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Subject: Re: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties


+1

 

From: <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Sean Barnum <sean.barnum@FireEye.com>
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 9:46 PM
To: Terry MacDonald <terry.macdonald@cosive.com>, Ivan Kirillov <ikirillov@mitre.org>
Cc: "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: Re: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties

 

+1

 


From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Terry MacDonald <terry.macdonald@cosive.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:49:02 PM
To: Kirillov, Ivan A.
Cc: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: Re: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties

 

Hi All,

 

I am also in favour of #1, but I also would prefer that we use better names than restricting ourselves to *_types where it makes sense. Specifically I'm thinking of the Identity object (where Roles makes more sense). The following tweaked list (based on Jason's proposal earlier) would suffice in my opinion:

 

Identity: roles

Indicator: indicator_types

Malware: malware_types

Report: report_types

Threat Actor: threat_actor_types

Tool: tool_types

 

 


Cheers

 

Terry MacDonald | Chief Product Officer

 

cid:ii_ieey6d6n0_14fb9f453311a1f9

 

 

 

 

 

On 18 May 2018 at 08:34, Kirillov, Ivan A. <ikirillov@mitre.org> wrote:

I’m also in favor of Option 1, but mostly because I feel like “_types” is vastly preferable semantically over the other options. I could go either way on “labels” vs “tags”.

 

Regards,

Ivan

 

From: <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Paul Patrick <Paul.Patrick@FireEye.com>
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 2:23 PM
To: Sean Barnum <sean.barnum@FireEye.com>, "Kelley, Sarah E." <skelley@mitre.org>, John Wunder <jwunder@mitre.org>, "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>


Subject: Re: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties

 

+1 in agreement with Sean’s assessment.

 

From: <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Sean Barnum <sean.barnum@FireEye.com>
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 2:29 PM
To: "Kelley, Sarah E." <skelley@mitre.org>, "Wunder, John A." <jwunder@mitre.org>, "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: Re: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties

 

I will restate the FireEye position again. Based on both our operational experience (currently generating, exchanging, analyzing, consuming and presenting this data amongst a large FireEye ecosystem and externally to customers/partners) and our experience with scores of developers writing code against this data in dozens of systems we very strongly suggest option #1, strongly oppose option #3 and very strongly oppose option #2.

The names of properties in these standards are for human intuition and understanding. They are not for machines as machines would be fine with just using numbers for the properties.

We would assert that option #1 is far and away the most intuitive and clear naming approach for the information we are trying to capture/convey. The vast majority of developers or consumers of STIX information when handed a Malware object with a malware_type property are going to immediately understand what that property is intended to convey. The same cannot be said for labels, tags or classifications. I say this from experience of having to explain the current structure to developers many times.

 

The current approach of using labels for this info and for user-defined ad-hoc labeling/tagging has two main issues we are trying to overcome:

1.       By munging the object “type” (e.g., malware_type) content into the ad-hoc list there is no way for consumers of the data to inherently know which “labels” represent specific object “type” info and which are user labels/tags.

2.       The name is very ambiguous and very non-intuitive for conveying a specific structured assertion of what type of object it is (malware_type=”backdoor”, indicator_type=”IP blacklist”, etc.). This leads to confusion for producing developers to know where to put object “type” info as well as confusion for consuming developers or users to know where to look for such info and how to distinguish it from other info.

 

Option #1 presented here clearly solves both of these issues.

Option #2 solves the first issue (though will require a developer to really read the spec to know how) and does not solve the second issue. In fact, it actually makes the second issue worse as now there are two ambiguous non-intuitive terms being used heightening the likelihood of confusion.

Option #3 solves the first issue but does not solve the second issue. While it does not increase the confusion as option #2 does, it still uses an ambiguous and non-intuitive term that has clear and conflicting semantic meaning to entire sub-portions of the CTI community.

 

Sean Barnum

Principal Architect

FireEye

M: 703.473.8262

E: sean.barnum@fireeye.com

From: <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of "Kelley, Sarah E." <skelley@mitre.org>
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 1:44 PM
To: "Wunder, John A." <jwunder@mitre.org>, "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties

 

I would also like to remind people that not every object has one of these vocabs that cause the issue. So you can’t, as Jeff mentioned, always look in each object and expect to find the same data, because sometimes it’s not there.

 

My preference would be for 1, 2, 3. I don’t like using the word classifications, though as John said, they would all work.

