Security Intelligence – What is the Role of Intelligence in Security

“2024 will be a year of deception and a busy year for cybercriminals,” says Charles Henderson, the global head of IBM X-force. 

As AI-powered attacks come rolling, predictions and protection will become more crucial than ever. Organizations will need threat and attack predictions at a large scale to secure their infrastructure from the challenges that lie ahead. That’s where security intelligence comes in.

Security intelligence brings automation, analytics, and insights to resolve security threats even before they pose a risk to your business. It equips organizations with enriched data to initiate proactive actions and minimize the attack surface. This blog is your quick guide to security intelligence, covering its key principles, implementation steps, and more.

What is security intelligence?

Security Intelligence is the collection and analysis of real-time data gathered from various sources such as networks, users, applications and other infrastructure to respond to security threats.

Security intelligence aims to defend against attacks, make well-informed decisions and build a robust cybersecurity posture.

Key Principles of Security Intelligence

The principles of security intelligence lay the foundation for developing and executing security intelligence. They provide a framework for including proactive measures in the security strategy and building a pipeline of airtight controls.

These are the 7 principles of security intelligence:

Real-time analysis

Real-time analysis is the continuous monitoring of data across networks and sources to pinpoint any suspicious activities. This aspect of security helps with proactive response and minimizes the chances of the spread of the damage.

Pre-exploitation review

Real-time analysis is crucial, but there must also be pre-exploit analysis. This analysis is a preventative measure that helps pinpoint weaknesses before they are exploited by hackers. It helps minimize downtime or operational disruptions for the organization.

Data collection, normalization, and analysis

In order to initiate well-informed decisions, the data must come from a wide array of sources such as networks, logs, threat intelligence feeds, etc. The next step is to normalize or standardize this data to make it easier to analyze and correlate. This enables the organization to identify any patterns that may be the cause of events.

Actionable insights

Security threat intelligence must offer actionable insights to enable security teams to make concrete decisions to enhance security maturity. These can include information on indicators of compromise and tactical recommendations such as implementing new security controls, predictions on emerging threats and more.

Scalability

Security intelligence solutions are designed to provide a scalable foundation because of automation, cloud integrations and a flexible architecture. This enables them to expeditiously gather and process large volumes of data and respond in real-time.

Flexibility in size and cost

Security intelligence platforms are not meant only for enterprises. Small businesses and startups can also leverage these solutions to deal with security threats per their needs and budgets.

Compliance automation tools are also a lucrative solution here, especially for small and medium businesses as they provide enough actionable intelligence and solve for compliance readiness.

Data security and risk management

Security intelligence solutions are only helpful if they help protect data and intellectual property. They provide organizations with tools and insights to protect information against security threats.

How to implement security intelligence?

The starting point for implementing security intelligence can be your existing security tools such as firewalls, endpoint detection systems etc. However, it must gradually expand to include other security analytics tools and provide comprehensive data for 360-degree visibility.

Here are 5 steps to implement security intelligence:

Define your objectives

As with any security program, start by defining your objectives. These can vary from enhancing the response time for incidents and reducing security risks to ensuring compliance and enhancing security posture. Setting these objectives requires an understanding of the threat landscape, compliance requirements, current security maturity, resources and tech infrastructure, and stakeholder needs.

Identify sources for collection and analysis

To ensure the quality and relevance of security intelligence, identify the suitable sources for data collection. This can include network traffic logs, endpoint device data, threat intelligence feeds, etc. Ensure that it is stored at a centralized location and standardized for analysis.

Integrate with existing processes

The next step is to disseminate security intelligence across the organization by integrating it across functions. Integrate SIEMS, vulnerability management tools, threat intelligence feeds, compliance monitoring tools, etc., with your existing infrastructure to ensure effective utilization of intelligence and foster better collaboration. Get the teams onboarded and arrange training to enable stakeholders to utilize the insights.

Implement the required controls

Use the insights generated from data correlation to implement the right controls in gap areas. These can include developing or enhancing cyber incident plans, implementing access controls, network segmentation etc. based on the organization’s security needs.

Monitor and improve

Establish a continuous monitoring mechanism to evaluate if the recommendations are being implemented and how security intelligence is proving to be useful. Run periodic assessments to track progress and make the required iterations for continuous improvement.

Security intelligence acronyms you must know

The acronyms used in security intelligence are generally the ones we hear in cybersecurity and tech.

Here are the most common ones:

CIA

CIA stands for confidentiality, integrity and availability. In the context of security and technology CIA principles aim to ensure that:

• The right people have access to information and it is protected against unauthorized access
• The reliability and accuracy of information is maintained
• The systems are up and running always for the authorized people

CIO

CIO represents Intent, capability and opportunity and is a concept in cybersecurity and threat management.

• Intent is the attacker’s desire or interest to harm an organization
• Capability refers to the tools, resources and skill set of the malicious actor to exploit weaknesses
• Opportunities are the vulnerabilities that can be exploited such as misconfigurations, unpatched weaknesses etc.

