The Cyber Kill Chain – Deep Dive

Module 8 is a deep dive into the Cyber Kill Chain (CKC) that was introduced in an earlier module. The phases of teh CKC lifecycle are:

• Passive data discovery
• Detection
• Denial
• Delaying
• Degrading

Lockheed Martin (LM) has produced an intelligence-driven defense model consisting of seven steps. Dean begins reviewing this model by discussing passive discovery of data and the many different sources of data within an environment.

Next he discusses detecting future threat actions and capabilities and how this can be accomplished by reverse engineering malware. This process can provide clues to understanding how malware operates and how the infection occurred. Such knowledge can help prevent future infections.

Detecting weaponization is discussed next. This involves detecting malicious payloads, Trojans, or what is being targeted such as a file or app. Evidence of such payloads can manifest as registry changes, new or missing files, and other artifacts as well as suspicious traffic activity.

The video concludes with a discussion of the analysis of the attack timeline, when the malware was created, tested, and deployed, its capabilities and level of sophistication which all can provide clues to crafting a defense and detection methods.