VALIDATING CORE CONCEPTS OF CYBERSECURITY CONTROL USING COMMONLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS

ABSTRACT

Expert models specify repeatable actions that are designed to ensure an organization’s resources are utilized for maximum effectiveness. Therefore, a commonly accepted expert model can serve as the basis for defining and enforcing a satisfactory degree of cybersecurity for any organization. In that respect then, expert models serve as a fixed point of reference for instituting specific cybersecurity control. This paper discusses the evolution of cybersecurity expert models, core knowledge elements, and the areas of agreement between the common expert models.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dan Shoemaker

Dan Shoemaker, PhD, is principal investigator and senior research scientist at the University of Detroit Mercy’s Center for Cyber Security and Intelligence Studies. Dan has served 30 years as a professor at UDM with 25 of those years as department chair. He served as a co-chair for both the Workforce Training and Education and the Software and Supply Chain Assurance Initiatives for the Department of Homeland Security, and was a subject matter expert for the NICE Workforce Framework 2.0. Dan has coauthored six books in the field of cybersecurity and has authored over one hundred journal publications. Dan earned his PhD from the University of Michigan.

Anne Kohnke

Anne Kohnke, PhD, is an associate professor of cybersecurity at the University of Detroit Mercy. Anne’s research focus is in the areas of cybersecurity, risk management, threat modeling, and IT governance. After a 25-year career in IT, Anne transitioned from a Vice President of IT and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) position into full-time academia in 2011. She earned her PhD from Benedictine University.

Ken Sigler

Ken Sigler, MS, is a faculty member of the Computer Information Systems (CIS) program at the Auburn Hills campus of Oakland Community College in Michigan. His primary research is in the areas of software management, software assurance, and cloud computing. He developed the college’s CIS program option entitled “Information Technologies for Homeland Security.” Until 2007, Ken served as the liaison for the college to the International Cybersecurity Education Coalition (ICSEC), of which he is one of three founding members. Ken is a member of IEEE, the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), and the Association for Information Systems (AIS).