Page 9 - Cyber Warnings

information sharing programs. Intelligence also includes having a clear understanding of the
critical information necessary for your particular line of business.

Integration aggregates the information found in the other two phases, and displays them in a
format which can be readily understood by decision makers to enable them to act quickly. In
particular, attacks should be logged and diagnosed in a systematic fashion.

Energy firms armed with this complete picture should then be able to create a continuous
monitoring and mitigation capability supported by intelligence and securely integrated
technology. As programs mature a well-integrated capability will facilitate advanced mitigation
strategies that leverage machine learning and security automation to accelerate remediation
and mitigation actions.

It’s going to be a challenging time ahead, but with the right planning, commitment to innovation
and sensible practices, nations and companies can mitigate, if not completely prevent, cyber
security attacks.

It’s the responsibility of both the private and public sectors working hand-in-hand to ensure
infrastructure as vital as oil and gas platforms is not just defended from physical attack, but
shielded from the predations of hostile states and criminals. To ignore the threat is to leave your
nation hostage to the next malware attack.

About the Author

Eric Eifert is the Senior Vice President of Managed Security Services at
DarkMatter. With more than 20 years of military and civilian experience in
information technology and cyber security, Eric leads the DarkMatter team of
security and technology professionals. His team provides customers onsite
and remote security operations centre services. These include intrusion
detection and prevention, security event monitoring and detection, incident
investigation, 24/7 continuous diagnostics and mitigation, and event
resolution. Eric and his team also assist customers in designing and building insider threat
detection capabilities; integrated network and security operation centres; continuous
governance, risk and compliance monitoring; and cyber-situational awareness dashboards.

Prior to joining DarkMatter in 2015, Eric was Senior Vice President of the Cyber Security
Solutions Division within US-headquartered ManTech’s Mission Cyber and Intelligence
Solutions Group. He led a highly technical team of more than 450 cyber security experts in the
provision of a range of solutions for federal and state governments, and commercial and
international customers. Eric also is an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at George Mason University, Virginia, U.S., teaching graduate digital
forensics analysis and cyber investigations. Prior to and concurrent with his role at ManTech,
Eric spent 20 years with the U.S. Air Force Office of Investigations in positions such as Network
Engineer, Special Agent, Computer Crime Investigator, and Commander.

9 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2016 Edition
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