Building proactive defensive programs

Now that you’re equipped with insights into attack anatomy and attacker profiles, this final section will provide a brief overview of the key characteristics of robust defensive programs, laying the groundwork for more detailed exploration in the next chapter. It’s evident that in the face of an ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated threat landscape, reactive security measures are inadequate. Therefore, a defender’s toolkit must incorporate substantial proactive measures involving a vigilant assessment from an adversarial perspective and the implementation of counteroffensive strategies. By “counteroffensive,” I don’t mean launching attacks against adversaries, but rather engaging with them more proactively through mechanisms such as threat intelligence and honeypots, as discussed earlier in the Defensive information gathering section.

Our analysis of attacks, from common techniques to specific...