APT

Advanced Persistent threats are targeted cyberattacks that aim to gain long-term access to an organization’s network (persistent) for espionage or data theft. To remain undetected, the attacker uses advanced tactics such as spear phishing, data exflitration, zero-day exploits, etc.

IoC

Indicators of Compromise is a piece of data or evidence to showcase that a system has been breached or infiltrated. In the context of security intelligence, IoC serves as forensic evidence by analysts to detect incidents and respond to threats faster.

TTP

TTP stands for techniques, tactics and procedures are methodologies used by attackers to carry out the attack and accomplish the desired goal. Analysts must understand the TTPs to implement or strengthen technical safeguards and enhance their incident response plan.

Other acronyms

Other acronyms include OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), CTI (Cyber Threat Intelligence), VAPT (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing), EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) etc. 

How can security intelligence help organizations grow?

Security intelligence enables an organization’s growth by providing a security advantage. It is a vast concept encompassing vulnerability intelligence, threat intelligence, brand protection, SecOps intelligence and other security aspects. Tailored data collection related to each of these areas helps organizations battle security challenges from the forefront with actionable insights and strategic initiatives.

Security intelligence provides contextualized knowledge about the environment and all-around visibility that brings operational gains. It also enhances market reputation and brand perception as customers are assured of data protection. This in turn helps the business get enterprise deals and ensure growth.

Benefits of Security Intelligence

The main function of security intelligence is to provide real-time insights and that is where its true benefit comes from. It helps organizations stay abreast of threats, regulatory laws, digital landscape changes and more.

Here are the benefits of security intelligence:

Enhanced incident preparedness

Security intelligence helps with early threat detection with real-time analysis and detailed insights into attack patterns and techniques. This helps with swift responses and enhancement of cyber incident plans, resulting in better preparedness.

Cost savings

Security intelligence saves you thousands of dollars that would otherwise go towards mitigating the impact of a cyber attack and restoring normal business operations. It also protects against costs of non-compliance, such as fines, penalties, and the cost of losing customers.

Compliance management

Security intelligence helps keep compliance in check by giving timely updates on threats and vulnerabilities. It helps support security policy enforcement, proactively addresses risks, and generates reports for compliance adherence.

Strategic decision making

Security intelligence helps make decisions related to prioritizing risks, making business continuity plans, compliance enforcement plans and optimizing resources. These are strategic imperatives to build a resilient organization and win market trust.

Best practices of security intelligence

Security intelligence best practices help organizations make the most of security strategies and initiatives while minimizing risks of attacks.

Here are 5 such security intelligence practices:

Security intelligence by design

Security intelligence by design advocates for incorporating security workflows right from the beginning ie. the planning stage. This is then followed by architecture and development of systems keeping security in mind. It lays the foundation for a secure infrastructure and enables better risk management. For example incorporating a secure development lifecycle (SDLC).

Use automated tools for analytics and action

Leverage technology and automation to collect, standardize, and analyze data and initiate remediation measures. You can use SIEMs (Security Information and Event Management), vulnerability scanners, compliance automation tools and other software to streamline workflows and reduce manual overload.

Keep updating incident response plan and other policies

Regularly review and update incident response plans and security policies to capitalize on the benefits of security intelligence. This requires continuous monitoring and feedback mechanisms, as well as quick actions on the recommendations.

Patch systems regularly

As a proactive measure, regularly patch systems and update software to protect against vulnerabilities. Security intelligence advocates for minimizing attack risk and patch management is crucial for strengthening defenses.

Implement role-based access controls

Role-based access control helps manage access at a granular level and ensures the protection of sensitive information from unauthorized access. It is also scalable to implement RBAC as security involves management of large volumes of data.

Complement security intelligence with other tools

Security intelligence can be a game changer for an organization to detect threats and improve their overall security posture. But that’s just a spoke in the wheel when it comes to cybersecurity. Security must be complemented with a wide range of other tools and technologies for organizations to evolve their security practices. These can include threat intelligence tools, SIEMs, vulnerability management tools, compliance automation tools and more.

If you are in a regulated industry or subject to data privacy concerns, compliance tools like Sprinto can enhance your preparedness. Sprinto can integrate with a range of security tools to gather granular level data and run automated checks to contain any drift. Use integrated risk assessments, policy management, automated evidenced collection, in-built training modules and more to easily get compliant across frameworks.

Talk to a compliance expert today and kickstart your journey.

FAQs

What are the key elements of security intelligence?

The key elements of security intelligence are log management, SIEMs, Network Behaviour Anomaly Detection (NBAD), network forensics and risk management.

What are the use cases of security intelligence?

The use cases of security intelligence include proactive threat detection, incident enrichment, vulnerability prioritization, compliance monitoring and enhanced security awareness.

What are some common challenges faced by organizations when implementing security intelligence?

Some common challenges faced by organizations when implementing security intelligence include analyzing large volumes of complex data, integration issues, lack of skilled workforce, resource constraints and generating actionable insights.