Cyber threat intelligence and monitoring are critical to stopping a modern cyber attack. Still, many organizations need more staff, expertise, or budget to collect, process, and analyze the information required to prevent attacks. Without access to the most up-to-date cyber threat intelligence, your organization is more likely to suffer an attack.

This article discusses cyber threat intelligence, how intelligence is developed, the types of intelligence available to different audiences, and the alternatives available to any organization that cannot take on an in-house cyber threat intelligence program.

Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) is actionable data collected and used by cyber security systems and/or an organization’s security experts to help them better understand vulnerabilities, take appropriate action to stop an attack, and protect the company’s network and endpoints from future attacks. The data includes information such as who the attacker is and what their capabilities, motivations, and attack plans are.

Cyber threat monitoring is a solution that uses strategic intelligence to continuously analyze, evaluate, and monitor an organization’s networks and endpoints for evidence of security threats, such as network intrusion, ransomware, and other malware attacks. Once a threat is identified, the threat monitoring software issues an alert and stops it. 

You must reliably stop any cyberattack with a detailed threat report. In the age of remote work, where employees are using BYOD devices and unprotected networks, CTI is more critical than ever. With threat intelligence and monitoring, an organization has the most robust data protection and information necessary to stop or mitigate cyberattacks. CTI provides:

• Insight into the data–including context–to help prevent and detect attacks
• Prioritized alerts, which allow you respond faster to incidents
• Improved communication, planning, and investment by identifying the real risks to the business.

Organizations, large and small, governments, and nation-states can benefit from CTI. However, only some organizations have analysts on staff to work through the volume of information and decide what data is valid and what threats are real. Experts have estimated that it would take 8,774 analysts working full-time for one year to process the same amount of security event data that machine learning (ML) can process in the same timeframe.

So many organizations look to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to analyze the tactical and operational threat intelligence needed for timely detection and incident response to satisfy a sensible security posture.

Industry experts state that there are five or six iterative process steps to the cyber threat intelligence lifecycle, which turns raw data into intelligence. The CIA first developed a six-step lifecycle process, while other security experts have combined and condensed the lifecycle process down to five steps as follows:

1. Planning and direction. 

In this phase, the CISO or CSO sets the goals and objectives of the cyber threat intelligence program. This includes identifying the sensitive information and business processes that need to be protected, the security operations required to protect the data and the business processes, and prioritizing what to cover.

2. Collection

Data is gathered from multiple sources, such as open-source feeds, in-house threat intelligence, vertical communities, commercial services, and dark web intelligence.

3. Processing

The collected data is then processed into a suitable format for further analysis.

4. Analysis

In this step, the data is combined from different sources and transformed into actionable intelligence so that analysts can identify patterns and make informed decisions. 

5. Dissemination. 

The threat data analysis is then published appropriately and disseminated to the company’s stakeholders or customers.

We refer to the process as a “cyber threat intelligence cycle” because tackling digital attacks is not a one-and-done process but a circular process that takes each cyber experience and applies it to the next. 

Threat levels are designed to indicate the likelihood of a cyberattack. They go as follows:

1. Low – a cyberattack is highly unlikely to occur
2. Moderate – a cyberattack is possible but not likely to occur
3. Substantial – a cyberattack is likely to occur
4. Severe – a cyberattack is highly likely to occur
5. Critical – an attack is highly likely to occur in the near future

Depending upon the requirements and audience, there are three categories or types of cyber threat intelligence. 

Strategic threat intelligence is developed for executive-level and/or board review. It includes non-technical intelligence reports that talk about a cyberattack’s trends, risks, and consequences so that the reader understands the impact on business decisions. The approach is typically generated on demand, and the information can take the form of a report, briefing, whitepaper, policy document, or industry publication.

Operational intelligence provides specific information to help incident response teams stop an attack by better understanding the nature of the attack, the attack method, and its timing. A modern cybersecurity solution that uses ML is the best method for developing operational threat intelligence.  

Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, part of the Acronis Cyber Cloud platform for service providers, and Acronis Cyber Protect for on-premises systems are industry-first solutions that integrate backup and cybersecurity capabilities in one solution to protect all data, applications, and systems. Cyber protection requires researching and threat monitoring and abiding by the Five Vectors of Cyber Protection – safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS).

To support its approach, Acronis established a global network of Cyber Protection Operation Centers (CPOC) to monitor and research cyber threats 24/7. This global network constantly monitors Acronis’ partners, customers, and a battery of outside sources to detect and analyze the broad universe of cyber attacks. This monitoring enables Acronis engineers to research modern threats to help build easy, efficient, and secure cyber protection solutions. In addition, CPOC research is also used to create Threat Alerts and Smart Protection Plans to keep Acronis Cyber Protect users protected from the latest threats.

Acronis partners and customers can access these real-time threat alerts for the latest on malware, vulnerabilities, natural disasters, and other global events that may affect their data protection. As a user, this enables your organization to continually get updates to the cyber security landscape without the need to monitor multiple different sources yourself constantly. In addition, you can automatically adjust protection plans based on these security alerts to ensure proactive protection against emerging threats.

If your organization is a small-to-medium-sized business, you may not have the security experts and budget to develop and monitor cyber threat intelligence and stop modern-day attacks. This is why Acronis developed Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud for service providers. It enables the managed service provider (MSP) you work with to protect all of your workloads from advanced cyberattacks proactively. In addition to protecting critical business data, the solution can make compliance for, let’s say, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) easier.

With Acronis Cyber Protect, your organization has real-time protection with AI-based static and behavioral heuristic antivirus, anti-malware, anti-ransomware, and anti-cryptojacking technologies.

Modernize your clients’ security

Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud unites backup and next-generation, AI-based anti-malware, antivirus, and endpoint protection management in one solution.

Free Acronis Information Kit

Get first-hand information and use cases to discover how Acronis unites backup and next-generation, AI-based anti-malware, antivirus, and endpoint protection management in one solution.

Empower IT teams with All-in-one Cyber Protection

Contact our sales team to receive the latest update and request quote.