Operationalizing Threat Intelligence: From Ingestion to Action

Threat intelligence has become a compelling component of effective cybersecurity programs in recent years. However, some security teams limit their threat intelligence program to only the ingestion of indicators of compromise (IOCs). The underlying philosophy is that processing indicators without detailed analysis will reduce cyber risk. However, in the real world, it does not work like that. Security teams must leverage threat intelligence to identify threats that are likely to target their organization and prioritize their investigation, hunting, and response operations accordingly. What’s important is to understand that threat intelligence goes beyond just gathering and indiscriminately processing IOCs which calls for effective operationalization from ingestion through actioning.

The Hidden Gem - Internal Threat Intelligence

When it comes to leveraging threat intelligence, SOC teams often overlook the threat data produced by their own detection and monitoring systems. While SOCs typically rely on external threat intelligence sources to identify threats originating from outside the organization, it is important to recognize that internal sources can also provide valuable insights and play a significant role in threat detection and prevention.

By collecting and analyzing internal data sources, such as network traffic, user behavior, and system logs, security teams can gain valuable insights into potential threats and take proactive measures to address them. With internal threat intelligence, security teams can gain a better contextual understanding of the “who”, “what”, and “when” of the threats affecting their organizations and gain improved visibility. It is the key to building a robust and comprehensive security program that can effectively protect against a wide range of threats. Security teams need to tap into the power of internal threat intelligence to gain a more complete understanding of their security posture, identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited, and ultimately reduce the risk of costly security incidents.

Processing IOCs to Operationalize Threat Intelligence

To address the complexity of SOCs, threat data collected from various sources requires significant processing, including de-duplication, normalization, and enrichment with context and correlation. Automated threat intelligence platforms (TIPs) can greatly simplify these processes and enable SOC teams to analyze and act upon threat intelligence data more efficiently.

The Power of Correlation

One of the biggest challenges facing security teams is the overwhelming volume of IOCs ingested from various sources. This data can be riddled with false positives and noise, making it challenging to derive meaningful and actionable threat intelligence. Without automated correlation, security teams may find it difficult to make quick and informed decisions in the face of emerging threats. Furthermore, it's important to connect the dots between internal telemetry and externally sourced intel to contextualize threat intel.

Correlation is a powerful technique to connect the dots and identify the relationship between different threat elements. It involves combining data from different sources to identify patterns and trends that may indicate a security threat that would have been difficult to detect otherwise. Modern threat intelligence platforms automate the correlation process enabling faster analysis of large volumes of data. Automation reduces human error and enables security teams to save time and focus on more critical tasks that require human intervention. Furthermore, automation aids in avoiding the risk of missing important correlations and complex patterns that may not be immediately apparent to a human analyst.

Confidence Scoring Drives Action

Confidence scoring is a powerful parameter that helps determine action on threat intelligence and enables security teams to determine which threats need to be prioritized and actioned first. A confidence score determines the relevance, frequency, and quality of the threat data, and also its relation to the existing threat environment. Based on scoring, automated actions can be initiated, allowing security teams to respond promptly and effectively to potential threats. Automation, such as blocking the source IP address, quarantining the affected device, or alerting the security team for further investigation, can also be introduced for high confidence scores that indicate immediate response. Ultimately, confidence scoring is an invaluable tool in helping security teams stay one step ahead of potential threats, enabling them to proactively identify and respond to existing and emerging threats.

Intel Dissemination

Threats can evolve rapidly, and time is of the essence when it comes to mitigating them. Therefore, it is highly advisable to share the valuable insights gained through threat intelligence operationalization with the relevant stakeholders. This enhances situational awareness and promotes collaboration between different teams within an organization, informing silos, and enabling cross-functional teams to work together to take proactive actions based on shared threat intel insights.

Automated Actioning

A key factor in effective response to security incidents is ensuring that responses, especially for high-confidence threat intel, are expedited. This can be achieved by automating response workflows in security tools and resources. One of the most effective ways to automate actions is to leverage a threat intelligence platform that is tightly integrated with an Orchestration solution that can automate response. This will enable faster response and ensure that SOC teams are directed to investigate incidents requiring human analysis.

Closing the Gap with Cyware

Operationalizing threat intelligence involves taking the data and insights provided by threat intelligence feeds and turning them into actionable and shareable information that can be used to improve security posture and mitigate risk.

Cyware offers a threat intelligence platform, Intel Exchange (CTIX), that provides capabilities for effectively operationalizing threat intelligence, such as ingesting and analyzing threat data, correlating it with internal security events, and automating the distribution of relevant threat intelligence to the appropriate stakeholders within an organization. Additionally, CTIX is natively integrated with Orchestrate to ensure automated actioning can make response more effective and proactive threat investigation can be activated across the organization. Leveraging solutions from Cyware can help unlock the full potential of threat intelligence and improve the effectiveness of security measures, ultimately leading to a higher ROI on your threat intelligence investment.

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