Page 19 - Publication6

third-party related control failures. This adds a whole new Meanwhile, corporate boards are demanding quantitative
dimension to the scope of what an organization has to risk data that spans all business operations, while business
frequently monitor and assess. units need to neutralize the impact of cyber-attacks. In this

context, it is important to visualize, measure, and action
Following a continuous monitoring approach as
cyber security operational risk intelligence in real time.
propagated by NIST only adds to the big security data
conundrum, as an increase in frequency of scans and The most efficient way to identify imminent threats to an
reporting exponentially increases the data volume. This, in organization, is to create a visual representation of the
turn, requires security data aggregation and normalization company�s IT architecture and associated risks. This
from a variety of sources such as security information and approach provides security operations teams with
event management (SIEM), asset management, threat interactive views of the relationships of systems to their

feeds, and vulnerability scanners. components, systems to other systems, and components
to other components.
“The ultimate Ultimately, it enables security practitioners to rapidly

distinguish the criticality of risks vis-à-vis the affected
goal is to shorten systems and components. This allows organizations to

focus mitigation actions on the most sensitive / at risk
the window business components and increase board / auditor

transparency.
attackers have”

At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to shorten the

window attackers have to exploit a software or network
configuration flaw. Big data sets can assist in putting
specific behavior into context, but there are some real
technological challenges to overcome.

Big data risk management software can assist organizations
in aggregating the different data sources, leading to reduced

costs by unifying solutions, streamlining processes,
creating situational awareness to expose exploits and
threats in a timely manner, and gathering historic trend
data, which can assist in predictive security.

4. Risk-Based Prioritization

3. Cyber Visualization
Effective prioritization of vulnerabilities and incidents is
essential to staying ahead of attackers.
As news of more data breaches and third-party originated
cyber-attacks make the news, businesses and regulators
While security monitoring generates big data, in its raw
alike are sharpening their focus on how to report on and
form it remains only a means to an end. Ultimately,
mitigate these risks.

CYBER DEFENSE MAGAZINE - ANNUAL EDITION 3