Exercise 1: Threat Intelligence Analysis Prompt Engineering
Objective:
Learn to craft effective prompts for analyzing and contextualizing cybersecurity threat intelligence for financial institutions.
Background:
Cybersecurity Officers must analyze threat intelligence to identify and prioritize relevant threats. A key challenge is translating technical threat data into actionable insights for different stakeholders.
Exercise:
1. Scenario:
You need to analyze emerging threat intelligence and develop a comprehensive assessment of its relevance and potential impact to your financial institution.
2. Basic Prompt Example:
What does this new threat mean for our bank?3. Prompt Improvement Activity:
- Identify the limitations of the basic prompt
- Add specific details about the threat intelligence
- Include context about your organization's environment
- Request structured analysis methodology
- Ask for risk assessment and recommendation approaches
4. Advanced Prompt Template:
I am a Cybersecurity Officer at a [size] financial institution analyzing the following threat intelligence:
Threat details:
- Threat type: [malware, ransomware, APT, phishing campaign, etc.]
- Targeting focus: [specific sectors, institution types, geographies]
- Attack vectors: [initial access methods, propagation techniques]
- Technical indicators: [IOCs, TTPs, MITRE ATT&CK mapping]
- Reported impacts: [data theft, operational disruption, financial loss]
- Threat actors: [known groups, motivations, capabilities]
- Timeline: [discovery date, activity period, projected evolution]
Organizational context:
- Technology environment: [key systems, architecture, vulnerabilities]
- Security controls: [relevant defensive measures in place]
- Business operations: [critical functions, dependencies]
- Third-party relationships: [relevant supply chain considerations]
- Regulatory requirements: [compliance obligations]
- Current security posture: [known gaps, ongoing initiatives]
- Similar past incidents: [historical context, lessons learned]
Please help me develop a comprehensive threat intelligence analysis by:
1. Providing a structured threat assessment that includes:
- Threat characterization and contextualization
- Relevance determination for our specific environment
- Potential impact analysis across different scenarios
- Likelihood assessment based on our controls
- Overall risk evaluation and prioritization
- Confidence level in the analysis
- Intelligence gaps requiring further investigation
2. For technical teams, recommend:
- Specific detection strategies and use cases
- Hunting queries for proactive identification
- Control validation approaches
- Configuration hardening recommendations
- Monitoring enhancements
- Incident response preparation steps
- Technical indicators to implement
3. For business stakeholders, suggest:
- Business impact contextualization
- Risk narrative in business terms
- Operational implications and considerations
- Decision points and options
- Resource allocation recommendations
- Communication approach and messaging
- Strategic security investment implications
4. For ongoing threat management, outline:
- Intelligence collection requirements
- Monitoring and detection strategy
- Threat evolution tracking approach
- Collaboration opportunities (internal/external)
- Metrics to track for this threat
- Feedback loops for intelligence refinement
- Long-term defensive strategy implications
Format your response as a comprehensive threat intelligence analysis that balances technical accuracy with business relevance and actionability.5. Evaluation Criteria:
- Does the prompt clearly describe the threat details and organizational context?
- Does it request a structured threat assessment with specific components?
- Does it ask for audience-specific recommendations (technical and business)?
- Does it consider ongoing threat management approaches?
- Does it balance technical accuracy with business relevance?
6. Practice Activity:
Create your own advanced prompt for threat intelligence analysis related to:
- A new ransomware variant targeting financial institutions
- A supply chain compromise affecting financial software
- A nation-state APT campaign targeting payment systems
Exercise 2: Incident Response Planning Prompt Engineering
Objective:
Develop skills to craft prompts that help design effective cybersecurity incident response plans for financial institutions.
Background:
Cybersecurity Officers must develop and maintain incident response capabilities. A key challenge is designing comprehensive response plans that address technical, operational, and communication aspects of security incidents.
Exercise:
1. Scenario:
You need to develop or enhance your organization's incident response plan for a specific type of cybersecurity incident (e.g., ransomware, data breach, DDoS attack).
2. Basic Prompt Example:
What should our ransomware response plan include?3. Prompt Improvement Activity:
- Identify the limitations of the basic prompt
- Add specific details about the incident type
- Include context about your organization
- Request structured response methodology
- Ask for implementation and testing recommendations
4. Advanced Prompt Template:
I am a Cybersecurity Officer at a [size] financial institution developing an incident response plan for [specific incident type] with these characteristics:
Incident scenario:
- Nature: [ransomware, data breach, DDoS, insider threat, etc.]
