Applying risk analysis for determining threats and countermeasures in workstation domain

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to perform a comprehensive analysis of cyber risks in workstation domain, including classifying threats, vulnerabilities, impacts, and countermeasures. This classification helps to identify suitable security controls to mitigate cyber risks for each type of attack. Additionally, this study aims to explore the main vulnerabilities based on the type of attack in workstation domain. This study employs the content analysis technique to collect, analyze, and classify data in terms of types of threats, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures. The methodology comprises four primary steps: (1) identifying key components, (2) threat identification, (3) vulnerability identification, and (4) countermeasure identification. The findings indicate that malware attacks and man in middle attacks were the most prevalent attacks in workstation domain, each accounting for 27% and 25% of incidents. The results found that unpatched software and weak access controls were classified as the most critical threats in the workstation domain, comprising 21% and 20% of incidents, respectively. The results also indicated that encryption methods, access controls mechanisms and firewall malware protection are the most significant and effective countermeasures for protecting the workstation domain environment. The findings of this study provides valuable recommendations for academic research in classifying the different types of cyber threats and understanding the significant security controls against cyber-attacks in workstation domain.