8 Cyber Security Secrets from Champion Defenders & Threat Hunters
Take ownership
You will have no heart or energy to defend what you feel does not belong to you. Do you know your organization’s values? Do you share those values? Do you believe in the mission? How do the organization’s mission and goals help you progress in meeting your personal and professional goals? See how you, as a defender, are in a mutually beneficial partnership where the organization’s success is your success. You are part owner of the system you are defending. If you can’t see or feel your ownership of the system you’re trusted to defend, the attackers have already won.
Give no time to react
One of the best words to describe a good defender is “suffocating”. You have to be a defender that gives no space and no opportunity for attackers to “breathe” or use their strengths. Great defenders are tireless. Be that defender that attackers don’t want to come up against.
Develop your patience
Patience is key for any defender. Without patience you lose focus and it is easy for any attacker to get past you. Create a hypothesis, know what you are looking for, focus your attention, and remain open to questioning what seems baseline and normal.
Anticipate what they expect
As a defender you need to get to know your rivals. Why do they do what they do? How do they move? What are their strengths? What are their vulnerbilities? What do they value? What do they fear? Learn enough about them to anticipate their next move and their expectations.
Defend with your heart
Defenders are warriors. The best defenders are the ones that defend with their heart. They give absolutely everything they have to protect and defend their systems from inside and outside threats. There is nothing more motivating for the team and the organization, than a defender who gives a spectacular performance in the name of safety, security and freedom from fear of disruption.
Impose yourself
Great defenders make attackers feel their presence. You need to be sure that every time attackers choose to breach your system, they know that you are there…right next to them. Impose your presence as a defender in the global cybersecurity field, and malicious actors will either think twice before approaching you or spend much more money, time, and effort on attempts to get past you and your defenses.
Intimidate attackers
Get into their heads. Do what’s necessary to totally shut down their confidence. Make them doubt themselves. Make them make mistakes. Interrupt their calmness. Make them nervous. This is your system. They’re attempting to cross your boundary. Handle it.
Think like a defender
Thinking like a hacker informs your protection and defense strategy — it does NOT make you a better defender. In fact, because practice makes permanent, thinking like a hacker makes you a better hacker when hacking is the primary focus of your thinking and practice. Protection and defense are about collective intelligence (the collection and analysis of meaningful information), evolving strategy, collaboration, and respect for others. Yes, develop empathy with attackers by gaining intimate knowledge of attackers’ strengths, tools, practices, and motives. But while you’re “ssh’ing” into a server, extend that empathy to knowledge and understanding of attackers’ vulnerabilities to determine how you can defensively exploit their thinking process to further protect and defend your network, mission, family, and home. Thinking like a defender makes you a better defender.
