Moving to analysis-led cyber-security

Abstract

The standard defensive toolkit relied upon by the enterprise security professional – anti-virus, pattern-based intrusion detection/prevention systems, firewalls, patching – remains vitally important. However, sophisticated attacks can penetrate all of these defences and are increasingly affecting a growing number of organisations worldwide. These trends are likely to continue. In order to cost-effectively mitigate risk, security teams within enterprises should learn lessons from some of the most mature security fields – physical protection, fraud prevention and counter-terrorism intelligence – and extend their focus from prevention to intelligent proactive and reactive risk management. Why do sophisticated cyber-attacks succeed against today's security systems? And why is it that they can be difficult, or even impossible, to detect, let alone prevent? Martin Maisey of BJSS provides a summary of trends in sophisticated cyber-attacks, explains which industries are most affected and introduces risk management frameworks from mature security disciplines including physical security, fraud detection and counter-terrorism intelligence.