Over the years, many people have been confused over the term “cyber threat intelligence.” Some people, especially those who aren’t IT experts, assume that it refers to the use of intelligence to spread menace in the digital space.

However, contrary to popular notion, this term refers to valuable data and information about threats and their perpetrators tapped and used to mitigate cyberattacks’ risks. These intelligence sources come from open source, social media, human, technical, and even dark web intelligence. With this valuable threat intelligence, you can leverage it to combat online attacks to protect your business from scrupulous individuals.

In this article, we will debunk three common myths about cyber threat intelligence and share their truths:

Myth 1: This threat intelligence is all sourced from internal system logs

Sure, you may heavily rely on internal system logs to get plenty of threat information. The chances are that you check and assess your internal data, such as event logs, security information, and event management (SIEM) logs, firewall logs, and behaviour analysis. However, internal inspection isn’t the ultimate panacea to all cyber-attacks.

For this reason, it’s best to obtain threat intelligence from external sources as well. That way, you can get threat intelligence data like those external attacks that can potentially affect your industry, business, technologies, and other digital assets. As a result, you will be able to protect your company against system vulnerabilities, exploits from hackers, and malware attacks.

Myth 2: This intelligence involves tapping into data feeds

No, getting external threat intelligence doesn’t only entail tapping into data feeds. The truth is that there are various external resources you can venture into to get different data and information. This threat intelligence can come from vulnerability feeds, targeted threat feeds, social media feeds, dark web alerts, and nation-state warnings, among many others.

Along with sourcing data and information is proper evaluation and contextualisation. This means studying them and determining how they can impact your business and industry. From there, you can use this intelligence to prevent your network and system from getting attacked.

Myth 3: This intelligence from data feeds can easily be read and analysed by IT experts

The truth is that reading, analysing, and evaluating data and information from both internal and external sources aren’t as simple as people might expect. Even IT experts can find it hard to decipher complex data and make sense of too much information. This means that human intelligence isn’t enough for data analysis and assessment.

With that being said, it’s best to utilise AI tools and machine-learning technologies and streamline processes to determine potential threats. Ultimately, you must use this cyber threat intelligence to protect your business from all forms of digital attacks.

Here at FraudWatch International, we’re specialised in cyber threat detection, prevention, and defence with our highly trained staff. With our comprehensive brand protection services, you’ll be able to keep your business running without fear of external issues!

At this point, we’ve debunked three common myths about cyber threat intelligence. To that end, be sure to consider all the valuable information discussed above. Ultimately, you should leverage this intelligence for your cyber-attack mitigation to protect your business moving forward!

We’re a brand protection company that serves to protect clients and their brands from online attacks, such as phishing, malware, spam emails, fake profiles, impersonation, and brand abuse. If you need cybersecurity services, get in touch with us today to see how we can help!