What is Cyber Threat Analysis and how is it conducted?
Cyber Threat Analysis
In cyber threat analysis, knowledge of internal and
external vulnerabilities related to a particular system or organization is
analyzed and matched against real-world cyber-attacks relevant to that system
or organization. A cybersecurity threat, often known as a "cyber
threat," is a harmful act that attempts to disrupt digital life. This
crime might involve the interruption of a communication channel, data damage,
or data theft. Hackers prey on corporations, governments, organizations, and
even individuals that have access to sensitive information. Cyber-attacks such
as Denial of Service (DoS), computer viruses, malware, phishing emails, and
other types of cyber-attacks are all possible risks. The attacks are aimed at
everyone with an online presence. Cyber-attacks might result in electrical
outages, breaches of government security details, failure of military
equipment, disruption of computer networks, paralysis of phone networks, and
unavailability of secret data, and it could even affect the running of government
organizations.
The primary purpose of cyber threat analysis is to
give information that may be used to help counter-intelligence investigations
get started or continue. The danger is then eliminated from the organizations,
corporations, or government systems that have been identified. In cyber threat
analysis, knowledge of external and internal information vulnerabilities
associated with a certain business model is compared to actual or real-world
cyber-attacks. This approach to cyber-attack defense is a positive step toward
moving from a reactive to a proactive and efficient security state. Best
practices for applying protective measures to ensure integrity, availability,
and confidentiality while retaining functionality and usability should be included
in the final outcome of a threat assessment. A cybersecurity risk analysis may
assist your business in identifying, managing, and safeguarding data,
information, and assets that could be exposed to a cyber-attack. This type of
study enables you to identify systems and resources, assess risk, and devise a
strategy for implementing security measures that will help secure your
business. Anything that causes the interruption, disturbance, or destruction of
any valued service or asset inside an organization's IT ecosystem qualifies as
a threat. A cyber threat analysis must examine each potential vector that might
pose a security risk to a system or asset, whether it be of "human"
or "nonhuman" origin. Cyberthreat analysis is an organized,
repeatable process that aids an organization's efforts to detect, address, and
prepare for future attacks. The process's findings are blended with internal
data and external guidance and suggestions to determine which vulnerabilities
are relevant to a specific company. Finally, the discovered vulnerabilities are
assessed to determine their likelihood of occurrence and possible effects.
Cyber threats continue to evolve and rise in frequency, making it
increasingly challenging for service providers to protect the network from malicious
and organized cyber criminals. With the proliferation of smart devices
(including IoT), the globalization and cloudification of business-critical
applications create more network entry points to exploit. Public service
providers are prime targets for cyber-attacks, as they provide the backbone of
information exchange for businesses and consumers. Bandwidth and session-targeted attacks are growing exponentially, directly impacting network quality
of experience (QoE). The threat originators or actors, who are involved in
distributing malware through various websites, or phishing for personal
information from unsuspecting victims, are taking advantage of blurred physical
distances on the internet, which makes cybersecurity a game of hide-and-seek.
In most cases, cybersecurity teams are aware of these attacks due to increased
activity but don’t specifically know which hosts and locations are involved in
the attack. However, most security solutions used for identifying and
quantifying cyber activity lack the necessary network visibility and contextual
awareness, which is arguably the biggest challenge facing security
professionals. With applications moving into the cloud and virtualization on
the rise, security perimeter devices like Firewall and IDS/IPS are not enough
to protect data center infrastructure. IoT is not just another attack vector.
The number of devices involved, and the lack of any built-in security stack make
them highly vulnerable and their exposure to network threats is much higher
than other devices. Service providers leave themselves vulnerable to
cyberattacks by not addressing the day-to-day threats and infected devices. The
infected devices also act as agents to launch attacks unbeknownst to the end
user. Organizations can use a number of methods to analyze cyber
threats, but they all contain the same fundamental components or phases at
their core:
The
Project's Objectives: The scope of the cyber threat analysis
determines what will be included and what will be excluded. Objects that should
be protected from danger are included. The first stage in any cyber threat
assessment should be to identify every susceptible item that needs to be
protected from hostile third parties. The analysis drafters then draw the
item's level of sensitivity and planned degree of protection and clearly define
it.
Data
Collection: In every well-structured corporation,
procedures and regulations regulate how people, machines, and other
organizational components are intended to function. All of them must be
disclosed openly for the sake of compliance. In the Data Collection stage, the
first step is to obtain information on the actual cyber-attack or threat
scenario. Only a few examples include phishing email headers and content,
exposed hostile command and control infrastructure comprising IP addresses and
domain names, and URLs to malicious websites. It's critical to discern between
real risks and threats that are considered to be serious but aren't.
Acceptable
Risks Vulnerability Analysis: The analysts put
what they've learned to the test in this stage to determine how much of a
danger they're now dealing with. The current security defense is put to the
test in terms of its capacity to neutralize information threats in terms of
integrity, availability, and confidentiality. This stage should double-check
that current policies, security mechanisms, and procedures provide adequate
protection. Penetration tests are used as part of vulnerability assessments to
find vulnerabilities.
Anticipation
and Mitigation: After all of the preceding processes have
been completed, a highly-skilled analyst can utilize the corpus of threat data
to suggest preventative actions. The analyst's role is to classify threat data
into categories, assign each pattern to specific threat actors, and implement
mitigation strategies. As a result, the analyst will have to plan for a similar
attack in the future.
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