Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) considers the full context of a cyber threat to inform the design of highly-targeted defensive actions. CTI combines multiple factors, including the motivations of cybercriminals and Indicators of Compromise (IOC), to help security teams understand and prepare for the challenges of an anticipated cyber threat.
You don’t have to look far for proof that cybercrime is soaring to new heights. Early in the pandemic the U.N. reported cybercrime had increased 600% and other experts estimate damages from global cybercrime to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015. Last year alone, we started 2021 in the fog of the SolarWinds attack and finished with the infamous Log4j vulnerabilities, the full impact of which will take years to understand.
Ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline, JBS Foods and Kronos are just a few recent examples in the rise of cyber-physical attacks that disrupt lives of individuals and have the potential to cause physical harm. This concerning trend is capturing the attention of organizations worldwide, with Gartner predicting that 75% of CEOs will be personally liable for cyber-physical security incidents by 2024.
The “Tinder Swindler” is an extreme example of how online scammers can mask their identity, charm their victims and bilk them of millions of dollars, but the point is made. Whether you’re looking for love this Valentine’s Day or wanting to show your loved ones how much you appreciate them, beware of online scams. Some of the latest involve gift cards, where scammers who have honed their craft and done their homework about you, ask for payment in the form of gift cards.
The security operations center (SOC) has been on the front line facing the pandemic-induced escalation of cybersecurity threats in the past eighteen months. A 2020 study by Forrester found that the average security operations team receives more than 11,000 alerts per day and that figure is likely to have grown in the intervening period. While they were deeply engaged responding to the crisis, SOC teams were simultaneously facing the disruption common to all formerly office-based workers.
The Splunk Threat Research Team is monitoring open channel intelligence and government alerts indicating the possibility of malicious campaigns using destructive software in relation to ongoing geopolitical events. Based on historical data of named geopolitical actors, the use of destructive payloads has been observed in past campaigns.
The discipline of threat intelligence began to be incorporated in cyber defense processes within private sector companies nearly a decade ago. Over the past few years, more and more organizations began to establish their own threat intelligence operations, building Security Operations Centers (SOCs), incident response (IR) capabilities and threat intelligence teams.
