In an interview with Help Net Security, William Booth, director of ATT&CK Evaluations at MITRE, emphasizes the importance of moving beyond checkbox security to achieve true resilience in cybersecurity. He explains that CISOs should integrate regulatory compliance into a broader, proactive strategy that prioritizes risk management, maps security controls to real-world threats, and invests in rigorous testing to uncover vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. Key blind spots, such as shadow IT and software supply chain risks, require attention through vendor risk management and asset tracking.
Booth also advocates for a threat-informed approach to cybersecurity spending, focusing on protecting critical assets and addressing the most probable threats, like ransomware and cloud-focused attacks. Lessons learned from organizations like T-Mobile and Microsoft highlight the need for continuous improvement and adaptability in the face of evolving cyber threats.
"Investing in regular, rigorous testing is essential. Uncovering weaknesses before adversaries do is core to a resilient security posture," says Booth. "There are many free resources to help CISOs. For mapping, see Mappings Explorer. For regular, rigorous testing, see tools like MITRE Caldera."