Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is not Easy
And the terrain can be rough…
Breaches, exposure, ransomware, and other compromises make headlines continually. Attackers have virtually unlimited resources, continue to advance, organize, and exploit in alarming ways as reported by this Sophos 2022 Threat Report, and while certain industries attract more threats than others, no market or organization is exempt. Adding insult to injury, ransomware nearly always results in unrecoverable (and, increasingly, publicized) data, and total monetary response cost—and excluding the ransom itself—is staggering.
This picture may be bleak, but it’s unfortunately real. However, despite the rough terrain, we can gain advantage.
Gaining Advantage
Sector 7G adheres to established defense models focusing on threat actor behavior—like Lockheed Martin’s Cyber Kill Chain® and MITRE Corporation’s ATT&CK®. Put simply, as attackers are deprived opportunities to acquire target information, exploit vulnerabilities, publish private data, and other tactics and techniques furthering objectives, the chances of their perseverance—and, therefore, ultimate success—diminish thereby transferring advantage to you.
We guide, augment, and concentrate on two behavior-based defenses:
Eliminating Software Vulnerabilities
Of highest relevance is not who wrote an organization’s software, but whether it’s subject to regular and effective vulnerability assessment.
Software security risk assessment must extend beyond malware scanning (“anti-virus”). While this remains defensively critical, its focus is detecting and isolating code intentionally written to further a threat’s objective. This is different than assessing—and eliminating—software that is not inherently malicious, but instead contains vulnerabilities attackers leverage to complete an attack. Virtually every ransomware and any other costly attack relies on exploiting at least one software vulnerability, a tactic noted by the defense models highlighted above.
Regularly assessing apps for vulnerabilities is likely not a novel concept for organizations developing software (e.g., DevSecOps practices). Regardless, ultimately the organization with vulnerable software is at risk and of highest relevance is not who wrote an organization’s software, but whether it’s subject to regular and effective vulnerability assessment. Additionally, because today’s apps are comprised nearly entirely of open source software, any organization is positioned to utilize proven vulnerability identification tools and practices to assess applications, identify vulnerabilities, and act before it’s too late. Our Open Source Management overview elaborates further, namely “composition analysis”.
Information Superiority
Both attacks and defense ultimately begin with information and information superior to an opponent’s provides significant—perhaps even decisive—advantage.
Today’s cyber defense landscape may be overwhelming—potentially leading to uncertainty and suboptimal decisions. A framework against which to gauge and filter information—for all staff, including stakeholders—in large part may be lacking. But consistent with the threat actor behavior defense models, both attacks and defense ultimately begin with information and information superior to an opponent’s provides a significant and even a decisive advantage.
Absent current and credible cyber landscape and organizational defense knowledge, measures may fall short thus providing adversaries a critical advantage: “information superiority”. However, this advantage necessarily diminishes as yours advances.
Sector 7G works with leadership and cyber teams to develop manageable, relevant, actionable, and measurable threat and defense information frameworks ultimately on par with other organizational divisions, i.e., “cyber parity”. And since no enterprises are identical, reliable and distilled information flow is shaped to adapt to both organizational changes and cyber threats’ shifting landscape.
Engage Sector 7G and visit our Learning Center’s Cybersecurity area to learn more.