Integrate Miter ATT&CK, Fair and Nist frameworks

Albert Evans, Director of Cybersecurity and Compliance, ISO New England Inc.

Organizations are increasingly adopting comprehensive strategies to reduce risk in dynamic cybersecurity environments. The integration of the MITER ATT&CK Framework (MITRE, 2022), Factor Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) (FAIR Institute, 2022), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (NIST, 2022) resulted in A powerful framework for cyber risk management approaches. This integration revolutionizes the cybersecurity landscape by combining these approaches.

The MITER ATT&CK framework is a detailed knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques derived from real-world observations, providing a range of cyber threat insights. This framework assists organizations in understanding and predicting attacker behavior (MITRE, 2022). Integration with MITER ATT&CK enhances threat modeling and incident response with practical, evidence-based strategies.

FAIR introduces the quantitative aspect of cybersecurity risk analysis, translating qualitative assessments into financial terms and helping to prioritize risks based on potential impact (FAIR Institute, 2022). This model enables objective cyber risk assessment, comparison and management, aligning resource allocation with organizational risk appetite.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, taking this integrated approach will enable organizations to better defend against and respond to these threats

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides guidance and best practices for managing cyber risks, including identification, protection, detection, response, and recovery strategies (NIST, 2022). Integration with MITER ATT&CK and FAIR helps organizations quantify and effectively manage risk.

Unified strategic development:

1. Utilize the NIST framework to identify assets and vulnerabilities, and apply MITER ATT&CK to understand potential attack vectors.

2. Use FAIR to analyze and quantify risks, determine the frequency and financial impact of potential cyber threats, and guide mitigation priorities.

3. Use the NIST framework to develop mitigation strategies, prioritized based on the FAIR analysis, which may include security enhancements, employee training, or investments in new technologies.

4. Use MITER ATT&CK’s knowledge base to enhance detection capabilities and incident response plans to prepare for known attack patterns.

5. Under the guidance of the NIST framework, continuously revise cyber risk management strategies and integrate new insights from MITER ATT&CK and FAIR assessments to promote continuous improvement.

In summary, the integration of MITER ATT&CK, FAIR, and NIST frameworks provides:

• A multidimensional approach to managing cyber risk.

• Incorporate practical insights.

• Structured risk management.

• Quantitative analysis.

• Continuous adaptation.

Together, combining these three frameworks creates a multi-dimensional approach to effectively manage cyber risk through practical insights, structured risk management, quantitative analysis and continuous adaptation. As cyber threats continue to evolve, taking this integrated approach will enable organizations to better defend against and respond to these threats.