Control maturity assessment in security operations environments

1. A method for assessing a control maturity of a plurality of security controls implemented in an Information Technology (IT) environment, comprising:

receiving a plurality of security events from a plurality of sensors in the IT environment;

generating a plurality of enriched events corresponding to the plurality of security events,

wherein each of the plurality of enriched events comprises metadata identifying data types associated with a security event corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of enriched events;

classifying each of the plurality of security events to a respective one of a plurality of predetermined security controls based on the corresponding enriched event to yield a plurality of classified security events;

calculating a plurality of activity metrics for each of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on each of the plurality of classified security events;

calculating the control maturity for the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the plurality of activity metrics; and

providing the calculated control maturity to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IT environment comprises a plurality of assets associated with a plurality of network domains, and wherein each sensor is configured to detect a type of security information associated with an asset within a network domain.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata comprises a network ID, a network domain, a timestamp, sensor event type data, a sensor vendor type, event severity data, or security metadata associated with event assessment and security control activity calculations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of enriched events comprises:

matching a plurality of portions of the security event to a plurality of event patterns stored in an event pattern database to determine a matching event pattern; and

in response to matching the plurality of portions to the event pattern, generating the metadata for each matching portion based on the data types specified in the event pattern.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of event patterns comprises a plurality of corresponding regular expressions.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying each of the plurality of security events comprises:

classifying each of the plurality of security events to a sensor vendor based on the metadata corresponding to the security event; and

classifying each of the plurality of security events to a respective one of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the sensor vendor classified for the security event.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein classifying each of the plurality of security events to a respective one of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the corresponding enriched event comprises:

classifying of the plurality of security events to an operational function based on a security control associated with the security event; and

classifying the security event as having an impact on one or more assets that are associated with the respective one of the plurality of predetermined security controls.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the plurality of activity metrics for each of the plurality of predetermined security controls:

generating a plurality of control activity records corresponding to the plurality of predetermined security controls based on each of the plurality of classified security events,

wherein each control activity record includes an activity count associated with a security control type; and

storing the plurality of control activity records in a control activity database.

9. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein calculating the control maturity comprises calculating a control maturity score for at least one of the plurality of predetermined security controls, and

wherein calculating the control maturity score comprises:

calculating a control effectiveness score (CES) that measures an effectiveness of the at least one of the plurality of predetermined security controls over a predefined time period; and

calculating a compliance conformance score (CCS) that measures how well compliance is being met for the at least one of the plurality of predetermined security controls in place.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein calculating the control effectiveness score (CES) comprises:

calculating a coverage effectiveness ratio (CER) that measures a ratio of time that the security control was active in a predefined time period;

calculating an asset coverage ratio (ACR) that measures assets covered by a security control versus a total number of the assets in a network domain; and

calculating a business impact ratio (BIR) that computes a ratio of a total business impact relative to a maximum possible impact based on the assets covered by the security control and a business impact assigned to each asset.

11. The method of claim 10 ,

wherein the CES is calculated by weighting the CER by the ACR and subtracting a value calculated based on weighting an uncovered ratio by the BIR,

wherein the uncovered ratio is calculated based on the ACR and represents a portion of the network domain not covered by the security control.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein calculating the compliance conformance score (CCS) comprises:

calculating an unweighted compliance conformance score (UCCS) that measures a ratio of compliance requirements fulfilled by the security control compared to other compliance requirements that must be fulfilled over the predefined time period.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the calculated control maturity to the user comprises:

displaying a matrix of operational assets crossed with asset classes,

wherein each cell in the matrix comprises one or more of the plurality of predetermined security controls mapped to an operational asset and an asset class corresponding to the cell; and

displaying a graphical indication within the cell of the matrix to indicate the calculated control maturity of the one or more of the plurality of predetermined security controls corresponding to the cell.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the calculated control maturity to the user comprises:

providing to the user a report that indicates control maturity gaps with respect to a matrix of operational assets crossed with asset classes,

wherein each cell in the matrix comprises one or more of the plurality of predetermined security controls mapped to an operational asset and an asset class corresponding to the cell.

15. The method of claim 1 , comprising: generating a security alert based on the calculated control maturity to notify the user of control maturity gaps or to notify the user of an abnormal change in the control maturity or a compliance conformance.

16. The method of claim 15 , comprising: detecting an indication of the abnormal change based on a plurality of rules, a heuristic, or a classifier.

17. The method of claim 1 , comprising: initiating an automated action based on the calculated control maturity to decrease risk and improve security resilience of the IT environment.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the automated action comprises reconfiguring one or more security policies.

19. The method of claim 1 , comprising: generating a model of a security environment corresponding to the IT environment.

20. A system for assessing a control maturity of security controls in an Information Technology (IT) environment, comprising one or more processors, memory, and one or more programs stored in the memory that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

receive a plurality of security events from a plurality of sensors in the IT environment;

generate a plurality of enriched events corresponding to the plurality of security events,

wherein each enriched event comprises metadata identifying data types associated with a security event corresponding to the enriched event;

classify each of the plurality of security events to a respective one of a plurality of predetermined security controls based on the corresponding enriched event to yield a plurality of classified security events;

calculate a plurality of activity metrics for each of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on each of the plurality of classified security events; and

calculate the control maturity for each of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the plurality of activity metrics; and

provide the calculated control maturity to a user.

21. The system of claim 20 ,

wherein the IT environment comprises a plurality of assets associated with a plurality of network domains, and

wherein each sensor is configured to detect a type of security information associated with an asset within a network domain.

