It Risk Management the Lesson of Fort Pulaski

Question :

What we may think of as invulnerable can easily become fatally weak in the face of technological advancement.

Answer :

The cyber networks are continuously evolving and even the best defense mechanism can be insufficient to stop an attacker (Pompon, 2016). There is also a loophole in the network which an advanced attacker will find and infiltrate the system. Dissimilar protection with in-depth defense and agile defense could be probable solutions. The agile system considers a class of threats and uses information system resilience to defend attacks. It refers to the system’s ability to function normally even in a weak state during an attack. This mechanism helps the system to recover quickly. Moreover, a mix of traditional boundary protection and modern agile system would further strengthen the defense mechanism. The multi-layer dissimilar protection is an example of this mix. Dissimilar protection refers to multi-layer protection which filters the threat at each level. Also, in such a mechanism each layer of protection should function in different ways so that even if one layer is weak the others can filter the threat and the attacker cannot use a single mechanism to break through the layers. This diverse system offers a nearly full-proof solution against potential threats. However, it should be kept in mind that no mechanism is beyond breach (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011). 

Exploit technology is another factor that should be considered. An exploit can be any form of tool from data or programs which uses the system vulnerabilities to infiltrate systems. It usually happens in an unprecedented way. During an exploit any one of the components of the security will definitely fail and thus vulnerability will increase. It is assumed that known exploits utilize common vulnerabilities but an early identification could hold the fort for an extended period of time before complete infiltration happens. Therefore, security professionals should expect and plan for things to go wrong, even when hostile parties are attempting to break their engineering constructs (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011). 

References

Pompon, R., 2016. IT Security Risk Control Management: An Audit Preparation Plan. s.l.:Apress.