Double entry accounting (DEA) is a practice that forms the foundation of present-day bookkeeping and accounting. When the methodology was discovered, it revolutionized finance. Could a similar practice work for cybersecurity?

In this session, I’ll walk through many ways that we can (and unknowingly already have) implemented a form of DEA. For example, consider CMDBs vs logging systems. I’ll show how these two systems could serve on opposite ends of a balance sheet. This will also dive into a deeper understanding of what is an “asset” versus a “liability”. In cybersecurity, we talk often of “asset management” but what we really do is “liability management”. Properly characterizing what is truly an “asset” will help us in minimizing our liabilities.

I’ll also talk about managing expectations with respect to the accuracy of this system. For example, despite rigorous and well honed methods in finance, we still don’t always perfectly balance our books. We expect some degree of fraud and shrinkage that result in discrepancies. However, in security, we often have an unreasonable expectation that our books are perfectly balanced.