Team Sector Brief - Due 3/13 at 1500est

UMUC Cybersecurity Capstone Simulation

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- CYBERSECURITY INITIATIVE STARTS-

Welcome to the Avisitel cybersecurity team, cyber agent. You’ve been identified as a key

participant in our cybersecurity initiative to protect the U.S. from cyber threats, and we’ve

assigned you to Avisitel as a part of a team to protect its telecommunications network over

multiple rounds of cyber attack.

Your team’s mission is to improve Avisitel’s cybersecurity profile to support the company’s

business mission. Your team must determine and select the best combination of

telecommunications security controls to improve cybersecurity at Avisitel and maintain

business performance while staying within budget. Support for the mission must form part of

the rationale used when making your decisions. You and other teams in your group have been

assigned an instructor to aid you in fulfilling this mission.

The stakes are high; compromised cybersecurity for Avisitel can quickly lead to overloaded

telecommunications networks. That leads to panic and instability, places we don’t want to be

in. Tough times are ahead; hackers are attacking cyber installations worldwide, and the threats

of terrorism, natural disasters, and economic pressures will make the situation worse. If we can

weather the storm successfully, we’ll have demonstrated that our nation’s cyber defenses are

resilient. Stay tuned to the news reports broadcasted by iCyNN–the best cybersecurity news

network in the U.S.–to keep your team up to date.

Let’s see what you need to do as a team to set the pace and get off to a good start.

First and foremost, collaboration is mission-critical! The decisions you make as a team are

crucial to this cybersecurity mission and your performance, and you are collectively responsible

for your team’s decisions.

Second, a holistic approach is the only viable approach! It’s important to optimize your

performance in all areas rather than focus on only one area. For instance, while you should

spend adequately on cybersecurity, overspending without a clear focus will mean that Avisitel’s

profits will dip. You share the budget for your decisions with your team members; you may be

tempted to use the entire budget, and even avail an overdraft, allowing you to spend more.

Take the risks into account when doing so, however, because it will reduce Avisitel’s

profitability and the budget available for the next round. As a private entity, you need to keep

an eye on profitability given the current economic climate.

Third, a good strategy is the key to great execution! Look up the events in the Events tab to

know what threats are headed your way. You will also be aided by advisories, which will tell you

UMUC Cybersecurity Capstone Simulation

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how these events can overwhelm your defenses, and the damage they could cause. Get

together with your team to plan a response and implement it through your decisions. As your

team selects cybersecurity controls, remain aware of how these decisions affect the key

performance indicators. With Avisitel, Downtime is going to be very important. Security Index is

vital as well, as is Profitability.

Finally, frame your strategy clearly as part of a written team report; this is how your instructor

will know what you are attempting to accomplish in the round.