Acquisition Life Cycle
The Acquisition Life Cycle in the context of cybersecurity refers to integrating cybersecurity considerations into every stage of acquiring a company, system, or technology. This ensures that cybersecurity risks are identified, assessed, and mitigated throughout the acquisition process, from initial planning to final integration and ongoing maintenance.
Here's a breakdown of the key stages and their cybersecurity implications:
1. Planning Phase:
Define cybersecurity requirements: Clearly define cybersecurity requirements and standards for the acquisition. This includes data protection, access control, incident response, and compliance with relevant regulations.
Due diligence: Conduct thorough cybersecurity due diligence on potential acquisition targets. This includes assessing their security posture, identifying vulnerabilities, and evaluating their incident response capabilities.
Risk assessment: Evaluate the potential cybersecurity risks associated with the acquisition, considering factors like data migration, system integration, and third-party dependencies.
2. Solicitation Phase:
Include cybersecurity requirements in RFPs: Incorporate cybersecurity requirements and evaluation criteria into Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure vendors meet your security standards.
Security assessments of vendors: Conduct security assessments of potential vendors to evaluate their cybersecurity practices and capabilities.
3. Evaluation Phase:
Review security documentation: Review vendors' security documentation, including policies, procedures, and certifications.
Conduct technical evaluations: Perform technical evaluations to assess the security of the acquired system or technology. This may include penetration testing, code reviews, and vulnerability assessments.
4. Award Phase:
Negotiate cybersecurity terms: Negotiate cybersecurity terms and conditions in the acquisition contract, including service level agreements (SLAs), data ownership, and incident response responsibilities.
5. Integration Phase:
Secure data migration: Implement data migration procedures to protect sensitive information during the transition.
Integrate systems securely: Ensure secure integration of the acquired system or technology with existing systems and infrastructure.
Implement security controls: Implement appropriate security controls to protect the acquired system or technology from cyber threats.
6. Operations and Maintenance Phase:
Continuous monitoring: Monitor the acquired system or technology for vulnerabilities and threats.
Vulnerability management: Establish a process for managing and remediating vulnerabilities.
Incident response: Develop and test incident response plans to address potential cybersecurity incidents.
Benefits of Integrating Cybersecurity into the Acquisition Life-Cycle:
Reduces cybersecurity risks: Proactively identifying and mitigating risks throughout the acquisition process.
Protects sensitive data: Ensures sensitive data's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Ensures compliance: Helps organizations comply with relevant cybersecurity regulations and standards.
Reduces costs: Avoids costly security breaches and remediation efforts.
Improves business continuity: Minimizes disruptions to operations due to cybersecurity incidents.
By integrating cybersecurity into every stage of the acquisition life-cycle, organizations can confidently acquire new companies, systems, and technologies, knowing that they are effectively managing cybersecurity risks and protecting their critical assets.
ThreatNG can be crucial in enhancing cybersecurity throughout the Acquisition Life Cycle. Here's how it helps in each stage:
1. Planning Phase:
Due Diligence: ThreatNG provides deep insights into the security posture of potential acquisition targets.
Domain Intelligence: Uncover the target's digital footprint, including hidden subdomains, unknown IP addresses, and exposed services. This helps identify potential vulnerabilities and attack vectors.
Sensitive Code Exposure: Identify if the target has exposed sensitive information like API keys, credentials, or internal documentation in public code repositories.
Dark Web Presence: Determine if the target has been mentioned on the dark web concerning data breaches, compromised credentials, or other security incidents.
Technology Stack: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the target's technology stack, including software, services, and cloud infrastructure. This helps assess potential compatibility issues and security risks associated with legacy systems.
Breach & Ransomware Susceptibility: Assess the target's susceptibility to breaches and ransomware attacks based on their external attack surface and security posture.
Supply Chain & Third-Party Exposure: Analyze the target's supply chain and third-party dependencies to identify potential risks that could impact your organization after the acquisition.
2. Solicitation Phase:
Cybersecurity Requirements in RFPs:
Use ThreatNG's findings to inform cybersecurity requirements in RFPs. For example, if ThreatNG identifies a high susceptibility to phishing attacks, you can include specific requirements for email security and employee training.
Security Assessments of Vendors:
Use ThreatNG to conduct comprehensive security assessments of potential vendors. This helps evaluate their cybersecurity practices, identify potential risks, and make informed decisions.
3. Evaluation Phase:
Technical Evaluations:
Augment technical evaluations with ThreatNG's findings. For example, ThreatNG's vulnerability data can be used to prioritize penetration testing efforts and focus on areas of highest risk.
4. Award Phase:
Negotiate Cybersecurity Terms:
Leverage ThreatNG's findings to negotiate strong cybersecurity terms in the acquisition contract. For example, if ThreatNG identifies significant security gaps, you can require the target to remediate them before the acquisition is finalized.
5. Integration Phase:
Secure Data Migration:
Use ThreatNG to identify potential data security risks during the migration process. This includes identifying sensitive data stores, assessing access controls, and ensuring secure data transfer mechanisms.
Implement Security Controls:
Use ThreatNG's findings to inform the implementation of security controls for the acquired system or technology. This includes configuring firewalls, implementing intrusion detection systems, and enforcing strong access controls.
6. Operations and Maintenance Phase:
Continuous Monitoring:
Integrate ThreatNG into your continuous monitoring program to track the security posture of the acquired system or technology over time. This helps identify new vulnerabilities, detect emerging threats, and ensure ongoing compliance with security standards.
Working with Complementary Solutions:
Vulnerability Scanners: Integrate ThreatNG with vulnerability scanners to better understand the target's security posture.
SIEM and SOAR: Feed ThreatNG's findings into your SIEM and SOAR platforms to improve threat detection, incident response, and security automation.
GRC Tools: Integrate ThreatNG with Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) tools to streamline compliance activities and track remediation efforts.
Examples with Investigation Modules:
Identify all domains and subdomains associated with the target, including those that may be unknown to the target. This helps uncover shadow IT and potential vulnerabilities.
Analyze the target's DNS records to identify misconfigurations or potential vulnerabilities.
Monitor social media for mentions of the target that could indicate security incidents, data breaches, or negative sentiment.
Identify all cloud services used by the target, including unsanctioned services. This helps assess cloud security risks and ensure compliance with cloud security policies.
Analyze historical website data to identify past security incidents or vulnerabilities that may still be relevant.
By leveraging ThreatNG's comprehensive capabilities throughout the Acquisition Life Cycle, organizations can effectively manage cybersecurity risks, protect sensitive data, and ensure a smooth and secure transition.
