Chapter 2. Fight in Cyber like the Military Fights in the Physical
Andrew Harris
I started my career in the US Department of Defense as a cybersecurity engineer, ending my stint there as the Chief for Strategic Programs. The more I saw the department operating what they call Computer Network Defense (CND), fighting in cyberspace, the more overlap I saw in how they were fighting in the other domains—land, air, water, and now space. It became evident that the same approach the military has used in the physical world should be applied in the cyber one.
The OODA Loop
What I’m referring to is the OODA loop—or the “Observe-Orient-Decide-Act” loop. This was made famous by US Air Force Colonel John Boyd.
To summarize the concept, the goal is to properly synthesize data and accurately respond to it, faster than your opponent. The last bit is equally important.
How does this relate to cybersecurity? When thinking of responding to cybersecurity incidents and breaches, and within the context of what I call the “Iceberg Effect,” one needs to discover all observables an adversary has, containing and responding. However, this is rarely ever a one-loop effort.
This activity happens multiple times, enabling cybersecurity professionals to confidently respond to and evict an adversary. For that ...
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