<p><strong>Davey Winder</strong>&nbsp;explains how understanding the progression of an online attack can help you defend your business.</p>

- Davey Winder

Cyber kill chain? That sounds scary. 

That might be explained by the fact that it’s a military term. The “kill chain” is the complete sequence of an offensive attack: in the context of warfare it can be expanded to “find, fix, track, target, engage and assess”. For computer- based attacks, Lockheed Martin developed the concept of the cyber kill chain, which starts with reconnaissance and then moves through delivery, exploitation and other stages in pursuit of the attacker’s final objectives.

Is this something I need to know about? I’m not planning on attacking anyone. 

The kill chain isn’t just about planning attacks: it’s also a powerful defensive principle. The closer you are to the start of the kill chain, the better your chances of stopping an attacker in their tracks. In other words, if you catch the bad guys while they’re still gathering data, they won’t get a chance to use that intelligence against you.

Got it. So we need to teach our employees about the kill chain so they can recognise when an attack is underway? 

Knowing your enemy is always helpful. And there’s no need to be entirely reactive: if you bear the kill chain in mind when devising your processes and systems, that might help you come up with a strategic approach that’s inherently resistant to attacks.

Hold on a minute – what do you mean, “might”? 

The kil

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