Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

The SANS 2021 Top New Attacks and Threat Report is now available for download, covering the security trends and top threats to watch for as the world emerges from the pandemic. Presented at the SANS threat expert panel discussion held during the RSAConference 2021 Virtual Experience, the top attack category the report highlights is supply chain attacks – and with good reason.

I previously talked about how to get started with a threat intelligence program, which is the cornerstone to any security operation. Such a program enables security teams to gain a deeper understanding of adversaries and their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), in order to determine what is relevant to the organization and how to mitigate risk.

Earlier this year, Gartner published its latest research on the Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) market in a report entitled, “Is Your Organization Mature Enough for SOAR?”. We’ve been talking to clients about this very subject and agree with Gartner that SOAR tools can increase SecOps efficiency and consistency, provided organizations have laid the proper groundwork.

Threat intelligence provides valuable insight into contextual business risk. You can gain insight into threat actors targeting your industry or information from your organization located on the Dark Web. According to one report, 79% of security professionals find threat data feeds essential to their organization’s cybersecurity posture. Additionally, 63% of respondents noted that they use feeds to ensure a better defense.

Incidents of ransomware have been increasing and evolving steadily for years as financially motivated adversaries shift tactics when one is no longer profitable. Unfortunately, many organizations haven’t been able to adapt their security operations to keep up. Back in 2019, 60% of organizations told ESG that they experienced a ransomware attack that year, with 29% reporting that attacks happened at least on a weekly basis.

There’s no doubt that an analyst’s ability to efficiently share curated threat intelligence has a significant impact on the success of their organization’s overall security operations. In fact, this capability is so important that removing barriers to sharing threat information is the first requirement outlined in the Executive Order issued by the White House on May 12, 2021.