“Possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist,” were the words of SpaceX entrepreneur, Elon Musk. This statement was made regarding both mechanical and software engineering. Cybersecurity, being part of the software engineering dimension, needs to be seen in the same light too. Software developers should build applications in such a way that security is embedded into their products from the ground up. This is called security by Design. Instead of trying to develop additional layers of security on top of an application, the security should be inherent to the design. By quantifying cybersecurity risks, developers know exactly what is required to keep applications safe and secure.
What exactly are the building blocks of Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ)?
Organizations that want to implement CRQ into their development processes need to implement a workflow-based strategy to ensure that their risk quantification remains straightforward. Some might even involve third-party security specialists through the implementation of advanced cyber risk quantification solutions. These vendors can greatly improve the return on investment by providing seamless analysis and security vector feedback.
The Cyber Risk Quantification process can be broken into five steps of a cyclic process.
Needs Analysis
Cyberattacks can impact organizations in three main areas of cybersecurity: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although many organizations are already well adapted to address the probability of risk, many vulnerabilities are mostly rooted in human oversight. Therefore, the first building block of CRQ is a thorough needs analysis. Establishing clear outcomes for the quantification process will guide the process, persistently delivering on the expected outcomes of the process.
Catalog software tools
All external software tools and code sets, whether proprietary or open-source, should be transparently cataloged. This process aims to shed light on potential risk factors that external tools might introduce. Organizations need to clearly understand what they are using to define the potential software security risks within the organization and its clients.
Applying Security measures
Depending on the need identified, organizations might need to augment their policies surrounding application security testing or even relook at the external tools and code sets that are in use. The application of security measures should be executed with international benchmarks in mind too. A stepped approach should be followed, where each risk should be addressed separately. This will allow organizations to thoroughly apply security measures. The actual design and development of software for clients also form part of this process. Security best practices should be applied when applications are designed.
Validating the effectiveness of security measures
Measuring the effectiveness of CRQ is possibly one of the hardest parts of this cyclic process. Essentially, the question can be asked; “ Are the needs we identified met?”. In the highly unpredictable dimension of cybersecurity, organizations will most likely be able to define more needs after the validation process. This is why the process is cyclic and needs to be repeated regularly. This will consistently improve the secure state of applications being developed as well as the security by design culture of the organization.
Apart from playing a role in improving Security by Design, CRQ also has the following benefits. The analytics derived from CRQ can also provide the organization with valuable marketing information. The lower the perceived cybersecurity risks of a particular product, the better the reputation an organization has with its clients and shareholders. Having built institutional knowledge through CRQ about the characteristics of reliable data collection, development teams can also accurately build secure data acquisition models for clients. Virtually drilling down into various cybersecurity vectors, allows clients to stay informed and make better business decisions about their applications.
Conclusion
Ultimately, being proactive in identifying possible cyber security issues will allow organizations to develop software that is secure by design. This will eliminate the need to overengineer application security mechanisms as afterthoughts. As Musk said: “…to optimize a thing that should not exist…”. Applications should be secure at their core. Having enough knowledge of what is required is the only way to successfully implement security by design. This is where CRQ plays a crucial role in Security by Design.