 

Did we ever officially agree if we were going to make these (labels/tags/classifications, whatever they wind up being) all optional? Currently, the ones with defined vocabs are required.

 

Sarah Kelley

Lead Cybersecurity Engineer, T8B2

Defensive Operations

The MITRE Corporation

703-983-6242

skelley@mitre.org

cid:image006.png@01D0A90C.2B5B2680

 

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org [mailto:cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org] On Behalf Of Wunder, John A.
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2018 1:32 PM
To: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [cti-stix] RE: New property names for previous label properties

 

All,

 

I wanted to bump this discussion on the “labels” topic being tracked as issue 37 [1]. We discussed it on the May 8 working call [2] but unfortunately still don’t seem to be at consensus on this topic. It’s a blocker for releasing the STIX 2.1 CSD so getting to a resolution is important.

 

Along those lines, one other option came up on Slack recently: while we typically avoid using “classification” because of connotations for the government community (and those supporting them), the feeling maybe we should reconsider it. Given that new option, to restate the proposals:

 

1.       *_types (indicator_types, malware_types, threat_actor_types, etc.) for the categorizations/types, and use “labels” for user-defined tagging

2.       Keep these values from the vocab in “labels” (as they are now), add a new property called “tags” to capture the user-defined tagging

3.       Use the name “classifications” for the categorizations/types, and use “labels” for user-defined tagging

 

We could really use more input on these, in particular if you’re now open to different options or have not yet weighed in. I’d suggest we just list an order of preference to see if maybe there’s a compromise that gets us somewhere. My order of preference is 1, 3, 2 but any of them seem fine.

 

Thanks,

John

 

[1]: https://github.com/oasis-tcs/cti-stix2/issues/37

[2]: https://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/cti/document.php?document_id=63120

 

From: "Bret Jordan (CS)" <Bret_Jordan@symantec.com>
Date: Friday, April 27, 2018 at 1:48 PM
To: "Mates, Jeffrey CIV DC3/TSD" <
Jeffrey.Mates@dc3.mil>, Terry MacDonald <terry.macdonald@cosive.com>, Sean Barnum <sean.barnum@FireEye.com>
Cc: John Wunder <
jwunder@mitre.org>, "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: Re: [Non-DoD Source] Re: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

Jeff, I think you hit on a really important point that we need to all remember.  STIX is a serialization format for COMPUTERS.  What you display in the UI is independent. So proposal 2 really seems like a better solution for our design principles. 

 

Bret 

cid:image003.png@01D3EDEB.68D4F280

From: Mates, Jeffrey CIV DC3/TSD <Jeffrey.Mates@dc3.mil>
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2018 11:41:04 AM
To: Terry MacDonald; Sean Barnum
Cc: Bret Jordan; Wunder, John A.;
cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: RE: [Non-DoD Source] Re: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

I’m strongly in favor of having a single named field for this (proposal 2).  The primary purpose that was being discussed for this was to allow display information to be sent using STIX for specific products.  As a programmer it’s a lot easier for me to know that every object type will have the same field that I should query for if I want this value rather than having to fill in a special configuration entry for each and every STIX object type.

 

That way when a STIX viewer application reads an entry it knows it always needs to look at 2 fields to determine what icon to display. 

 

1.        Look at tags and see if any match my icon rules.  If one does use it, if more than one does decide which to use.

2.       Look at the TLO and use the default icon for this type.  If it is an unknown TLO use a fallback icon.

 

If we go with options that make more sense to a human then it ends up requiring an additional lookup step:

 

1.       Lookup the key for tag names and see what field or fields to use.

3.       If a tag name exists for this type see if any match my icon rules.  If one does use it, if more than one does decide which to use.

2.       Look at the TLO and use the default icon for this type.  If it is an unknown TLO use a fallback icon.

 

Jeffrey Mates, Civ DC3/DCCI

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Computer Scientist

Defense Cyber Crime Institute

jeffrey.mates@dc3.mil

410-694-4335

 

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> On Behalf Of Terry MacDonald
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2018 2:11 AM
To: Sean Barnum <sean.barnum@fireeye.com>
Cc: Bret Jordan <bret_jordan@symantec.com>; Wunder, John A. <jwunder@mitre.org>; cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [Non-DoD Source] Re: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

I also strongly support #1, but with the caveat that we don't always user _types if another word makes more sense e.g. roles for the Identity object. I like the list that Jason posted in the issue comments, with a slight tweak as suggested by Sean:

 

Identity: roles

Indicator: indicator_types

Malware: malware_types

Report: report_types

Threat Actor: threat_actor_types

Tool: tool_types


Cheers

 

Terry MacDonald | Chief Product Officer

 

Error! Filename not specified.

