Spend less, do more: Applying intelligence analysis techniques to cyber strategy

There are known unknowns, and unknown unknowns – and knowing how to differentiate between the two can make or break a cyber security strategy. Organisations around the world routinely waste precious time, energy and resources by making major investments in minor issues, and minor investments in major issues; but not without good reason.

In the world of cyber security, we operate in an opaque world of variables, including a dynamic threat environment, ever-changing technologies, unpredictable markets, and the inevitably chaotic nature of the typical human user. As such, drawing inspiration from fields that have already faced the challenge of making difficult decisions with incomplete, variable information is invaluable to effective cyber security investment.

There is no field more experienced at navigating this information landscape and its associated analytical and predictive challenges than intelligence analysis. As such, by leveraging the specialised tools and principles developed by intelligence analysts to make more informed decisions, we can drastically increase the efficacy of our cyber security programs.

This talk will provide detailed examples of how to apply tried-and-tested intelligence analysis techniques such as key assumptions checks, analysis of competing hypotheses, and what if analysis to uncover hidden risks, make better use of technical and human resources, and invest cyber security budgets more effectively.