An Hierarchical Asset Valuation Method for Information Security Risk Analysis

The widespread use of information technology transforms businesses continuously and rapidly. Information technology introduces new threats to organizations as well. Risk analysis is an important tool in order to make correct decisions and to deal with cyber threats. Identification and valuation of assets is a crucial process that must be performed in risk analyses. Without properly identified and valued assets, the results of risk analyses lead to wrong decisions. Wrong decisions on information security may directly affect corresponding business processes. There are some finished and applied methods in literature for asset identification and valuation; however these methods are complicated and are not suitable for practical information security management projects. In this paper, a hierarchy based asset valuation method is proposed. Our method is intended to minimize the common mistakes that were done during Information Security Management Projects. The application of the method has not been performed yet; however it is thought that it can ease the processes and reduce the number of errors

A hybrid model for information security risk assessment

Many industry standards and methodologies were introduced which has brought forth the management of threats assessment and risk management of information assets in a systematic manner. This paper will review and analyze the main processes followed in IT risk management frameworks from the perspective of the threat analysis process using a threat modeling methodology. In this study, the authors propose a new assessment model which shows that systematic threat analysis is an essential element to be considered as an integrated process within IT risk management frameworks. The new proposed model complements and fulfills the gap in the practice of assessing information security risks

Management of Information Security: Challenges and Research Directions

Over the past decade management of information systems security has emerged to be a challenging task. Given the increased dependence of businesses on computer-based systems and networks, vulnerabilities of systems abound. Clearly, exclusive reliance on either the technical or the managerial controls is inadequate. Rather, a multifaceted approach is needed. In this paper, based on a panel presented at the 2007 Americas Conference on Information Systems held in Keystone, Colorado, we provide examples of failures in information security, identify challenges for the management of information systems security, and make a case that these challenges require new theory development via examining reference disciplines. We identify these disciplines, recognize applicable research methodologies, and discuss desirable properties of applicable theories

Measuring the Utility of a Cyber Incident Mission Impact Assessment (CIMIA) Process for Mission Assurance

Information is a critical asset on which virtually all modern organizations depend upon to meet their operational mission objectives. Military organizations, in particular, have embedded Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) into their core mission processes as a means to increase their operational efficiency, exploit automation, improve decision quality, and shorten the kill chain. However, the extreme dependence upon ICT results in an environment where a cyber incident can result in severe mission degradation, or possibly failure, with catastrophic consequences to life, limb, and property. These consequences can be minimized by maintaining real-time situational awareness of mission critical resources so appropriate contingency actions can be taken in a timely manner following an incident in order to assure mission success. In this thesis, the design and analysis of an experiment is presented for the purpose of measuring the utility of a Cyber Incident Mission Impact Assessment (CIMIA) notification process, whose goal is to improve the timeliness and relevance of incident notification. In the experiment, subjects are placed into a model environment where they conduct operational tasks in the presence and absence of enhanced CIMIA notifications. The results of the experiment reveal that implementing a CIMIA notification process significantly reduced the response time required for subjects to recognize and take proper contingency actions to assure their organizational mission. The research confirms that timely and relevant notification following a cyber incident is an essential element of mission assurance

A Stochastic Game Theoretical Model for Cyber Security

The resiliency of systems integrated through cyber networks is of utmost importance due to the reliance on these systems for critical services such as industrial control systems, nuclear production, and military weapons systems. Current research in cyber resiliency remains largely limited to methodologies utilizing a singular technique that is predominantly theoretical with limited examples given. This research uses notional data in presenting a novel approach to cyber system analysis and network resource allocation by leveraging multiple techniques including game theory, stochastic processes, and mathematical programming. An operational network security problem consisting of 20 tactical normal form games provides an assessment of the resiliency of a cyber defender\u27s network by leveraging the solutions of each tactical game to inform transitional probabilities of a discrete-time Markov chain over an attacker- defender state space. Furthermore, the Markov chain provides an assessment of the conditional path through the operational problem with an expected cost of damage to the defender network. The solutions of the tactical games and, in turn the operational problem, are utilized to determine the effects and risks of projected network improvement resource allocation decisions via an integer program. These results can be used to inform network analysts of the resiliency of their network while providing recommendations and requirements for improving their network resiliency posture against potential malicious external actors

Mission Assurance: A Review of Continuity of Operations Guidance for Application to Cyber Incident Mission Impact Assessment (CIMIA)

