Biblio

Context: Managing technical debt (TD) associated with external cybersecurity attacks on an organization can significantly improve decisions made when prioritizing which security weaknesses require attention. Whilst source code vulnerabilities can be found using static analysis techniques, malicious external attacks expose the vulnerabilities of a system at runtime and can sometimes remain hidden for long periods of time. By mapping malicious attack tactics to the consequences of weaknesses (i.e. exploitable source code vulnerabilities) we can begin to understand and prioritize the refactoring of the source code vulnerabilities that cause the greatest amount of technical debt on a system. Goal: To establish an approach that maps common external attack tactics to system weaknesses. The consequences of a weakness associated with a specific attack technique can then be used to determine the technical debt principal of said violation; which can be measured in terms of loss of business rather than source code maintenance. Method: We present a position study that uses Jaccard similarity scoring to examine how 11 malicious attack tactics can relate to Common Weakness Enumerations (CWEs). Results: We conduct a study to simulate attacks, and generate dependency graphs between external attacks and the technical consequences associated with CWEs. Conclusion: The mapping of cyber security attacks to weaknesses allows operational staff (SecDevOps) to focus on deploying appropriate countermeasures and allows developers to focus on refactoring the vulnerabilities with the greatest potential for technical debt.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) are highly targeted and sophisticated multi-stage attacks, utilizing zero day or near zero-day malware. Directed at internetworked computer users in the workplace, their growth and prevalence can be attributed to both socio (human) and technical (system weaknesses and inadequate cyber defenses) vulnerabilities. While many APT attacks incorporate a blend of socio-technical vulnerabilities, academic research and reported incidents largely depict the user as the prominent contributing factor that can weaken the layers of technical security in an organization. In this paper, our objective is to explore multiple dimensions of socio factors (non-technical vulnerabilities) that contribute to the success of APT attacks in organizations. Expert interviews were conducted with senior managers, working in government and private organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over a period of four years (2014 to 2017). Contrary to common belief that socio factors derive predominately from user behavior, our study revealed two new dimensions of socio vulnerabilities, namely the role of organizational management, and environmental factors which also contribute to the success of APT attacks. We show that the three dimensions postulated in this study can assist Managers and IT personnel in organizations to implement an appropriate mix of socio-technical countermeasures for APT threats.