Overview#
Model describing the stages of an attack from reconnaissance to actions on objectives. Helps map detections and controls to each phase to disrupt adversaries early.
Core objectives#
- Establish shared definitions of Kill Chain for security, engineering, and leadership teams.
- Connect Kill Chain activities to measurable risk reduction and resilience goals.
- Provide onboarding notes so new team members can quickly understand how Kill Chain works here.
Implementation notes#
- Identify the primary owner for Kill Chain, the data sources involved, and the systems affected.
- Document the minimum viable process, tooling, and runbooks that keep Kill Chain healthy.
- Map Kill Chain practices to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or CIS Controls.
Operational signals#
- Leading indicators: early warnings that Kill Chain might degrade (e.g., backlog growth, noisy alerts, or missed SLAs).
- Lagging indicators: realized impact that shows Kill Chain failed or needs investment (e.g., incidents, audit findings).
- Feedback loops: retrospectives and metrics reviews that tune Kill Chain continuously.
Related practices#
- Align Kill Chain with defense-in-depth planning, threat modeling, and disaster recovery tests.
- Communicate updates to stakeholders through concise briefs, dashboards, and internal FAQs.
- Pair Kill Chain improvements with tabletop exercises to validate expectations.