Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
n
Knowledge—Gaining knowledge of information or information technology;
gain personal knowledge
Subvert—Subverting information or information technology; falsify;
deceive
Destroy—Destruction of asset
Steal—Theft of asset; theft of service
Render useless—Denial of service of assets; render unusable
n
n
n
n
The mission objectives correspond with the IA core principles. Mission objec-
tives imply a target, a target that exists in the organization's asset space. The target
may be physical (e.g., facilities, information technology, information [e.g., printed
documents]) or virtual (e.g., information in transit).
The mission may be a general mission, as in a probe of all utility companies for
access into their network. The mission may be specific, as when a known adver-
sary wants your organization's fourth-quarter financial information from server
X that resides at site Y. IA justification comes from examining the threat space,
determining best information about the mission, and analyzing your asset space for
vulnerabilities in light of the mission objective. The following sections elaborate on
desired mission results.
13.5.4.6 Knowledge
An adversary may wish to gain knowledge from its target. The knowledge objective
may be to discern the existence of a site, server, product, engineering design, or stra-
tegic plan. The objective may be details about any of these. Knowledge of a server
may assist in deploying malware to exploit known vulnerabilities. Knowledge gath-
ering may include social engineering, electronic listening devices, line of sight into
executive boardrooms, or copying backup tapes stored off site.
13.5.4.7 Subvert
Subversion is more insidious than destruction. Destruction is obvious as the use of the
asset ends. Subversion may be subtle changes to data, metadata, or documents. Slight
misinformation may produce dramatically different end results from the original
intent. A production line may produce products that will wear out sooner and result in
high costs of honoring warranties. Slight shifts in navigation coordinates result in wide
variances in travel paths and final destination (e.g., redirecting commercial airlines
over restricted air space). Subtle deviations are also very difficult to discover.
13.5.4.8 Destroy
Destruction is the loss of an asset or the loss of use of an asset. Malware that causes
a hard drive head crash is just as effective as physically smashing the drive.
