Cyber Mission Thread Analysis

📖 The Scoop

Cyber mission thread analysis (CMTA), which identifies mission-critical systems in a cyber threat environment, requires a disciplined, well-planned process for its execution. This report provides a proposed planning and implementation guide (1) to perform CMTA expeditiously while still giving results good enough to make decisions about mission criticality, and (2) to analyze multiple missions concurrently. The authors offer guidance on the roles and responsibilities of organizations and personnel involved in CMTA; the process for implementing the analysis and the types of preparations necessary for successful implementation; a rough timeline required to perform CMTA for one or more missions concurrently; and the possible constraints and issues that may be encountered. The authors draw on lessons learned from a pilot CMTA application, analogous Air Force efforts, and relevant social science methods for conducting interviews and focus groups. They highlight a number of key considerations, including two that are most critical: (1) Develop and execute a detailed plan. The number of stakeholders involved and desire for a swift timeline require a substantial coordination effort; and (2) Remember that the ultimate CMTA goal is triage. It is vital that any mission-critical system appear highly ranked; it is okay if some non-critical systems appear highly ranked. This goal ensures discussions do not become unnecessarily detailed and results remain within scope. The analytical tasks to perform CMTA are covered in a separate, companion document-Cyber Mission Thread Analysis: A Prototype Framework for Assessing Impact to Missions from Cyber Attacks to Weapon Systems-that readers can consult.

Genre: Computers / Data Science / General (fancy, right?)