The Role of Threat Intelligence in SOC Operations
Threat intelligence is what we call the final output of an organisation’s attempts to collect, process, and analyse data to gain a deeper understanding of the behaviours, methods, and motives behind cyber attacks. It’s a vital tool in predicting and preventing these attacks, and can even help respond to an incident by drawing on data to develop a clear strategic path.
Cyber threats can have a profound effect on businesses. Reputational damage can be instant and devastating. Data has shown that within six months of a data breach, 60% of businesses are forced to shut down.
Despite the clear need for and importance of cybersecurity, it’s often left underserved at many organisations. There’s currently a significant skill shortage in the industry. Couple that with general trends of underfunding and understaffing, and it’s clear to see how cybersecurity may end up overlooked.
However, one solution that’s developed has been the rise of Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs). These address many of these challenges by removing the need to hire and maintain an in-house cyber team. Instead, they work in partnership with your business to develop a comprehensive framework to protect your organisation.
What is Threat Intelligence?
Threat intelligence is a multi-step process that allows an organisation to protect against and directly respond to cyberattacks. Data is typically gathered from a wide variety of sources, before being carefully processed and analysed to discover patterns. By monitoring events both inside and outside of your network, the business can identify potentially harmful activity and stop attacks before they even happen.
Forms of Threat Intelligence
Threat intelligence can come in many forms, including:
- IP addresses
- Domain names
- Domain Name Service (DNS) servers
- File hashes
- Active ransomware gangs
- Attack patterns
- URLs
- Network Signatures
Each of these provides another layer of data that can be combined with the others to develop a complex understanding of how malicious attacks occur, where they’re likely to come from, and how best to defend against and respond to them should they occur.
For example, by analysing unique file hash values, a security team will then be able to quickly identify any instances of known malicious files and even track them across all internal networks for easier elimination.
The 4 Types of Cyber Threat Intelligence
Strategic Intelligence
Strategic threat intelligence offers a high–level view of the overall threat landscape. It can highlight risk factors such as critical infrastructure risks, supply chain vulnerabilities, or cloud security concerns. It can also identify high-level insights that are derived from specific business requirements and questions such as attack patterns or ransomware trends.
Tactical Intelligence
Tactical intelligence investigates the specific techniques that actors use to carry out a cyberattack. It uses tools such as malware analysis, endpoint forensics, and dark web monitoring to help prepare organisations to defend key assets and bolster security posture in specific areas.
Technical Intelligence
Technical intelligence, while similar to tactical intelligence, relies more on the specific execution of the attacks. It often outlines the Indicators of Compromise (IoC) which act as clues to how a threat initially gained access. Cybersecurity professionals can then take this information and match it to known malware strings. This allows the attack to be documented based on the specific attack characteristic.
Operational Intelligence
Operational intelligence covers detailed, inside knowledge of how a cyber threat conducts its attack. This can include lists of command-and-control servers, email servers, aliases of known attackers, and even potential targets. By understanding this data, it becomes easier to develop appropriate countermeasures that proactively reinforce areas of a network that may be seen as vulnerable.
The 5 Steps of Cyber Threat Intelligence
Direction
Organisations first need to figure out what information is needed to make the best decisions within the shortest period. This needs to be based on evidence, such as what exactly was compromised, the nature of the attack, and what devices were involved. Organisations may set objectives such as establishing appropriate information-sharing partnerships or establishing an incident response process.
Collection
This stage involves amassing any pertinent data, from audit logs to IP addresses depending on the nature of the attack. This can involve huge amounts of data, meaning that planning, storage, and processing need to be key areas you consider. You’ll need to consider your storage infrastructure and how scalable it is, how to appropriately classify data, and what your retention policy will be amongst a host of other considerations.
Processing
The raw data gathered can then be processed into a more manageable and actionable format. This processing will likely involve large amounts of data decoding and organising/tagging. These processes must be standardised and known across the entire team or organisation to ensure consistent processing.
Analysis
This step involves proving the timeline of the attack using the collected and processed data. Any contradictory data will need to be compared and analysed further. This is often one of the most time-consuming stages of the entire process as patterns emerge that will require further analysis, and it’s typically led by a specialist analyst who can lend their expertise to the process.
Action
Following the completion of the prior steps, actions can now be taken that have been guided by data analysis. This could include anything from remediation to the implementation of an entirely new security system. The conclusion of this action then starts off the entire process again, in a continuous cycle aimed at constantly improving your organisation’s security.
Advantages of Cyber Threat Intelligence for a SOC
The effectiveness of any Security Operations Centre (SOC) can be greatly improved through the proper utilisation of cyber threat intelligence.
It can enhance a SOC’s capabilities in continuous data collection, analysis, and automation. It can also drastically improve early detection and response times by providing real-time tracking of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) being used by known and emerging threats.
It also allows the SOC to act much more proactively by arming it with advanced knowledge of how threats are evolving, where they’re likely to try to gain access to certain systems, and providing reliable indicators that can be tracked across networks.
Active threat intelligence also enables the SOC to continually evolve and improve as it receives more information. Intelligence from both inside and outside of the organisation can combine to create a more adaptive and resilient SOC. With this, the SOC can then also scale as it needs to without expending too many extra resources to do so.
How to Choose the Right Provider
Building a team with the appropriate knowledge and experience in cybersecurity can be difficult, with the skills shortage within the industry well documented. This is why outsourcing your cybersecurity needs should be something you consider for your organisation.
You’ll save valuable time and money compared to building out and managing your in-house team, while still getting the benefits of comprehensive experience and 24/7 security support. You’ll also gain instant access to a team of highly qualified professionals, who can identify and assess your existing vulnerabilities and develop a plan tailored specifically to your business.
When it comes to choosing a provider, there are a few key questions that you’ll need to answer about your organisation first:
- Can we afford a breach, reputationally as well as financially?
- Do we have the systems and in-house skills to know if we’re under active attack?
- Are we meeting the minimum government-approved cybersecurity standards?
- How does the size of our business impact our cybersecurity requirements?
- Do we understand our current exposure to risk and how this could impact our supply chain and customers?
- Do we have the resources to protect our key systems and services 24/7/365?
- Do we understand what is at risk if our business is not protected?
At DigitalXRAID, we’ll make sure to align our services to your business needs and size, giving you the highest level of protection you need without having to pay for extras you simply don’t need.
Concluding Thoughts on SOC Threat Intelligence
Cyber threat intelligence has never been more important for businesses, and its value will continue to rise over the coming years as threats continue to multiply and grow even more sophisticated. Bty engaging with it early, you can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to potential cyber threats, and develop an organisation that’s proactive when it comes to its digital security.
You must partner with the right cybersecurity provider, one that will provide high-level threat intelligence and security protection that’s tailored to your organisation’s needs and size, but that can scale and grow with your business. At DigitalXRAID, we pride ourselves on offering partnerships that stand the test of time. Get in touch today and see just how our Security Operations Centre Service can benefit you.
