Cyber threat intelligence boosts security by identifying potential threats early, enhancing incident response strategies, refining risk management, optimizing security operations, and improving employee security awareness.
Identify Potential Threats
Identifying potential threats is the first and perhaps most important stage in the use of cyber threat intelligence. This involves proactive surveillance and analysis of available data to predict a possible security threat before it happens. For example, monitoring lost IP addresses or abnormal network traffic is one way to do this. This may mean that a potential hacker is likely to breach the security perimeter shortly.
Industry-specific examples of potential threats that can be identified:
- Financial Institutions: One of the primary reasons these organizations rely on threat intelligence is their ability to prevent fraudulent activities. Looking at transactions for unusual patterns from high-risk locations or tracking the use of multiple failed passwords, all indicate that the organization has attempted financial fraud. This allows to take necessary measures before there will be significant financial losses or customers’ personal data will be compromised.
- Retail companies: How many POS malware cases have we heard about lately? By tracking the activity, retail companies can prevent significant data breach in case the POS payment system is attacked by the malware. In both cases, it causes abnormal access to the system and strange ways of data exfiltration, which can be easily prevented. In the retail industry, a considerable loss of customer data may mean a considerable loss of reputation and an overwhelming loss of revenue.
- Healthcare can benefit from identifying potential threats. One of the most common ransomware attacks target healthcare organizations. The primary reason for this is the demand for money in exchange for the restoration of access to real-time data from the databases. The healthcare industry cannot afford to lose these data due to the unpredictability of situations related to patients and their urgent need for care. Healthcare industries use the system to get an alert concerning unusual access from the outside databases or remarkable data changes on servers.
Strengthen Defense and Response
Implementing Advanced Security Technologies
Protecting business from cyber threats implies bolstering defense and response mechanisms. For instance, the application of advanced security technologies can enhance organizational security in multiple ways. Intrusion Detection Systems and Intrusion Prevention System can help detect and block malicious activities in real time. Moreover, it is important to mention that organizations frequently update IDSs when there is an emerging threat. Doing so ensures that organizations are capable of detecting new threats with no delay.
Regular Security Training and Simulations
The development and implementation of efficient protection mechanisms require regular training and simulations. IT and security staff training and simulations are proactive and essential for building up the capability of staff. Simulations help the staff replicate specific scenarios and acquire experience required in specific environments. As an example, phishing simulations can help employees spot and report attempts to reduce chances of a phishing scam resulting in stolen data.
Develop Rapid Incident Response Plan
Developing a Rapid Incident Response plan is necessary. Organizations should have a set of specific measures to follow when a threat is detected. These measures can include whom to call, how to isolate and eradicate the threat, and how to restore operations. Companies such as Target and Sony updated their IR plans after being breached to quickly address new incidents. They gathered threat intelligence to adapt and tune detection tools to catch attack patterns, for example. Target and Sony also ran tabletop exercises to test the IR plan and refine it the next time.
Leveraging Threat Intelligence for Proactive Defense
Threat intelligence enables companies to inform their defense systems about the threat in advance. Through the integration of these feeds into SIEM and other security systems, organizations can spot the attack vectors and improve their defenses. If threat intelligence suggests that an organization should expect ransomware attacks, the company can increase the frequency of backups on its public cloud and isolate critical systems to avoid significant downtime.
Collaboration and Information Sharing
Lastly, companies and industries should collaborate and share information about attacks and best practices. The conjoined defense is stronger than a personal defense of a single organization. For instance, the IDSs and PST datasets of organization A can identify a new threat avoided by organization B members. Cyber Threat Alliance and ISACs are examples of collaboration institutions.
Improve Risk Management
Integrate Threat Intelligence into Risk Assessments
Enhancing risk management starts with the inclusion of cyber threat intelligence in the normal risk assessment operations. The practice will help the given entity to determine and prioritize risks in terms of probability and possible damage. As an example, a certain bank has used TI to analyze the level of risk associated with a targeted phishing attack during the tax season and was able to accommodate the need for heightened monitoring of the email traffic for each given customer.
Dynamic Risk Scoring Systems
Dynamic risk scoring systems that factor in the newly obtained threat intelligence into asset scoring is guaranteed to promote risk management. The system utilizes specific algorithms that alter the calculated level of threat for assets as the new data is received. For example, when it is found that a new malware has become operational, the threat level will be increased and immediate attention to a certain range of assets is required, which can be in the form of immediate application of patches.
Scenario-Based Planning
Scenario-based planning is the process in which the entity comes up with certain scenarios of a potential attack together with the devised plan of action. It is expected to help the organization to realize the most effective approach of risk mitigation and prepare to it accordingly. For example, a retail company plans a breach of its Point of Sale system and devises a plan of an appropriate response. By basing it on the TI findings regarding the similar attacks, the organization could have created a much better plan of action directed towards localization and information recovery.
