Threat Intelligence in Managed Security Services
Threat intelligence has become a central component of managed security service provider. It’s used to make the transition to proactive cybersecurity easier for organizations of all sizes. However, it’s also challenging to keep up with the volume of data and determine what’s relevant and actionable.
Taking a strategic approach to threat intelligence is one way to help manage that overload. The goal of strategic threat intelligence is to provide a clear picture of the current and projected risks that cyberattacks might pose for the business, including a breakdown of how specific threats will impact the organization and its assets. This type of information helps stakeholders prioritize risk mitigation strategies and workflows.
While it’s impossible to protect against every potential attack, making the shift from reactive to proactive cyber security can reduce financial losses and brand damage caused by data breaches. It’s also possible to minimize the time and resources needed to respond to a breach, which can save the company both money and staff.
For many organizations, it’s not practical to employ full-time security specialists or departments. That’s why there is a growing category of managed security service provider who specialize in providing cyberthreat intelligence to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). These managed security service providers typically use tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to process large volumes of raw threat data. They then deliver a threat intelligence report to stakeholders, which includes detailed analyses of specific threats and recommendations for countermeasures.
The Role of Threat Intelligence in Managed Security Services
This level of managed threat intelligence is most useful to the CISOs, IT service managers, SOC center employees and other security professionals who perform day-to-day operations at the SMB level. It’s important for these individuals to have real-time information on the latest tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) of attackers. This tactical threat intel can be delivered to the SOC in the form of notifications when certain IoCs are detected, which can trigger automated responses and speed up incident response times.
In addition to providing IoCs, strategic threat intel can help SMBs identify the goals of their attackers. This can reveal how an adversary intends to profit from a breach and uncover hidden motives that could be overlooked by an inexperienced security team. This enables the SMB to secure their intellectual properties and mitigate the risk of costly reputational damages caused by data breaches.
Ideally, the management of threat intelligence should be integrated into an SOAR platform. This enables the platform to automatically detect and respond to threats, eliminating the need for human analysts to review and interpret raw threat data. The platform can also automate the remediation of the threats by triggering the appropriate security workflows and implementing patches or quarantines. This speeds up the response and helps to prevent damage to critical systems. This is especially beneficial for SMBs with limited IT resources. This is especially important for those in industries such as retail, banking, insurance and healthcare where the consequences of a cyberattack can be devastating.
