Threat-Actor Attack Trees for Exposure Prioritization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current exposure management systems fail to prioritize effectively the different parts of an organization's exposure to threats, making it difficult to guide organizations in focusing on what truly matters for their security.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that create models of threat actors and organizations, determine attack paths using an attack path simulator, and combine these into attack trees and forests to prioritize vulnerabilities and misconfigurations based on relevant threat actors and organizational data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If current exposure management systems analyze vulnerabilities and security controls, then they can identify security weaknesses, but they cannot prioritize effectively the different parts of an organization's exposure to threats
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the attack surface by organizing vulnerabilities and security controls into hierarchical structures (attack trees and attack forests). Each attack tree represents a specific threat scenario with structured branches for vulnerabilities, controls, and attack paths. This segmentation enables precise prioritization by grouping related security elements rather than treating them as flat individual items, directly resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimensional approach by mapping attacks across multiple network layers and domains. Instead of analyzing vulnerabilities in isolation, the system creates attack paths that span different network segments, cloud environments, and operational domains. This multi-dimensional view enables the system to prioritize exposure based on cross-layer attack scenarios rather than single-point vulnerabilities, improving risk prioritization accuracy without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Reliability
If the system creates detailed attack path maps for all vulnerabilities, then it provides comprehensive security coverage, but it becomes difficult to guide organizations to prioritize their operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the comprehensive attack surface into organized attack trees and attack forests that are grouped by threat scenarios and business impact. This segmentation transforms the overwhelming complexity of complete vulnerability data into structured, prioritized views that are easier to interpret and act upon, maintaining comprehensive coverage while improving usability for prioritization guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that allow organizations to interact with the attack path maps and receive prioritization recommendations based on their specific threat scenarios and business context. The system learns from organizational responses and adjusts its prioritization guidance, making it increasingly effective at guiding operations while maintaining comprehensive security coverage.
3Measurement precision
If the system analyzes all threat actors and attack paths, then it provides thorough threat assessment, but it increases the time required for exposure assessment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-building attack path maps and threat actor profiles before actual exposure assessments are needed. The system maintains updated libraries of common attack scenarios, threat actor behaviors, and vulnerability relationships that can be quickly applied to new assessments. This pre-prepared infrastructure enables thorough threat assessment accuracy while significantly reducing the time required for actual exposure evaluations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the scope and depth of threat actor and attack path analysis based on the specific organizational context, threat level, and assessment requirements. Rather than always performing complete analysis, the system adapts its methodology to provide appropriate levels of detail, maintaining assessment accuracy while minimizing time consumption for less critical scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
An exposure management system and an exposure management method for assessing exposure of assets of an organization, the assets comprising at least one host, such as a computer or a server. The method comprises creating a model of the organization controlling the assets, creating models of plurality of threat actors able to attack the assets of the organization, producing a reduced set of threat actors relevant for the organization based on the relevance of a specific threat actor to the organization in view of the created threat actor models and the created model of the organization. The method further comprises, for each threat actor of the reduced set of threat actors, determining available attack paths for the assets of the organization with an attack path simulator and combining the determined available attack paths for the assets of the organization to attack trees for a specific threat actor.