For many companies, cyber threat intelligence is treated almost as an afterthought. Many assume that they don’t need robust protection simply due to their smaller size or the nature of their business. However, this same mindset makes them a bigger target, mainly because many attackers and fraudsters know that more prominent companies are the ones who usually invest more in cyber threat intelligence early on.
If you’re not yet aware of its benefits for your company, then here are three lesser-known facts about cyber threat intelligence that you need to know:
1. It is Value-Adding and Money-Saving
Every organisation needs some form of cyber threat intelligence; however, many do not appreciate how it contributes to the company’s bottom line. Many companies treat cyber threat intelligence as cost centers—expenses that do not directly contribute to a company’s profitability.
The truth is, cyber threat intelligence can easily be attached to a monetary amount, which is a figure that everybody understands. This can be done by looking at the possible damage that cyber-threats can cause and figuring out how much it would cost the company in potential lost revenue and rectifying the damage.
This type of accurate reporting gives executives a much better understanding of the cyber threat intelligence’s value and contributes to the company’s growth.
2. It is Dependent on Proper Communication
It’s common for people working in different departments within an organisation to speak in different languages. Languages, in this sense, do not refer to its literal meaning of the spoken word. Instead, it relates to how people perceive and appreciate the risks and purpose of cyber intelligence for one’s department.
While a cybersecurity intelligence analyst may have the technical knowledge to see threats through technical details and vulnerability indicators, executives who have no background in cyber threat intelligence will need a different approach.
According to Maggie McDaniel of Insikt Group, decision-makers don’t often need technical details—that’s why they hire cybersecurity intelligence analysts in the first place. They need to know how the threats will affect their business in more tangible ways.
This need for good communication is why cyber threat intelligence should not be siloed. Instead, it should be integrated into an organisation’s daily operations to maximise its potency to detect and investigate cyber threats.
3. It is Essential for More-Informed Decision Making
Once cyber threat intelligence is fully integrated into an organisation’s operations, it can begin providing real-time insights. In an ideal situation, the alerts should appear natively, where the staff is already working. This removes the extra steps or procedural burden that often results in low adoption rates, thereby weakening cyber threat intelligence procedures.
With cyber threat intelligence procedures entirely in place and every known vulnerability covered, alerts from a detection tool will help cybersecurity intelligence analysts detect an attack in its nascent stages. Early detection gives analysts the time to contextualise the warnings and see which threats are more high-risk than others. This classification is essential in cases where attackers are using cyber deception technology known as decoys.
Strategic cyber threat intelligence proactively sets up procedures that let you detect threats before they happen and cause damage. It will provide contextualised alerts to let you know of any risks wherever they come from, even from the dark web, using a combination of artificial intelligence and human expertise. If you’re still unsure of how it works, then getting a specialist to advise you will be your best option.
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