Threat Analysis Sources

I am currently taking a class on current trends in Cyber Security.  One of the question's I’m being asked is to review a list of sources I created.  This list of sources is intended to provide an overview of the numerous threats to the Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, and Accountability of an information system.  On June 21st of this year I created a post entitled, "Identifying Credible Resources, a how to!”.  This is the list of resources I am currently drawing from.  All of that sounds incredibly formal.  In fact I simply check these sites and resources during the course of my day.  So the question is, can I use these sources in a formal manner?

For the purpose of this post I will discuss my listed sources as they relate to an imaginary company.  So, in this imaginary company I check Bruce Schnier’s cryptogram newsletter.  It focuses heavily on the ongoing saga of Snowden.  Interestingly enough, the Security Now podcast I watched did the same.  This information re-iterates the need to do several things.

1. Train Employees, this ensures employees know the proper whistle blowing techniques.  It also ensures they know what they should have access to.

      

2. Monitor Employees, Look, you can’t trust people.  No matter how well trained they are they can decide to make confidential information public.  This means you have to monitor them.

     

3. Communicate issues with lax access controls to management.  They may decide they do not want to act on recommendations, but they must be informed.

So how does that relate to an imaginary company?  Well in my scenario a company X shall we say needs to justify spending money on a IDS or DLP system.  They have determined that the risk to lost data is high, and that the impact of the loss would be catastrophic.  Reading this newsletter and listening to this blog help me articulate that.

This week I also reviewed Microsoft’s TechNet newsletter.  It would appear that MS13-050 will be coming out this month.  This update will interact with the print spooler.  So, company X uses mostly Microsoft systems.  These systems all print on a frequent basis.  Due to this warning I am able to communicate with the local admin’s in company X about the possible disruption to printing services.  In fact due to this update more extensive testing will be done.  If you haven’t  figured it out at this point, I’m obviously writing this post for an assignment.  The reality of all the sources I listed on June 21st is that I use them frequently.  My I believe however that the list could improve.  As I review specific threats it is likely that I will build a keyword list of resources.  This will enable me to research specific threats as they pertain to various topics.