Data Threat Grading Using CIA Mapping and Attack Progression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cyber security solutions fail to effectively protect data assets, leading to increasing data breaches, and there is a need for automatic grading and impact analysis to quantify attacks and prioritize security measures with financial value assessment.
Innovation Solution
A computerized method for automatic grading and impact analysis that maps to the CIA triad, associating data store values with attack scenarios, calculating grading scores, and determining attack progression to provide a comprehensive security health grade.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing cyber security tools and techniques are deployed to protect data by proxy (focusing on server/application or endpoints), then the security infrastructure is established, but data breaches continue to grow and security effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional security approach by shifting focus from protecting servers and endpoints to directly protecting data assets. Instead of assuming data protection through infrastructure security, the system directly assesses and protects data by evaluating data stores, access patterns, and threat scenarios targeting the data itself rather than the proxy infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables data to 'self-protect' through automated grading and impact analysis that continuously evaluates data vulnerability without requiring manual security assessments. The automated system monitors data stores, calculates risk scores, and prioritizes security measures based on actual data exposure rather than infrastructure assumptions
2Reliability
If more money and resources are deployed into cyber security solutions, then security investment increases, but data breaches still grow indicating insufficient security outcome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the measurement parameters from infrastructure-based metrics to data-centric metrics. Instead of measuring security by infrastructure deployment, it measures by data vulnerability grading, impact analysis, and financial value assessment, enabling more efficient allocation of security resources based on actual data risk rather than resource expenditure
3Adaptability or versatility
If automatic grading and impact analysis with financial value assessment is implemented, then security priority and resource allocation improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system simplifies complexity by changing parameters to standardized financial metrics and grading scales. Instead of complex qualitative assessments, it uses quantifiable parameters like financial value of data, impact scores, and graded risk levels that are easier to compute and compare automatically
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses standardized templates and models for grading and impact analysis that can be replicated across different data stores and scenarios. These standardized assessment frameworks reduce complexity by providing reusable evaluation patterns rather than requiring custom analysis for each data asset
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, In one aspect, a computerized method for automatic grading, impact analysis and mapping to the CIA triad, comprising: identifying a value of a plurality of data stores; associating the value back to an attack scenario such that a measure of impact with respect to attack progression or susceptibility now has a pecuniary value and generating a grading score; associating the grading score mapped to Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) Triad; associating an attack progression with the pecuniary value and priority; identifying a progression of the attack; determining a time that is available for a response before a damage occurs to a system under attack; determining a stage of the attack in an attack kill chain, wherein for every stage of the attack as the progress happens, associating the pecuniary value and an impact for such a stage; and automatically calculates an overall data threat grade of the system.