Security theatrics or strategy? Optimizing security budget efficiency and effectiveness

Introduction

I am a staunch advocate of the consideration of human behavior in cybersecurity threat mitigation. The discipline of behavioral ecology is a good place to start. This subset of evolutionary biology observes how individuals and groups react to given environmental conditions — including the interplay between people and an environment. 

The digital world is also a type of environment that we have all ended up playing in as computing and digital transactions become ever-present in our lives. By understanding this “digital theater,” we can determine a best-fit strategy to produce an effective cybersecurity play that optimizes security budgets.

Why having an effective strategy is important

I’ll offer up an example from nature to show the importance of an effective strategy. You may read this and wonder what it has to do with cybersecurity, but bear with me.

Starlings feed their chicks with leatherjackets and other insect larvae. During nesting season, the starlings work hard finding food and relaying it back and forth to the nest of chicks. If you’ve ever observed any bird during this season, you might have noticed by the end of it, they have lost feathers and look pretty beat up. But the sacrifice is important: effective feeding of chicks will produce fledglings that then go on to reproduce. Reproduction is seen as a success in evolutionary terms.

However, starlings are capable of carrying more than one leatherjacket in their beak. The more they can carry, the fewer trips they need to make. Fewer trips mean the parent starling is less likely to fall foul of bad health or predators. However, there is a tradeoff. To find the leatherjackets, the starling has to forage. Too many leatherjackets in the beak and it becomes harder to forage. The optimum number of leatherjackets is a trade-off between (Read more...)