Cyber attacks can disrupt business operations, taint a company’s reputation, and reduce its revenue. The malicious actors that perpetrate these attacks frequently upgrade their modes of operation because cybersecurity professionals often create measures to thwart their efforts.
However, to create these security measures, professionals rely on threat intelligence to get actionable insights on cyber threats.
They use threat intelligence software to gather and analyze information on new and existing cyber threats, so they can take proactive steps to protect businesses. Threat intelligence is usually obtained from multiple sources including, but not limited to online security forums, news articles, other companies, and government cybersecurity agencies.
The software aggregates the data from all the sources and helps cybersecurity personnel make sense of it. Companies that engage in this activity will be better protected from existing cyber threats and be equipped to tackle new ones.
The results of this exercise will make company management and cybersecurity professionals able to make strategic decisions regarding the safety and security of their data and overall IT infrastructure.
Features of Threat Intelligence Software
For threat intelligence software to be reliable enough to produce the desired results, it must have the following features:
Threat data collection and analysis
The collection and analysis of threat data is fundamental to the threat intelligence process. Any software for this purpose must be able to collect and correlate data from multiple sources. It should also be able to prioritize cyber threats according to their severity and likelihood of affecting a company. In addition, it should have both automated and manual data analysis tools that cybersecurity analysts can use to study the origin and nature of the threats they face.
Integration of threat intelligence feeds
The software must be able to be integrated with various threat intelligence feeds that provide updated information on new vulnerabilities, cybercrime tactics, indicators of compromise, malware, and compromised software.
Creation of intelligence reports
The software must be able to create threat intelligence reports and visualize data in a way that makes it easy for security personnel to study attack patterns and threat trends, and analyze how effective defensive measures will be.
This report and data visualization make it easy for organizations to create a robust cybersecurity strategy and strengthen their existing systems.
Real-time threat detection
It will be beneficial if the threat intelligence software is also able to monitor an organization’s IT infrastructure to identify threats in real time. The software can be programmed to detect suspicious activities, authorized access, and anomalies in the system.
Automatic response to security incidents
Software used for threat intelligence should also be able to respond to cyber attacks automatically. These responses should include actions like blocking malicious IP addresses, quarantining suspicious files, declining to download potentially malicious documents, and notifying the security team of an intrusion.
Endnote
Threat intelligence is a crucial component of cybersecurity because it helps organizations prepare for cyber attacks they have not faced yet. It allows them to make informed and strategic security decisions so they can always stay protected and prevent cyber criminals from catching them off guard.
