Protecting your company from cyber threats is a relentless but necessary task. The world around us is changing, and cyber criminals have also been quick to adapt to cash in on the rapidly evolving digital landscape. This is mainly why cyber threat intelligence has become much more valuable and completely necessary for businesses and organisations. If you want to stay ahead of cyber threats, read on to learn how you can protect your business.
Why is Cyber Threat Intelligence Important?
In its essence, cyber threat intelligence is evidence-based knowledge about an existing or emerging menace or hazard to assets. This includes context, mechanisms, indicators, implications, and action-oriented advice that could help you protect your business from threats even before they happen.
Having a system in place that can produce threat intelligence is critical to staying ahead of whatever threats lie ahead of you. While mounting a strong defense against security breaches is fine, having a more proactive approach through cyber threat intelligence is even better. There are four key types of cyber threat intelligence that can help you find patterns in cyber attacks that will determine what security measures should be implemented next.
Strategic Intelligence
This is perhaps the most complete form of threat intelligence as it is presented as a report or series of options that are less technical in nature. Strategic intelligence works by giving you a clear view of the possible risk factors, groups involved, attack patterns, and other high-level insights that are crucial in creating a coordinated response.
Tactical Intelligence
Tactical Intelligence is another form of cyber threat intelligence report that focuses mainly on the specific techniques that hackers use to carry out a cyber attack. As opposed to the high-level insights delivered by strategic intelligence, tactical is more focused, which helps organisations prepare their defense against these malicious entities. A typical tactical intelligence report contains the tools, vulnerabilities, and specific assets that may be of interest to attackers.
Technical Intelligence
On the more technical side, this report relies more on the exact technical execution of the attacks. Technical intelligence often outlines the Indicators of Compromise (IOC), which are like breadcrumbs that lead infosec and cyber security experts to detect malicious activity early in the attack sequence. These are pieces of forensic data that work very much like fingerprints or DNA traces in a crime scene. The digital evidence detected is then used to bolster a network’s defenses and to anticipate the next attack sequence.
Operational Intelligence
Lastly, operational intelligence covers detailed, inside knowledge of how a cyber threat conducts its attack. This could involve email servers, control servers, aliases, or a list of commands or potential targets. The report focuses on both technical and non-technical aspects of the attack that, when put together, paints a clear picture of how the attacker functions and possibly even their intentions for attacking.
In today’s business environment, a mere antivirus is no longer enough to protect you from entities that are out to steal and compromise your data. With the continued evolution of cyber threats also comes innovations in digital security services that will help you protect your most precious digital assets.
FraudWatch International is considered one of the leading brand protection companies in the industry today. We provide digital security solutions designed to shield you from brand damage, fraud losses, and online abuse. Protect your business by working with our cyber security and intelligence experts. Contact us today to get started.