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Overview
One of the three focus projects for this course is creating a technical brief based on the research you’ve conducted. The audience for this brief is the security or IT director for the fictional organization for which you work. This technical brief will serve as the basis for a proactive adversarial detection plan that your director will be creating. The final product represents an authentic demonstration of competency because, as a security analyst, you must develop skills that use a variety of methods and tools to detect, characterize, and counter cyber threat actors. Your work will contribute to larger team projects across your organization. This project will also help you develop an important mindset: thinking responsibly and proactively about what threat actors would do to attack organizational assets.
The project incorporates one milestone, which will be submitted in Module Five. The project will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course competency:
Develop reliable, ethical methods to detect, characterize, and counter cyber threat actors
Scenario
In a course announcement, your instructor will provide some scenarios for you to choose from. In your chosen scenario, you are a security analyst, creating a technical brief for the security or IT director explaining how the situation informs the larger proactive adversarial detection plan they are writing for the organization. The specific technical information, results, or determinations you need are supplied within the scenario. Your brief should address each critical element in the Project Three prompt, discussing your best-practice tactics or methods recommendations based on your research from the decision aid you completed as the milestone for this project. The Conclusion section of this activity requires you to expand on all the research you did for the decision aid.
Prompt
In your technical brief, you must address the critical elements listed below.
IntroductionIdentify your threat actors and characterize their motivations or desired outcomes. Use research from the Project Three resource guide or decision aid to support your response. For example, is the threat actor gathering information for financial gain?
AnalysisDescribe best practices or methods for detecting the threat actors from the scenario. Use research from the Project Three resource guide or decision aid to support your response.
Describe ethical and legal factors that should be considered and their significance in terms of the company for which you are employed in the scenario. Use research from the Project Three resource guide or decision aid to support your response.
Describe at least one tactic or method that is important in responding to and countering this threat actor. Use research from the Project Three resource guide or decision aid to support your response.
Describe at least one tactic or method that would be employed to reduce the likelihood of the same situation happening again. Use research from the Project Three resource guide or decision aid to support your response.
ConclusionExplain the potential ramifications of the tactics or methods you have suggested. Use research from the resource guide or decision aid to support your response.
What to Submit
Your submission should be approximately 2 pages in length (plus a cover page and references) and should be written in APA format. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Include at least three references, which should be cited according to APA style. Use a file name that includes the course code, the assignment title, and your name—for example, CYB_200_Project_Three_Neo_Anderson.docx.
Project Three Rubric
CriteriaExemplary (100%)Proficient (85%)Needs Improvement (55%)Not Evident (0%)Value
Introduction: CharacterizeMeets “Proficient” criteria and addresses critical element in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerIdentifies threat actors and characterizes their motivations or desired outcomes, using research from the resource guide or decision aid to support the responseAddresses “Proficient” criteria, but there are gaps in clarity, logic, or detailDoes not address critical element, or response is irrelevant16
Analysis: Detecting Threat ActorsMeets “Proficient” criteria and addresses critical element in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerDescribes best practices or methods for detecting the threat actors, using research from the resource guide or decision aid to support the responseAddresses “Proficient” criteria, but there are gaps in clarity, logic, or detailDoes not address critical element, or response is irrelevant16
Analysis: Ethical and Legal FactorsMeets “Proficient” criteria and addresses critical element in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerDescribes ethical and legal factors that need to be considered and their significance, using research from the resource guide or decision aid to support the responseAddresses “Proficient” criteria, but there are gaps in clarity, logic, or detailDoes not address critical element, or response is irrelevant16
Analysis: Responding to and Countering Threat ActorMeets “Proficient” criteria and addresses critical element in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerDescribes at least one tactic or method that is important in responding to and countering the threat actor, using research from the resource guide or decision aid to support the responseAddresses “Proficient” criteria, but there are gaps in clarity, logic, or detailDoes not address critical element, or response is irrelevant16
Analysis: Reduce LikelihoodMeets “Proficient” criteria and addresses critical element in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerDescribes at least one tactic or method that would be employed to reduce the likelihood of the same situation happening again, using research from the resource guide or decision aid to support the responseAddresses “Proficient” criteria, but there are gaps in clarity, logic, or detailDoes not address critical element, or response is irrelevant16
Conclusions: RamificationsMeets “Proficient” criteria and addresses critical element in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative mannerExplains the potential ramifications of the tactics or methods suggested, using research from the resource guide or decision aid to support the responseAddresses “Proficient” criteria, but there are gaps in clarity, logic, or detailDoes not address critical element, or response is irrelevant16
Articulation of ResponseSubmission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read formatSubmission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, or organizationSubmission has some errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideasSubmission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas4
Total:100%