Threat Mitigation Mapping
Connect threats to controls for effective security planning.
When to Use This Skill
- Prioritizing security investments
- Creating remediation roadmaps
- Validating control coverage
- Designing defense-in-depth
- Security architecture review
- Risk treatment planning
Core Concepts
1. Control Categories
Preventive ────► Stop attacks before they occur
│ (Firewall, Input validation)
│
Detective ─────► Identify attacks in progress
│ (IDS, Log monitoring)
│
Corrective ────► Respond and recover from attacks
(Incident response, Backup restore)
2. Control Layers
| Layer | Examples |
|---|---|
| Network | Firewall, WAF, DDoS protection |
| Application | Input validation, authentication |
| Data | Encryption, access controls |
| Endpoint | EDR, patch management |
| Process | Security training, incident response |
3. Defense in Depth
┌──────────────────────┐
│ Perimeter │ ← Firewall, WAF
│ ┌──────────────┐ │
│ │ Network │ │ ← Segmentation, IDS
│ │ ┌────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Host │ │ │ ← EDR, Hardening
│ │ │ ┌────┐ │ │ │
│ │ │ │App │ │ │ │ ← Auth, Validation
│ │ │ │Data│ │ │ │ ← Encryption
│ │ │ └────┘ │ │ │
│ │ └────────┘ │ │
│ └──────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────┘
Templates and detailed worked examples
Full template library and detailed mitigation/control mappings live in references/details.md. Read that file when you need the concrete templates for: Mitigation Model, Defense in Depth scoring, Executive Summary scaffolding, Critical Gaps reporting, Recommendations, Implementation Roadmap, Results by Control.
Best Practices
Do's
- Map all threats - No threat should be unmapped
- Layer controls - Defense in depth is essential
- Mix control types - Preventive, detective, corrective
- Track effectiveness - Measure and improve
- Review regularly - Controls degrade over time
Don'ts
- Don't rely on single controls - Single points of failure
- Don't ignore cost - ROI matters
- Don't skip testing - Untested controls may fail
- Don't set and forget - Continuous improvement
- Don't ignore people/process - Technology alone isn't enough