SOC Critical Path: A Defensive Kill Chain Model

Abstract

Different kill chain models have been defined and analyzed to provide a common sequence of actions followed in offensive cyber operations. These models allow analysts to identify these operations and to understand how they are executed. However, there is a lack of an equivalent model from a defensive point of view: this is, there is no common sequence of actions for the detection of threats and their accurate response. This lack causes not only problems such as unstructured approaches and conceptual errors but, what is most important, inefficiency in the detection and response to threats, as defensive tactics are not well identified. For this reason, in this work we present a defensive kill chain approach where tactics for teams in charge of cyber defense activities are structured and arranged. We introduce the concept of SOC Critical Path (SCP), a novel kill chain model to detect and neutralize threats. SCP is a technology–independent model that provides an arrangement of mandatory steps, in the form of tactics, to be executed by Computer Network Defense teams to detect hostile cyber operations. By adopting this novel model, these teams increase the performance and the effectiveness of their capabilities through a common framework that formalizes the steps to follow for the detection and neutralization of threats. In this way, our work can be used not only to identify detection and response gaps, but also to implement a continuous improvement cycle over time.

Keywords

• SOC critical path
• security operations center
• computer network defense
• cyber kill chain