Continuous Monitoring and Feedback
Risk management is similarly promoted by the continuous monitoring operations and the feedback loop that it creates. Therefore, the use of the threat intelligence instruments to monitor the system conditions and analyze the traffic is supposed to help the risk management through the rapid detection of anomalies. For instance, an IT company observes the abnormal growth of the outbound traffic and is immediately able to isolate the causing systems, stopping the exfiltration of the files. Failing to track and determine these anomalies will lead to a far more severe compromise of the security.
Optimize Security Operations
Real-time Threat Intelligence
Security operations can be optimized by using real-time threat intelligence, as it enables security teams to detect and respond to threats as they occur. For example, a tech company could use a security information and event management system that includes real-time threat intelligence data feeds, enabling the company’s security response team to recognize and take immediate action against zero-day exploits. In this case, the company would use the SIEM system with integrated feeds to monitor and collect data. Any unusual activities would be noted by the system, and an immediate response would be taken.
Automated Threat Detection and Response
Automation plays a critical role in security operations because it allows the best possible use of the technology, therefore increasing performance. In addition, automated systems can handle the analysis of multiple information flows simultaneously, thus freeing the security team from a significant amount of routine work. For example, automated intrusion detection systems in an energy company would automatically search for patterns of attacks that are known to have caused data spillages in the past. Once detected, the IDS would respond by taking predefined steps, such as isolating infected computers or blocking access to the attacking IP address, without requiring any human input. In the case stated above, a manual response could have taken hours, whereas a computerized attack response was done in minutes.
Playbooks and Cyber Threat Intelligence
Cyber threat intelligence allows the development of playbooks to aid in incident response. The playbooks help run the play in case of an incident, because the victim’s such as a financial institution’s own tactics, techniques, and procedures are built using cyber threat intelligence. In an incident such as a ransomware attack, the playbook would require the infected workstations to be switched off and the communication of various parties involved informed. The forensics department would also have been alerted through the playbook, and the crime scene would therefore be preserved. Hopefully, an arrest gets made. In addition, playbooks provide a structured incident response approach.
Training and Simulation
Security operations benefit from continuous training and simulations to ensure that the security team is ready to deploy best practices and new technologies. If an attack plan is going to be launched the next day, the response emotions are prepared for quick, long-term, and good deployment. In other words, one can treat a computer system as if it were gas in a container and put it in a state of chaos. I have witnessed two simulation plans become reality. In the first situation, a DDoS attack was staged on a website and then stopped; all infrastructure elements of the company were efficient and produced a quick response. In the second scenario, a security office member staged a data breach; once again, a proper response of clever operational decisions was made. In general, it seems that the company, which has a security office member who creates some nuisance or thinks outside the box, operates properly. Action simulations can include analyses of secure logins and thorough simulation plans, while content simulations can include simulations of memory acquisition techniques.
Collaborative Frameworks
Security operations benefit from collaboration within and across organizations because frameworks can be established to share threat intelligence and resources with other companies, law enforcement, and government agencies. The companies share threat intelligence using a secure data exchange agreement. The ISAC, which will also help provide relevant, valuable, and reliable information, is also solving many common cybersecurity problems. Information Sharing and Analysis Centers, sharing details of attack patterns, threats, and vulnerability patterns among companies. As such, the establishment of such resources benefits company security operations in two ways; they benefit the companies’ public authorities, but they also increase security awareness for the entire sector.
Enhance Employee Safety Awareness
Comprehensive Security Training Programs
One preventative measure to take when it comes to enhancing employee safety awareness is providing comprehensive security training programs. Such programs are designed to inform employers about various threats they could experience regarding cyber security, the tactics utilized by cybercriminals as well as the right practice they could utilize to avoid experiencing breaches. For example, a large corporation might hold monthly cybersecuirty workshop going over various subjects such as passwords security, how to spot a phishing email or avoiding suspicious links. It ensures that workers are constantly reminded about the proper secuirty as well as being aware of the latest trapping schemes used by cybercriminals.
Phishing Simulations
Another practice that assists in enhancing employee safety awareness is performing regular phishing simulations. It could be accomplished via sending standardized phishing signals throughout the organization to the workers. For example, a healthcare provider can do it by regularly sending fake phishing emails posing as the IT division or updating the registration status of the patients. Workers that ‘fall’ for it can be send an additional reminder and the simulation could be performed at a later date.
Use of Real-Life Examples
Another practice for enhancing safety awareness of workers is using real-life examles in the information given out. For example, employees could be told about the Target or Equifax data breach where millions of customers’ personal and financial data was leaked. These real-life examples accompanying the workshop could be used as an example of the long lasting impact and financial losses attributed to the data breach. It also makes employees aware of the type of mistake management at target or equifax is done and helps tme not do these.
Posters and Regular Reminders
Another practice that helps in enhancing workers’ safety awareness is putting up safety awareness posters all over the workplace. Moreover, constant reminders through emails could be an effective way of keeping security on top of workers’ mind. The information could include tips on how to create strong passwords or information on recent cyber scams.
Feedback Mechanism
Another practice that enhances the safety awareness of employees is providing an avenue for feedback. As such, providing a system where a worker could report security breaches would allow a quick reaction to any danger. For example, an email adress or an internal website where the information is to be sent without fear of reprucussion may be set up.