From the CERT Coordination Center at the SEI, this book describes OCTAVE, a new method of evaluating information security risk.@BULLET = This book is from the CERT Coordination Center and Networked Systems Survivability (NSS) group at the SEI, the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. @BULLET = There is growing interest in OCTAVE. The DOD Medical Health System is one early adopter and there is also keen interest from the financial sector. @BULLET = The authors are the lead developers of the OCTAVE method and are experts in helping organizations manage their own security risks.@SUMMARY = This is a descriptive and process-oriented book on a new security risk evaluation method, OCTAVE. OCTAVE stands for Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation (SM). An information security risk evaluation helps organizations evaluate organizational practice as well as the installed technology base and to make decisions based on potential impact.@AUTHBIO = Christopher Alberts is a senior member of the technical staff in the Networked Systems Survivability Program (NSS) at the SEI, CERT Coordination Center. He is team leader for security evaluations and OCTAVE. Christopher is responsible for developing information security risk management methods, tools, and techniques. Audrey Dorofee is a senior member of the technical staff in the Survivable Network Management Project in the NSS Program at SEI, CERT Coordination Center. CERT is the original computer security incident response center and is internationally recognized as a leading authoritative organization in this area.

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OCTAVE stands for "Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation", which focuses specifically on business or organizational critical success factors and operational postures. This differs slightly from traditional vulnerability assessments, which are wider in scope, and auditing, which is based on policies and due diligence. While there seems to be little distinction on the surface, as you read this book you discover that OCTAVE's focus and philosophy is akin to Pareto analysis in that you narrow the scope to business success and operational factors.

The book is divided into three main parts:

I - Introduction (introduces OCTAVE and describes the basics).
II - OCTAVE Method (explains the method, how to identify organizational knowledge, create threat profiles, identify key components, select components for evaluation, conduct a risk analysis, develop and select a strategy).
III - Variations and tailoring strategies.

In addition to the main sections the appendices are valuable. They include case studies, worksheets and a catalog of the eight OCTAVE processes.

Note that OCTAVE is intended for organizations in excess of 300 people, although OCTAVE-S (briefly covered in Part III) is a scaled down version of the main approach. There is also a version of OCTAVE that addresses outsourcing, but was skimmed over very quickly in the book.

The book is an excellent guide to OCTAVE, and, in my opinion, OCTAVE itself is a viable approach to information security risk management.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Great book about a great security methodologyDec 02, 2003
By Ben Rothke "Author of 'Computer Security: 20 Things Every Employee Should Know'"
OCTAVE--which stands for Operationally Critical Threat, Asset and Vulnerability Evaluation--is a methodology for independent information-security risk evaluations. An outgrowth of the Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University, OCTAVE attempts to help organizations balance the risks of information systems with the business need to deploy these systems. This book is a solid explanation of OCTAVE.

The authors detail the methods to implement OCTAVE, create threat profiles, conduct a risk analysis, develop strategy, and so on. All steps to ensure that risk is adequately addressed are presented.

Most useful for the practitioner are the book's numerous case studies and worksheets and its catalog of the eight OCTAVE processes. A caveat: it is unwise to fill out the worksheets without first reading the book. Doing OCTAVE right means no shortcuts. Also, the reader shouldn't think that this approach can be implemented by a single person in a few days.

In sum, while the prose doesn't exactly sing, it does strike the appropriate tone for this excellent presentation on OCTAVE.