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Hersteller-News

How Analysts can use the OODA Loop to Strengthen their Skillsets

04. Juni 2021

threatquotient logo 400x160For many years, cybersecurity professionals have talked about the OODA loop. Devised by Colonel John Boyd, it describes a decision-making cycle that fighter pilots apply in dog fights, and when mastered, allows them to outwit adversaries. The acronym stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act, and if you can go through this decision cycle faster than your adversary, you can defeat them.

In light of the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals, the more aspects of this often highly manual process that we can automate, the more effective and efficient we can be at improving security operations. So, let’s automate the OODA loop and we’ll be set, right?

Not so fast. The SANS 2021 Report: Top Skills Analysts Need to Master says that “the keys to this loop are the activities and critical thinking that take place in the orientation phase and the fact that it is an iterative feedback model that allows analysts to adapt their decision-make based on the results of their analysis.” We can’t automate critical thinking. The OODA loop is based on the assumption that there is a person behind it bringing human intelligence – intuition, memory, learning and experience – into the process so that we can continuously refine and move faster through the loop to better mitigate risk. ...read more!