What Is Threat Management

Threat management is a process that takes the next step after a vulnerability assessment. In an assessment, we discover all the threats based on the information system potential areas of weaknesses – Technical, Operational, Managerial, Physical, and Environmental. The results of an assessment usually result in a plan of action to remediate the threats found. Threat Management takes this plan of action and ensures it is being completed effectively. There is usually a schedule of tasks, assigned personnel, and tracking of completion status to show the client the system is being improved and the threats are being reduced. Penetration testing and security simulations validate the actions taken during remediation of threats found in the vulnerability assessment.

A lack of resources such as personnel, time, or subject matter expertise should not prevent an organization from managing their security threats/vulnerabilities and the associated risk.

Threat management program is necessary to ensure threats are being addressed. We are all busy and these new tasks are often set aside in favor of more pressing day-to-day operations. The Threat management program provides an approach to remediation that incorporates threat reduction into the daily routine by assigning responsible personnel before the next assessment, or worse, an attacker finds the vulnerability first. This is especially true for vulnerabilities that require more specific work such as reconfiguration or manipulation of multiple devices to reduce the likelihood of exploitation which is frequently found with web-based applications.