Cybersecurity Science with Shawn Riley

I. Introduction A. Background on Cybersecurity Threats Cybersecurity threats are an ongoing concern for organizations of all sizes and across all industries. As technology continues to evolve and become more integral to business operations, the threat landscape also becomes more complex and sophisticated. Cyber attackers are constantly seeking new ways to exploit vulnerabilities and gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and systems. The consequences of a successful cyber attack can be severe, including financial losses, reputational damage, and legal consequences. Therefore, it is critical for organizations to have effective cybersecurity strategies in place to identify and mitigate potential threats. B. Definition of Attack Path Scenarios Attack Path Scenarios are a type of threat scenario used in cybersecurity to show the step-by-step sequence of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that a cyber attacker may use to penetrate a system, gain access to sensitive data, and ach...

As the threat landscape continues to evolve and become more complex, organizations need to have a comprehensive approach to managing their cybersecurity risks. One effective approach is to implement a Continuous Threat Exposure Management Program that includes a TTP (tactics, techniques, and procedures) level Cyber Threat Susceptibility Assessment. By leveraging a Digital Cyber Twin with Machine Reasoning for TTP level Cyber Threat Susceptibility Assessment, organizations can continuously collect and analyze data from both the attack surface and the threat landscape, and update risk management strategies in real-time. This enables an evolutionary approach to holistic cyber risk management, by allowing organizations to stay ahead of the curve and respond to emerging threats quickly and effectively. Here's how the Digital Cyber Twin mobilizes defense teams across an organization: The Digital Cyber Twin uses a TTP level Cyber Threat Susceptibility Assessment to build attack path scena...

As the digital world continues to expand, organizations are facing an increasing number of cyber threats. To effectively manage and mitigate these threats, a continuous threat exposure management program is essential. The Digital Cyber Twin can be used to perform cyber threat susceptibility assessments on the organization's IT enterprise. In this article, we will explore the ten key aspects of cyber threat modeling and how they support the Digital Cyber Twin in performing a better cyber threat susceptibility assessment of the organization. Intent: Understanding the intent of an attacker is critical in cyber threat modeling. The Digital Cyber Twin can use this information to identify the types of attacks that may be carried out and the potential impact they could have on the organization. This allows the Digital Cyber Twin to develop targeted threat mitigation strategies. Capability: Understanding the overall capability of the adversary is important in prioritizing mitigation effort...

In this article, we'll explore how argument-driven inquiry can be applied to cyber threat intelligence, how argument-driven inquiry aligns to the intelligence cycle, a step by step implementation, and highlight some of the benefits of integrating argument-driven inquiry into cyber threat intelligence.  When argument-driven inquiry is applied to the field of Cyber Threat Intelligence, these 7 steps align with the Intelligence Lifecycle. The Intelligence Lifecycle is a framework that is widely used in the intelligence community, and it consists of six stages: Planning and Direction, Collection, Processing and Exploitation, Analysis and Production, Dissemination, and Feedback. By aligning the steps of ADI with the Intelligence Lifecycle, cybersecurity professionals can take a more structured and efficient approach to intelligence gathering and analysis. In the first stage of the Intelligence Lifecycle, Planning and Direction, the focus is on identifying intelligence requirements and p...