 

 

 

 

 

On 25 April 2018 at 10:11, Sean Barnum <sean.barnum@fireeye.com> wrote:

I strongly support #1 as it meets what is needed and is by far the most intuitively clear on what it means. I would suggest the large majority of people would understand what it means.

I would strongly disagree with #2. I would suggest that it would be found almost universally to be confusing and unclear on what labels are, what tags are and what the difference is. “Labels” is far too general to convey the specific meaning of a specific type of something (malware, threat actor, indicator, etc).

 

cid:image004.png@01D3EDEB.68D4F280

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Bret Jordan <Bret_Jordan@symantec.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 5:32:01 PM
To: Wunder, John A.;
cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: Re: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

I like #2, this is what we had originally in STIX 2.0 before we merged them.

 

Bret

cid:image004.png@01D3EDEB.68D4F280

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Wunder, John A. <jwunder@mitre.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 2:31:06 PM
To:
cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org


Subject: Re: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

Hey all,

 

We discussed this on the working call and had a quick straw poll. The options we discussed were:

 

1.       *_types (indicator_types, malware_types, threat_actor_types, etc.): 5 votes

2.       Keep these values from the vocab in labels (as they are now), add a new property called tags to capture the user-defined tagging: 4 votes

3.       Something else: 0 votes

4.       Abstain: 5

 

If you haven’t weighed in on this topic yet, can you please shoot a message to the list to help us decide? It can be just a quick “I like #3”, or it can be something with a longer description, or it can be a new suggestion to consider. You can also comment on github: https://github.com/oasis-tcs/cti-stix2/issues/37.

 

We need to resolve this issue before we can finish CSD01 so any feedback is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

John

 

From: <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Allan Thomson <athomson@lookingglasscyber.com>
Date: Friday, April 6, 2018 at 5:13 PM
To: "Bret Jordan (CS)" <
Bret_Jordan@symantec.com>, John Wunder <jwunder@mitre.org>, "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: Re: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

Agree with Bret’s issues. I posted my comment to the github repo and suggested an alternative.

 

Allan Thomson

CTO (+1-408-331-6646)

LookingGlass Cyber Solutions

From: "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Bret Jordan <Bret_Jordan@symantec.com>
Date: Friday, April 6, 2018 at 1:57 PM
To: "Wunder, John" <
jwunder@mitre.org>, "cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org" <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: [cti-stix] Re: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

cid:image004.png@01D3EDEB.68D4F280

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org <cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Wunder, John A. <jwunder@mitre.org>
Sent: Friday, April 6, 2018 2:34:58 PM
To:
cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [EXT] [cti-stix] New property names for previous label properties

 

Hey all,

 

Per Issue 37 (https://github.com/oasis-tcs/cti-stix2/issues/37), the TC has decided to stop using the labels property for the default vocabularies we have on some object types that generally categorizes the object. Given that change, we need to name the new properties on each of the objects that the change applies to.

 

After hearing from Jason on Slack, I captured some potential names in the last comment on that github issue (https://github.com/oasis-tcs/cti-stix2/issues/37#issuecomment-379361610). Can you please take a moment and review those suggestions? If you agree, please +1 my comment or respond over e-mail. If you disagree and have a different suggestion, please comment in Github or respond over e-mail. I’d like to get at least a few people to positively agree to these decisions…especially if you were a proponent of making the change called out in the issue.

 

You can find the vocabs themselves in Part 1 (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ShNq4c3e1CkfANmD9O--mdZ5H0O_GLnjN28a_yrEaco/edit) and the definitions for how they’re used in the objects in Part 2 (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bkMmU1PxlwlAwjrMmyWV147rvLcRs2x62FicHbpH2gU/edit). Just search for the object name.

 

Many of the suggestions are “_type”…just note that there’s already a “type” property on the objects, so it would lead to both a required “type” property and a required “indicator_type” property on Indicator, for example. That may be fine, it was just pointed out already in Slack so I wanted to bring it up here.

 

Thanks!

John

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