22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the metadata comprises a network ID, a network domain, a timestamp, sensor event type data, a sensor vendor type, event severity data, or security metadata associated with event assessment and security control activity calculations.

23. The system of claim 20 , wherein to generate the plurality of enriched events, the one or more processors are caused to:

match a plurality of portions of the security event to a plurality of event patterns stored in an event pattern database to determine a matching event pattern; and

in response to matching the plurality of portions to the event pattern, generate the metadata for each matching portion based on the data types specified in the event pattern.

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the plurality of event patterns comprises a plurality of corresponding regular expressions.

25. The system of claim 20 , wherein to classify each of the plurality of security events, the one or more processors are caused to:

classify each of the plurality of security events to a sensor vendor based on the metadata corresponding to each of the plurality of security events; and

classify each of the plurality of security events to the respective one of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the sensor vendor classified for the security event.

26. The system of claim 20 , wherein to classify each of the plurality of security events to a respective one of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the corresponding one of the plurality of enriched events, the one or more processors are caused to:

classify each of the plurality of security events to an operational function based on the security control associated with the security event; and

classify each of the plurality of security events as having an impact on one or more assets that are associated with the respective one of the plurality of predetermined security controls.

27. The system of claim 20 , wherein to calculate the plurality of activity metrics for each of the plurality of predetermined security controls, the one or more processors are caused to:

generate a plurality of control activity records corresponding to the plurality of predetermined security controls based on each of the plurality of classified security events,

wherein each of the plurality of control activity records includes an activity count associated with a security control type; and

store the plurality of control activity records in a control activity database.

28. The system of claim 20 ,

wherein calculating the control maturity comprises calculating a control maturity score for a security control, and

wherein to calculate the control maturity score, the one or more processors are caused to:

calculate a control effectiveness score (CES) that measures an effectiveness of the security control over a predefined time period; and

calculate a compliance conformance score (CCS) that measures how well compliance is being met for the security control in place.

29. The system of claim 28 , wherein to calculate the control effectiveness score (CES), the one or more processors are caused to:

calculate a coverage effectiveness ratio (CER) that measures a ratio of time that the security control was active in a predefined time period;

calculate an asset coverage ratio (ACR) that measures assets covered by the security control versus a total number of the assets in a network domain; and

calculate a business impact ratio (BIR) that computes a ratio of a total business impact relative to a maximum possible impact based on the assets covered by the security control and a business impact assigned to each asset.

30. The system of claim 29 ,

wherein the CES is calculated by weighting the CER by the ACR and subtracting a value calculated based on weighting an uncovered ratio by the BIR,

wherein the uncovered ratio is calculated based on the ACR and represents a portion of the network domain not covered by the security control.

31. The system of claim 28 , wherein to calculate the compliance conformance score (CCS), the one or more processors are caused to:

calculate an unweighted compliance conformance score (UCCS) that measures a ratio of compliance requirements fulfilled by the security control compared to other compliance requirements that must be fulfilled over the predefined time period.

32. The system of claim 28 , wherein to calculate the compliance conformance score (CCS), the one or more processors are caused to:

calculate a weighted compliance conformance that measures a ratio of compliance requirements fulfilled by the security control compared to other compliance requirements that must be fulfilled over the predefined time period,

wherein each compliance requirement fulfillment is weighted based on the security control.

33. The system of claim 20 , wherein to provide the calculated control maturity to the user, the one or more processors are caused to:

display a matrix of operational assets crossed with asset classes,

wherein each cell in the matrix comprises one or more of the plurality of predetermined security controls mapped to an operational asset and the asset class corresponding to the cell; and

display a graphical indication within the cell of the matrix to indicate the calculated control maturity of the one or more of the plurality of predetermined security controls corresponding to the cell.

34. The system of claim 20 , wherein to provide the calculated control maturity to the user, the one or more processors are caused to:

provide to the user a report that indicates control maturity gaps with respect to a matrix of operational assets crossed with asset classes,

wherein each cell in the matrix comprises one or more of the plurality of predetermined security controls mapped to an operational asset and an asset class corresponding to the cell.

35. The system of claim 20 , wherein the one or more processors are caused to: generate a security alert based on the calculated control maturity to notify the user of control maturity gaps or to notify the user of an abnormal change in the control maturity or a compliance conformance.

36. The system of claim 35 , wherein the one or more processors are caused to: detect an indication of the abnormal change based on a plurality of rules, a heuristic, or a classifier.

37. The system of claim 20 , wherein the one or more processors are caused to: initiate an automated action based on the calculated control maturity to decrease risk and improve security resilience of the IT environment.

38. The system of claim 37 , wherein the automated action comprises reconfiguring one or more security policies.

39. The system of claim 20 , wherein the one or more processors are caused to generate a model of a security environment corresponding to the IT environment.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for assessing a control maturity of security controls in an Information Technology (IT) environment, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer having one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the instructions comprising:

receiving a plurality of security events from a plurality of sensors in the IT environment;

generating a plurality of enriched events corresponding to the plurality of security events,

wherein each enriched event comprises metadata identifying data types associated with a security event corresponding to the enriched event;

classifying each of the plurality of security events to a security control from a plurality of predetermined security controls based on the corresponding enriched event to yield a plurality of classified security events;

calculating a plurality of activity metrics for each of the plurality of predetermined security controls based on each of the plurality of classified security events; and

calculating the control maturity for the plurality of predetermined security controls based on the plurality of activity metrics; and

providing the calculated control maturity to a user.