- Potential scope: [systems affected, data impacted]
- Business impact: [operational disruption, financial loss, reputation]
- Detection challenges: [visibility gaps, alert fatigue]
- Response complexities: [technical, operational, legal]
- Recovery considerations: [restoration priorities, timeframes]
- Regulatory implications: [notification requirements, expectations]
Organizational context:
- Technology environment: [key systems, architecture]
- Business operations: [critical functions, dependencies]
- Response capabilities: [team structure, tools, expertise]
- Third-party relationships: [relevant providers, contracts]
- Regulatory requirements: [specific obligations]
- Existing plans: [current documentation, gaps]
- Previous incidents: [relevant experience, lessons learned]
Please help me develop a comprehensive incident response plan by:
1. Outlining an end-to-end response framework that includes:
- Preparation requirements and readiness activities
- Detection and identification methodology
- Initial triage and severity assessment approach
- Containment strategies and decision criteria
- Eradication and recovery procedures
- Post-incident analysis methodology
- Continuous improvement mechanisms
2. For each response phase, recommend:
- Specific actions and procedures
- Roles and responsibilities
- Decision points and escalation criteria
- Documentation requirements
- Communication protocols
- Tool and resource utilization
- Common pitfalls and mitigation strategies
3. For stakeholder management, suggest:
- Executive communication approach
- Business unit engagement model
- Customer communication strategy
- Regulatory notification process
- Law enforcement coordination
- Media and public relations handling
- Board reporting methodology
4. For implementation and readiness, recommend:
- Documentation structure and format
- Training and awareness approach
- Testing and exercise methodology
- Plan maintenance procedures
- Technology enablement opportunities
- Resource requirements and justification
- Success metrics and evaluation criteria
Format your response as a comprehensive incident response plan that balances technical effectiveness with business continuity and stakeholder management.5. Evaluation Criteria:
- Does the prompt clearly describe the incident scenario and organizational context?
- Does it request an end-to-end response framework with specific phases?
- Does it ask for phase-specific actions and responsibilities?
- Does it consider stakeholder management approaches?
- Does it address implementation and readiness requirements?
6. Practice Activity:
Create your own advanced prompt for incident response planning related to:
- A business email compromise incident
- A third-party security breach affecting your data
- An insider threat data exfiltration incident
Exercise 3: Security Governance Prompt Engineering
Objective:
Learn to craft prompts that help develop effective cybersecurity governance frameworks for financial institutions.
Background:
Cybersecurity Officers must establish governance structures to manage security risk. A key challenge is designing frameworks that balance security effectiveness with business enablement and regulatory compliance.
Exercise:
1. Scenario:
You need to develop or enhance your organization's cybersecurity governance framework to strengthen oversight, accountability, and risk management.
2. Basic Prompt Example:
What should our cybersecurity governance include?3. Prompt Improvement Activity:
- Identify the limitations of the basic prompt
- Add specific details about your organization
- Include context about regulatory requirements
- Request structured governance components
- Ask for implementation and effectiveness measurement approaches
4. Advanced Prompt Template:
I am a Cybersecurity Officer at a [size] financial institution developing a cybersecurity governance framework with these characteristics:
Organizational context:
- Institution type: [bank, credit union, insurance, etc.]
- Size and complexity: [assets, employees, business lines]
- Technology landscape: [cloud adoption, digital transformation]
- Risk profile: [threat exposure, risk appetite]
- Current governance: [existing structures, challenges]
- Security maturity: [program development stage]
- Cultural considerations: [risk awareness, security culture]
Regulatory landscape:
- Primary regulations: [GLBA, NYDFS, GDPR, etc.]
- Examination frameworks: [FFIEC, NIST, ISO, etc.]
- Recent findings: [regulatory concerns, gaps]
- Industry trends: [emerging expectations, peer practices]
- Reporting requirements: [board, regulatory reporting]
- Liability considerations: [director responsibilities]
- Upcoming regulatory changes: [new requirements]
Development objectives:
- Strengthen oversight and accountability
- Clarify roles and responsibilities
- Enhance risk visibility and reporting
- Improve policy management and compliance
- Align security with business objectives
- Optimize resource allocation
- Demonstrate regulatory compliance
Please help me develop a comprehensive cybersecurity governance framework by:
1. Recommending an overall governance structure that includes:
- Board and committee oversight model
- Executive leadership responsibilities
- Three lines of defense implementation
- Security organization design
- Cross-functional governance bodies
- Decision rights and authorities
- Escalation and reporting mechanisms
2. For policy and standards governance, suggest:
- Policy hierarchy and architecture
- Development and approval process
- Exception management approach
- Compliance monitoring methodology
- Maintenance and review cycles
- Communication and awareness strategy
- Effectiveness measurement
3. For risk governance, recommend:
- Risk assessment methodology
- Risk acceptance and ownership model
- Risk reporting framework
- Control assurance approach
- Third-party risk governance
- Project and change risk governance
- Emerging risk identification process
4. For implementation and operationalization, suggest:
- Phased implementation approach
- Stakeholder engagement strategy
- Documentation requirements
- Metrics and key performance indicators
- Maturity assessment methodology
- Continuous improvement mechanisms
- Regulatory alignment demonstration
Format your response as a comprehensive cybersecurity governance framework that balances security effectiveness with business enablement and regulatory compliance.5. Evaluation Criteria:
- Does the prompt clearly describe the organizational context and regulatory landscape?
- Does it provide specific development objectives?
- Does it request an overall governance structure with specific components?
- Does it ask for policy and risk governance approaches?
- Does it consider implementation and operationalization strategies?
6. Practice Activity:
Create your own advanced prompt for security governance related to:
- Cloud security governance for a digital transformation
- Data security governance for privacy regulations
- Security governance for a merger integration