Digital Security

Top Tools and Techniques for Effective Threat Intelligence Analysis

“Threat intelligence is not about finding the silver bullet that will stop all attacks. It’s about making informed decisions to better mitigate risk.”

— Graham Cluley (Cybersecurity Expert)

It is hidden from none that cyberattacks are not a rare occurrence these days. Not only more prevalent, but with advanced technology, they are stronger and costlier than ever. The worldwide expense of data breaches has reached $4.45 million in 2023, showing a 15% rise from 2020. (Forbes: Cyber Threats and the Growing Complexity of Cybersecurity) 

To safeguard my organization from such attacks, I leverage some tools and techniques for threat intelligence analysis. This proactive approach keeps us covered against potential risks and shields us from any cyber adversary. 

Want to know about these effective solutions? Stay tuned till the end and uncover these key components. 

Understanding Threat Intelligence

You can understand threat intelligence as a security system that gathers relevant information from various sources, analyzes and categorizes it, and then utilizes the insights gained to improve the organization’s security posture.

This proactive approach keeps us ahead of potential attackers through continuous collection and processing of the data, empowering us to defend against known as well as emerging threats. 

Why Threat Intelligence Matters

Everyone knows that cyber-attacks these days are not like they used to be, hence can’t be tackled with those old, traditional methods. Now cyber criminals use sophisticated tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that are far more difficult to deal with. 

Think of it like this, to save yourself from such highly advanced attacks, you need to keep your walls up at all times, on the other hand, the threat actor only needs one small opening or opportunity to pass through your security system. That means the attacker is calling the shots in such situations. 

Therefore, you need a savvy security system to outsmart the attacker. Threat intelligence analysis provides you with exactly that and protects your organization from malicious attacks. 

FUN FACT 
On average, there are 2,244 cyberattacks per day or around 93 attacks per hour. That’s more than one attack every minute! 

Key Techniques for Effective Threat Intelligence Analysis

Now that I have discussed the role and impact of threat intelligence analysis on businesses, I think it will be best if I share some effective techniques. So, the four tactics that I find the most advantageous are as follows – 

• Data Collection and Aggregation – We do not rely on any one source of data collection and gather it from multiple different sources for building a complete picture of potential risks. 

• Threat Hunting – Waiting for a threat to be discovered on its own is not a smart move for any business. Till the time it comes to notice, there is a high chance that the damage it has caused would be significant. So, we have trained our systems to actively search for potential threats. 

• Scenario Modelling – To understand the impact of threats better, we create hypothetical attack scenarios to identify any gaps in our system. 

• Tactic, Techniques, and Procedures Mapping – Mapping the observed attack patterns to known TTPs helps our security teams gain insights into the attacker’s methods, preparing us better for the future. 

Top Tools for Threat Intelligence Analysis

Another integral component that dictates the effectiveness of your system is the tools you use for threat intelligence analysis. Here are some effectual tools that are used widely in my organization. 

• Cyware – This top-rated platform allows us to proactively manage threats, facilitate security operations, and collaborate across security, IT, development, and the business, that too with low-code/ no-code automation and bidirectional sharing.  

• MISP (Malware Information Sharing Platform) – If you are looking for a platform to support you in collaborating and sharing threat intelligence with third parties, then this is the one for you. It facilitates storing, sharing, and correlating indicators of compromise and also provides a threat intelligence visualization tool. 

• ThreatConnect – This is a comprehensive platform that allows our teams to collect, and integrate data automatically and provides advanced analytics like risk scoring and threat actor profiling.

• VirusTotal – This platform offers malware detection analysis from multiple antivirus engines. This is the best choice if you are looking for a tool to help you quickly analyze and identify malware samples or suspicious URLs.  

Building an Effective Threat Intelligence Program

I have suggested some effective tools and techniques, but how to integrate them into your business and build an effective threat intelligence program? In this segment, I’ll walk you through all the necessary steps for creating the program. 

• Before starting, define your aim and what you want to achieve. 
• Identify the key collaborators and get them on the same page. 
• Integrate multiple sources for relevant and actionable intelligence. 
• You can use automated tools to set up a threat intelligence collection mechanism. 
• Establish a systematic process to turn the raw data into actionable intelligence. 
• Share the gathered information with relevant teams. 
• Monitor your threat intelligence program regularly to ensure it meets organizational goals.

Overcoming Challenges in Threat Intelligence Analysis

Albeit the benefits threat intelligence analysis provides, it comes with various challenges. Here are some issues I came across in the implementation and how I overcame them. 

• Data Load – Initially, our security teams faced some issues due to the sheer volume of data from multiple sources. But then we implemented automated data filtering tools to help prioritize and retain only the relevant data.

• Integration with Existing Security Infrastructure – This whole integration process was complex. To simplify it a bit, we used APIs and plugins that automatically ingest, correlate, and act on data. 

• Collaboration Barrier – We were hesitant to share the threat intelligence with others due to privacy concerns. We got our legal team on board to create a safe framework for the lawful sharing of intelligence.   

The Future of Threat Intelligence

Looking at the current landscape, it can be said that threat intelligence is rapidly evolving and in the future, we can expect the integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning for better analysis of data and threat hunting. 

Unlike traditional threat intelligence, future trends will shift the focus more toward behavioral analytics and contextual threat intelligence.  

Talking about its market size, the threat intelligence market is expected to rise from  $12.33 billion in 2024 to $21.92 billion in 2028, growing with a CAGR of 15.5%. 

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed how threat intelligence analysis helps organizations anticipate, detect, and mitigate cybersecurity threats. This approach turns raw data from multiple different sources into useful intelligence, which is further used by companies to strengthen their security posture. It not only saves them from known risks but also prepares them for emerging threats. 

It is safe to say that threat intelligence analysis has now become a necessity in this evolving world where digital attacks are only getting stronger. 

Posted by

Priya Prakash

Internet Writer