Evaluating the IT threat landscape

A CISO is responsible for company security, and the entire process begins with an evaluation of the threat landscape before implementing any tangible solutions. Evaluating the IT landscape helps reveal the various vulnerabilities present in a system and the various attack surfaces present in information assets that can be exploited by attackers. Threats to a company's information assets may come from users who are authorized to use the system or from external attackers. The evaluation process needs to determine all the threats facing a company before it can determine avenues to address these vulnerabilities.

We have now addressed the need for CISOs to evaluate the threat landscape before they can brainstorm solutions to address identified issues. In the next section, we will look into the importance of CISOs gaining in-depth knowledge of company operations to create effective solutions.

Knowledge of company operations

An evaluation of the IT landscape of a company requires in-depth knowledge of the company's operations. With the evolving nature of modern businesses, the duties of a CISO are also evolving, requiring them to have unrestricted access to all departments of a company. Accessing all sections of a company allows a CISO to thoroughly understand all company operations and enables them to perform an effective evaluation of all internal processes. Attackers perform an exhaustive evaluation of a company's system to find vulnerabilities. For CISOs to effectively counter such efforts, they also need to have a full view of a company's systems and operations to determine all avenues and attack surfaces an attacker may use to infiltrate the company's system.

Assessment tools

A CISO also needs specialized tools to conduct a thorough evaluation of a company's systems. These specialized tools should be sourced from proven vendors who trade in network tools for system evaluation purposes. These tools aid a CISO in the assessment of a system including penetration testing and other ethical hacking processes. The result of penetration testing is a report that establishes all attack surfaces as well as revealing all possible vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers.

Internal evaluation of the threat landscape also encompasses an evaluation of a company's own internal control mechanisms in place to protect a company's information assets. A CISO needs to objectively evaluate a company's internal controls that are meant to safeguard the company's system from attacks. These controls apply to both external threats and internal threats. To ensure the effectiveness of the threat landscape evaluation, the internal processes should be evaluated with the standards of external vulnerability assessments. In many cases, companies tend to be complacent about internal systems where company employees are involved. However, reports continue to show that disgruntled employees are one of the leading causes of cyber threats to organizations.

Trends in cyber threats

Understanding trends in cyber threats is an important skill for all CISOs. The IT sector is ever evolving. New attack vectors keep coming up, and CISOs need to be updated about current trends in the IT sector as this will enable them to have an understanding of all the threats they are likely to face and take measures to mitigate such threats. An organization needs to be safeguarded from all common attack vectors as a minimum requirement. Since security mechanisms get outdated quickly, CISOs must keep abreast of changes in the threat landscape. Continuous improvement of skills and knowledge are key traits of an effective CISO in the current times.

This section has addressed the important role of evaluating the cyber threat landscape. The next section will address the role of devising policies and security controls as measures to keep a company safe from threats.