The MITRE Corporation has taken the wraps off a knowledge base of common techniques and tactics that defenders can use to ensure their networks and assets are kept secure.
Called MITRE Shield, the publicly available, free resource is aimed at cyber-experts looking to engage an active cyber defense and, similarly with MITRE ATT&CK, presents a series of active defense concepts.
“Shield was culled from MITRE’s work over the past 10 years observing and engaging adversaries in defense of our own network. It spans the range from big-picture opportunities and objectives that chief information security officers (CISOs) may want to consider to practitioner-friendly tactics, techniques, and procedures,” MITRE explains.
The newly released knowledge base mainly details security techniques for engaging deception and adversaries. With the help of both ATT&CK and MITRE Shield, defenders can create active defense playbooks that would help them address specific adversaries, MITRE says.
According to MITRE, the resource is being developed as both unstructured and structured data, with the initial version focusing on structured elements. MITRE Shield is not complete, but should serve as a starting point for discussion on adversary engagement, active defense, and how defenders can take advantage of them.
“We hope mapping Shield to ATT&CK will be a good addition to the collection of ways ATT&CK can be used. Using them in tandem can help defenders better understand adversary behavior and engagements and suggest ways the defender can mount a more active defense,” says Christina Fowler, MITRE’s chief cyber intelligence strategist.
According to MITRE, the main idea behind releasing Shield is to receive others’ opinions on the work, to expand the knowledge base. The data model will be tweaked in the coming months and additional content is expected to be added as well, the not-for-profit organization reveals.
MITRE also notes that it plans to continuously evolve Shield, and that the project might never actually be completed, as the subject of defense is nearly infinite. However, the knowledge base is expected to help organizations strengthen their active defense solutions.
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