The Evolving Cyber Threat Landscape

The shift from considering threat intelligence platforms as optional to seeing them as operational is not just a trend but a necessity. This urgency comes mainly from significant cyber events demonstrating cyber threats’ ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated nature. A few incidents and developments have stood out in the last twelve months and have impacted how businesses think about their security programs and threat intelligence’s role in 2024 and beyond.

Threat Intelligence to Identify and Mitigate Threats

There was a marked rise in the exploitation of vulnerabilities in widely used applications and systems. The MOVEit vulnerability (which enabled an unauthenticated user to gain remote access to the MOVEit server environment) saw an increase in ransomware activity linked to its exploitation. This highlighted the need for timely threat intelligence to identify and mitigate emerging threats before they can be exploited​​.

Threat Intelligence to Understand Threat Actors Themselves

Extortion tactics evolved significantly, moving beyond traditional ransomware to include threats of leaking stolen data, which became a dominant method used by cybercriminals. This shift has required businesses to enhance their threat intelligence capabilities to anticipate and respond to these evolving extortion tactics. Understanding threat actors’ motivations is gaining importance as groups – and actors – find new ways to deploy these attacks.

Threat Intelligence to Detect and Respond

Significant breaches, like those experienced by 23andMe and Shields Health Care Group, demonstrated the ongoing risks associated with credential stuffing attacks and the exposure of sensitive information. These incidents underscored the critical role of threat intelligence in detecting and responding to unauthorized access attempts and safeguarding sensitive data​.

Threat Intelligence Platforms to Continuously Monitor and Adapt

Cybercriminals continued to refine their attack techniques, leveraging everything from advanced malware distributed through OneNote documents to social engineering attacks exploiting AI technologies. These developments highlighted the necessity for businesses to use threat intelligence platforms to continuously monitor and adapt to threat actors’ rapidly evolving tactics.

Threat Intelligence to Manage Attacks on a Global Scale

Cyber events in 2023 also emphasized the global nature of cyber threats, with significant activities reported across different regions and industries. This international perspective necessitated an integrated approach to threat intelligence that could provide insights into cross-border cyber activities and coordinated attacks, allowing businesses to prepare better and respond.

These events, alongside rapidly changing technology like generative AI and adversarial AI, pose severe challenges for businesses that have not yet implemented threat intelligence programs. Without such programs, companies lack timely insights into emerging threats and vulnerabilities, increasing their risk of falling victim to sophisticated attacks like ransomware, data breaches, and credential stuffing. This vulnerability is exacerbated by a generally reactive security posture, where companies address threats only after they have impacted operations, leading to potentially higher financial costs, significant data recovery efforts, and reputational damage​.

Heavily regulated industries are even more at risk, and the absence of a proactive threat intelligence system can lead to compliance issues, resulting in severe penalties and legal issues as regulations become stricter. Without a robust framework for threat intelligence, businesses may face operational disruptions that threaten business continuity, hinder recovery processes, and impede overall business performance.

Businesses of all sizes can create an effective and tailored threat intelligence program. By defining clear objectives and scoping their specific security needs and risk exposures, they can identify critical assets, assess prevalent threat vectors, and understand the organization’s vulnerability landscape. Building a dedicated team of cybersecurity professionals is crucial; this team should have data analysis, threat hunting, and security incident response competencies to manage and operationalize the intelligence effectively.

Next, detailed intelligence requirements that align with the organization’s strategic security goals must be established. This includes setting up processes for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating threat data, which involves choosing appropriate technological tools and reliable information sources. Investment in advanced threat intelligence platforms and integrating feeds from credible sources such as industry alerts, cybersecurity databases, and peer collaborations can significantly enhance the program’s efficacy. Implementing this kind of structured threat intelligence program is essential to proactively identify, manage, and mitigate cyber threats. Companies should take decisive action to develop these capabilities, ensuring continuous improvement and adaptation of their cybersecurity posture in response to evolving threats.