Bruce Brown

Convocourses Podcast: Plan of Action and Milestone

February 20, 2023 by Bruce Brown Leave a Comment

A Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) is a document that identifies tasks needing to be accomplished to remediate or mitigate risks to a system. It is a requirement under NIST 800-53, which is a guideline for federal agencies and contractors to follow when managing their information security programs. A NIST 800 POA&M, therefore, is a POA&M that is developed in compliance with NIST 800-53 standards.

The NIST 800 POA&M details the resources required to accomplish the elements of the plan, any milestones for meeting the tasks, and scheduled milestone completion dates [1]. The document is continuously updated as progress is made towards remediation, making it a living, dynamic document [2]. The POA&M is a critical tool for anyone responsible for tracking and reporting compliance issues or risks identified for a system [3].

NIST 800-53r5 recommends the use of security automation software to support the POA&M process. This software can help with tracking POA&M items and milestones, and integrate with ticketing systems for streamlined management of remediation activities [2].

https://youtube.com/live/Q4_fKRo0jdU

Start with These IT Certifications (Part 1)

February 18, 2023 by Bruce Brown Leave a Comment

There are some entry-level security certifications such as CompTIA Security+ and ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC).

If you don’t know ANYTHING and have no experience, then you will need to start with courses that will teach basics for information technology.

What IT Certifications for Information Security (8140)

February 14, 2023 by Bruce Brown Leave a Comment

The previous name was DoD Directive (DoDD) 8570.01. It was updated to expand established DoD policies and assigned responsibilities for managing the DoD cyberspace workforce.

The directive unifies the overall cyberspace workforce and establishes specific workforce elements (cyberspace effects, cybersecurity, and cyberspace information technology (IT)) to align, manage and standardize cyberspace work roles, baseline qualifications, and training requirements.

SOC vs NOC

February 13, 2023 by Bruce Brown Leave a Comment

A security operating center vs a network operating center. In my experience the lines are sometimes blurred and its just a matter of what the organization calls a specific department.

Typically a security operating center hunts for threats, vulnerabilities and security incidents. A network operating center can include a SOC but it is focused on the operation of the network.