Secrets of a Cyber Security Architect

Book excerpt: Any organization with valuable data has been or will be attacked, probably successfully, at some point and with some damage. And, don't all digitally connected organizations have at least some data that can be considered "valuable"? Cyber security is a big, messy, multivariate, multidimensional arena. A reasonable "defense-in-depth" requires many technologies; smart, highly skilled people; and deep and broad analysis, all of which must come together into some sort of functioning whole, which is often termed a security architecture. Secrets of a Cyber Security Architect is about security architecture in practice. Expert security architects have dozens of tricks of their trade in their kips. In this book, author Brook S. E. Schoenfield shares his tips and tricks, as well as myriad tried and true bits of wisdom that his colleagues have shared with him. Creating and implementing a cyber security architecture can be hard, complex, and certainly frustrating work. This book is written to ease this pain and show how to express security requirements in ways that make the requirements more palatable and, thus, get them accomplished. It also explains how to surmount individual, team, and organizational resistance. The book covers: What security architecture is and the areas of expertise a security architect needs in practice The relationship between attack methods and the art of building cyber defenses Why to use attacks and how to derive a set of mitigations and defenses Approaches, tricks, and manipulations proven successful for practicing security architecture Starting, maturing, and running effective security architecture programs Secrets of the trade for the practicing security architecture Tricks to surmount typical problems Filled with practical insight, Secrets of a Cyber Security Architect is the desk reference every security architect needs to thwart the constant threats and dangers confronting every digitally connected organization.