Skip to content

Learn to Think Like a Security Person

Cyber security isn't just memorising tools.

It's learning to ask better questions.

"How bad is this?"

CVSS gives vulnerabilities a severity score.

But:

Remember

CVSS is a severity score, not a priority score.

A critical vulnerability on an isolated machine may be less urgent than a high-severity vulnerability on an internet-facing authentication server.

Consider:

  • Can an attacker reach it?
  • Does it require authentication?
  • Does it require user interaction?
  • Is exploitation known to be happening?
  • What does the vulnerable system have access to?
  • What happens if it is compromised?
  • Are there compensating controls?

That's the beginning of risk-based security thinking.

MITRE ATT&CK

MITRE ATT&CK

ATT&CK provides a common language for describing attacker tactics and techniques.

You don't need to memorise it.

Start using it to ask:

The ATT&CK question

What was the attacker trying to achieve, and what technique did they use to do it?

That's how a lot of professional SOC, detection and threat-intelligence work starts to make sense.