Overview of Threats in vucavoid

Purpose and Definition of Threats

• Fundamental Role: Threats in vucavoid are conceptualized to provide a structured approach for understanding and iterating the cyber threat landscape specific to an organization.
• Cyber Threat Focus: The feature exclusively focuses on cyber threats, aligning with the growing need for robust cyber threat intelligence and management.

Basis on MITRE ATT&CK Framework

• Framework Adoption: vucavoid utilizes the MITRE ATT&CK framework, a globally recognized and industry-accepted knowledge base for cyber adversary tactics and techniques.
• Framework Benefits:
  • Comprehensive Coverage: ATT&CK offers a detailed classification of cyber threats, enabling organizations to prepare against a wide range of adversarial tactics and techniques.
  • Real-World Relevance: The continuous updates and real-world applicability of the ATT&CK framework ensure that the threat modeling in vucavoid remains current and effective.
• Framework Versions: vucavoid supports all MITRE ATT&CK framework versions from ATT&CK 3.0 onwards, offering flexibility and choice in threat modeling.

Attributes of Threats

Threat Basics

• Title: Assign a concise and descriptive title for each threat, encapsulating its essence and focus.
• Description: Provide a detailed description of the threat, emphasizing its purpose, scope, and how it aligns with your organization’s cybersecurity landscape.

MITRE ATT&CK Composition

• ATT&CK Version Selection: Choose the specific version of the MITRE ATT&CK framework to base the threat model on. This selection determines the available tactics and techniques for modeling.
• Tactics and Techniques:
  • Tactics: Select one or multiple tactics as defined in the chosen ATT&CK version, setting the foundation for the threat model.
  • Techniques: After selecting tactics, choose corresponding techniques. These are the specific methods that attackers might use, as per the ATT&CK framework. Each technique contributes to building a comprehensive threat model.

Status Management

• Progressive Status Updates:
  • Initial: Automatically set when a new threat is created.
  • In Progress: Changes to this status once the first technique is selected, remaining until all techniques are finalized.
  • Final: Manually set this status by finalizing the threat, after which it cannot be altered and is ready for use in challenges.
  • Archived: Set this status to archive threats that are no longer relevant. Archived threats are not available for selection or use in challenges.

Manufacturer Defined Flag

• Origin Indicator: This field specifies whether a threat is defined by vucavoid or created by the user’s organization, assisting in distinguishing between standardized and custom threat models.

Modeling Threats in vucavoid

Approach to Modeling Threats

• Strategic Orientation: Decide on your approach to modeling threats in vucavoid, considering whether to focus on attack patterns (adversary profiles like APTs) or defense strategies (based on your organization’s vulnerabilities).
• Attack-Oriented Approach: Analyze relevant adversary profiles and align your threat modeling with tactics and techniques known to be used by these adversaries.
• Defense-Oriented Approach: Evaluate your organization’s specific vulnerabilities and use the standardized techniques from ATT&CK to assess and prepare against potential cyberattacks.

Technical Modeling Process

• Initial Setup: Begin by providing a title and a recommended description for the threat, establishing its basic identity.
• Tactics and Techniques Selection:
  • Tactic Selection: Choose relevant tactics from the selected version of MITRE ATT&CK, which will then dictate the available techniques.
  • Technique Inclusion: Add specific techniques under each tactic to form a detailed threat model, considering sub-techniques where applicable.
• Finalization of Threat Model:
  • Completing the Model: Once all relevant tactics and techniques are selected, finalize the threat model to make it usable across vucavoid.
  • Status Transition to 'Final': Finalizing the threat changes its status to 'Final', indicating that it is ready for application in challenges.

Using a Threat as a Blueprint

• Replication for Consistency: Leverage existing, finalized threats as blueprints to model new threats, especially useful for regular updates (e.g., monthly industry-specific threats).
• Modification and Adaptation: Copy a threat using the 'replicate' function, then modify it to reflect new or evolving cyber threats, ensuring your threat models stay relevant and up-to-date.

Applying Threats in Challenges

Integration with vucavoid Challenges

• Benchmarking Tool: Modeled threats in vucavoid serve as benchmarks or standards in challenges, particularly for evaluating the resilience of IT assets against specific cyber threat techniques.
• Challenge Configuration: When setting up challenges in vucavoid, select the finalized threats as part of the criteria. This allows for a focused assessment based on the techniques encompassed within the threat model.

Technique-Level Application

• Detailed Assessment: Challenges in vucavoid are conducted at the technique level. This means that each technique within a threat model is used to scrutinize and test the defenses of the selected IT assets.
• Comprehensive Cybersecurity Posture Analysis: By applying threats in challenges, organizations gain a nuanced understanding of their cybersecurity strengths and weaknesses, directly linked to real-world adversarial tactics and techniques.

Documentation and Improvement

• Record Keeping: The results of challenges provide valuable documentation of how well the organization’s IT assets can withstand or counter the modeled threats.
• Continuous Improvement: Based on challenge outcomes, organizations can refine their cybersecurity strategies and controls, ensuring a proactive and adaptive approach to cyber threat management.