Enhancing Cybersecurity Proactive Decision-Making Through Attack Tree Analysis and MITRE Framework
Anas Husseis, José Luis Flores, Andrej Bregar, Giovanni Mazzeo, Luigi Coppolino · 2023
In today's increasingly complex and dynamic cyber-security landscape, organizations face the constant challenge of identifying and addressing security requirements effectively. This article proposes a comprehensive approach aimed at enhancing the process of cybersecurity decision-making and streamlining security analysis. This is achieved by leveraging attack tree analysis, the MITRE framework - particularly ATT &CK and D3FEND, as well as the Gordon-Loeb cost-benefit model. Attack trees provide a structured representation of potential vulnerabilities and attack paths, while the MITRE framework offers a robust knowledge base of real-world attack methods and corresponding mitigations. Moreover, analysing the financial cost and benefits coming from implementing a remediation strategy provides significant input for the decision maker. By integrating these approaches, organizations gain valuable insights into their security posture, prioritize security measures, and allocate resources more effectively. This article explores the methodology of mapping attack tree nodes to specific MITRE attack techniques and the corresponding mitigations and applies Gordon-Loeb cost-benefit model so that organizations optimize their security strategy and bolster their overall cybersecurity resilience.