Build a Cyber Threat Intelligence Program to Anticipate and Mitigate Cyber Risks

In a highly connected digital world today, geographical boundaries don't really exist. This enables cyber criminals to find global opportunities to exploit businesses and individuals. Businesses, governments, or individuals cannot fight this menace individually. Fighting fraud needs everyone to come together and make a concerted effort.

Cyber criminals are tech-savvy and know how to mobilize their resources well. They tap into a parallel, full-fledged ecosystem of cyber crime support system for tools, scripts, and resources to launch increasingly complex attacks. Cyber criminals continuously steal data through data breaches and phishing schemes to supplement their databases of crucial information about businesses and consumers. They share and sell expertise as well as stolen information amongst themselves. This not only helps them sharpen their skills and orchestrate sophisticated attacks but also to evade detection.

Fighting cyber threats

The fight against cyber crime begins with gathering crucial information about risks—both contextual and situational. This intelligence helps businesses anticipate and maneuver resources to prevent a cyber attack. That is not to imply that cyber threat intelligence is a silver bullet that can guarantee prevention from cyber attacks. Rather, it is a process that helps identify risk areas and possible targets such that appropriate preventive/remedial action can be taken.

Businesses usually possess a lot of useful data in their repositories and incident management databases. Harnessing this data to glean insights and comparing notes from other industries can help gain experience in handling various situations. In addition, there are many companies that provide businesses with cyber threat intelligence in the form of data feeds, analysis reports, as well as technical solutions to combat cyber threats. Depending on the area of operations, businesses can select an appropriate provider. They must, however, ensure they get timely, accurate, actionable, and relevant intelligence that helps them reduce their risk profiles.

Create a cyber threat intelligence program

All of this data and insights can yield desired results when intelligence capabilities are integrated properly with business operations. With evolving cyber threat intelligence capabilities come process changes that enable businesses to become more agile in terms of decision-making, protecting data, and detecting and mitigating risks. Therefore, businesses must make an effort to create a cyber threat intelligence program, which helps prioritize a robust defense posture and contributes to business continuity.

The article has been written by Neetu Katyal, Content and Marketing Consultant

She can be reached on LinkedIn.