Military organizations have embedded information technology (IT) into their core mission processes as a means to increase operational efficiency, improve decision-making quality, and shorten the sensor-to-shooter cycle. This IT-to-mission dependence can place the organizational mission at risk when an information incident (e.g., the loss or manipulation of a critical information resource) occurs. Non-military organizations typically address this type of IT risk through an introspective, enterprise-wide focused risk management program that continuously identifies, prioritizes, and documents risks so an economical set of control measures (e.g., people, processes, technology) can be selected to mitigate the risks to an acceptable level. The explicit valuation of information resources in terms of their ability to support the organizational mission objectives provides transparency and enables the creation of a continuity of operations plan and an incident recovery plan. While this type of planning has proven successful in static environments, military missions often involve dynamically changing, time-sensitive, complex, coordinated operations involving multiple organizational entities. As a consequence, risk mitigation efforts tend to be localized to each organizational entity making the enterprise-wide risk management approach to mission assurance infeasible. This thesis investigates the concept of mission assurance and presents a content analysis of existing continuity of operations elements within military and non-military guidance to assess the current policy landscape to highlight best practices and identify policy gaps in an effort to further enhance mission assurance by improving the timeliness and relevance of notification following an information incident

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2007

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics

Active offensive cyber situational awareness: theory and practice

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.There is an increasing gap between the progress of technological systems and the successful exploitation of these systems through cyber-attack. Whilst the mechanism and scope of cyberspace is progressing with each passing day, risk factors and the ability to process the required amount of data from cyberspace efficiently are proving to be major obstacles to achieving desired outcomes from cyber operations. This, coupled with the dramatic increase in the numbers of cyber attackers, who are constantly producing new ways of attacking and paralysing cyber systems for political or financial gain, is a critical issue for countries that have linked their major infrastructures with Internet applications. The defensive methods currently applied to counter these evolving attacks are no longer sufficient, due to their preventive and reactive nature. This research has developed a new Active Situational Awareness theoretical model for Active Defence that aims to enhance the agility and quality of cyber situational awareness in organisations in order to counter cyber attacks. Situational Awareness (SA) is a crucial component in every organisation. It helps in the assessment of an immediate situation in relation to the environment. Current SA models adopt a reactive attitude, which responds to events and works in passive manner to any progressing enemy cyber attack. This creates a defensive mind-set and consequently influences the operator to process and utilise knowledge only within the concept of attack prevention. Thus, one can assume that operators will only gather certain knowledge after the occurrence of an attack, instead of actively searching for new intelligence to create new knowledge about the cyber attack before it takes place. This research study introduces a new approach that incorporates an Active Defence posture; namely, a ‘winning attitude’ that conforms to the military stratagems of Sun Tzu, where operators always engage attackers directly in order to create new knowledge in an agile manner by deploying active intelligence-gathering techniques to inform active defence postures in cyberspace. This also allows the system being protected to remain one step ahead of the attackers to ultimately defeat them and thwart any costly attacks. To back these statements, this study issued a survey to 200 cyber defence and security experts in order to collect data on their opinions concerning the current state of Active SA. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was then employed to analyse the data gathered from the survey. The results of the analysis revealed significant importance of Active Offensive Intelligence gathering in enhancing Cyber SA. The SEM showed there is a significant impact on SA Agility and Quality from Active Intelligence gathering activities. Further to this, the SEM results informed the design of the serious gaming environments utilised in this research to verify the SEM causality model. Also, the SEM informed the design of a SA assessment metric, where a behavioural anchor rating scale was used along with ground truth to measure participant SA performance. The results of this experiment revealed that there was 2 times better enhancement in cyber Situational awareness among those who did utilise active measures compared with participants who did not which mean almost double and this shows the importance of offensive intelligence gathering in enhancing cyber SA and speed up defender decision making and OODA loop. This research provided for the first time a novel theory for active cyber SA that is aligned with military doctrine. Also, a novel assessment framework and approaches for evaluating and quantifying cyber SA performance was developed in this research study. Finally, a serious gaming environment was developed for this research and used to evaluate the active SA theory which has an impact on training, techniques and practice Deception utilisation by Active groups revealed the importance of having deception capabilities as part of active tools that help operators to understand attackers’ intent and motive, and give operators more time to control the impact of cyber attacks. However, incorrect utilisation of deception capabilities during the experiment led operators to lose control over cyber attacks. Active defence is required for future cyber security. However, this trend towards the militarisation of cyberspace demands new or updated laws and regulations at an international level. Active intelligence methods define the principal capability at the core of the new active situational awareness model order in to deliver enhanced agility and quality in cyber SA.Abu Dhabi Police General Head Quarter