost for people are being now employed in this industry and banks, insurance companies are part of it. I know one of my friends recently insured his company against cyber-attacks.
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/26/2015 | 1:32:27 PM
Re: Cyber COMs
I agree in general. What we are missing is not lack of strategic thinker it is just not applying strategic thinking to the things we do. What drives the market is the cost, quality and time. Not rally strategic thinking and that is where we need to create more focus.
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/26/2015 | 1:29:21 PM
A way forward
I like the article, thank you for sharing. A way move forward has to be about re-thinking and creating the systems with security in mind we use in our daily lives. We can not really respond today security problems with the systems designed 10-20 years ago. We need to start thinking strategies that protect us from the beginning to the end of system life cycle, trying to catch up with the threats is not the way to go anymore.
Joe Stanganelli
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Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
5/25/2015 | 10:09:57 PM
Re: Tradecraft
Indeed, I am aware of at least one cybersecurity firm that uses predictive analytics to analyze hacking patterns and determine what future cyber threats/hacks/exploits will be -- and then determines how to combat them.  Neat -- and important -- stuff.
99sbradley
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99sbradley,
 User Rank: Apprentice
5/25/2015 | 12:33:57 AM
Tradecraft
I especially like the comment about devloping tradecraft to anticipate future threat environments, rather than simply describing and characterizing present (or past) ones.
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