All You Need To Know About Threat Intelligence Security Solutions Preferred by Most Businesses

Since the dawn of the internet, the nature of cyber security threats has evolved. Nowadays, cybercriminals are becoming more advanced and less visible. The chances of a user being a victim of a cybersecurity attack at least once, no matter how slight, are good. Users can never be too cautious when it comes to the personal details they store online. Here, threat intelligence security solutions come into play. These solutions offer protection to the user’s data, against cyberattacks.

What is Threat Intelligence Security?

Threat intelligence, also known as cyber threat intelligence (CTI), is information that has been organized, analyzed, and optimized about possible or ongoing cyberattacks that pose a threat to the user or business. The main goal behind providing users or businesses with threat intelligence security is to help them in identifying the risks posed by the most common and dangerous external threats, such as advanced persistent threats (APTs), zero-day threats, and exploits.

Why is Threat Intelligence a Crucial Need for Businesses These Days?

With the increase in the number of cyberattacks these days, threat intelligence can help businesses in getting the information they need to identify and defend themselves against cyber threats. For instance, if businesses could find out the patterns used by the hackers to perform cyber attackers, they could use this information to plan effective defenses against these attacks and mitigate any risks that could impact their businesses. 

The key points that are included in the threat intelligence report are as follows:

• Different mechanisms used in a cyberattack
• Ways to identify an on-going cyberattack
• The different types of cyberattacks that might affect the business
• Action-oriented guidance on how to protect against attacks

What are the Different Techniques Used for Collecting Threat Intelligence in Businesses?

There are 5 major tactics through which analysts in a business organization collect data for drafting a report of threat intelligence. They are as follows –

• Data Collection through open source intelligence platforms (OSINT)

This includes data collection through various open sources used in the business like search engines, website footprinting, web services, whois lookup, DNS interrogation, emails, and automating OSINT effort using scripts/frameworks/tools.

• Data Collection through human intelligence

This process involves data collection through various human-based social engineering techniques like interrogations, interviews, and social engineering tools.

• Data Collection through cyber counterintelligence

In this phase, threat data is collected through passive DNS monitoring, honeypots, pivoting off adversary’s infrastructure, YARA rules, and malware sinkholes.

• Data Collection through indicators of compromise (IoC’s)

In this phase, digital evidence of threat data is collected from various external sources (search engines, website footprinting), internal sources (technical support staff, IT engineers), and by creating custom threat IOCs.

• Data Collection through analysis of malware.

Malware analysis is the method of using analysis software to figure out where a malware sample came from, what it does, and how it works. Malware collects information about unsecured computers in a variety of ways without the user's awareness.

Collecting as much knowledge as possible necessitates bulk data collection, from which the analyst must extract the necessary information. The integration of threat intelligence tools and effective data management helps to refine data, which can be processed and analyzed for creating threat intelligence.

Which Threat Intelligence Security Solutions Do Businesses Prefer?

Threat intelligence solutions can be purchased or downloaded for free from the open source community. The most preferred threat intelligence security solutions by businesses are as follows -

• Malware disassemblers: These tools deconstruct malware to learn how it functions and aid security engineers in determining how to protect against similar attacks in the future.

• Security information and event management (SIEM) tools: SIEM tools allow security teams to track the network in real time, collecting data on irregular activity and suspicious traffic.
   
• Network traffic analysis tools: Network traffic analysis tools collect and document network behavior in order to provide information that aids in the detection of intrusions.
   
• Threat intelligence communities and resource collections: Freely available websites that compile known indicators of compromise and user-generated threat data can be a valuable source of threat intelligence. Some of these groups encourage collaborative study and provide practical guidance about how to avoid or mitigate threats.

Organizations that are aware of emerging threats and understand how to avoid them are able to take steps to avoid a cyberattack before it occurs. Any organization's enterprise security policy should include threat intelligence security solutions.

What is the Future of Threat Intelligence Security Solutions?

According to a report by Research Dive, the market for threat intelligence security solutions will reach $18,320.3 million by 2027. This clearly depicts the growing demand for cyber threat intelligence solutions. In the future, there is a huge scope for threat intelligence security services with the increasing demand.

According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Study, phishing attacks or malicious emails designed to get people to share confidential information were responsible for 74% of data breaches in 2018. This number keeps on increasing year after year. With data integrity and data confidentiality at risk, threat intelligence security solutions are a must for internet users, especially businesses.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.