Enticing Clicks With Spam
Among the key findings from the upcoming IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index for 2017, available March 29, is the ongoing use of spam as an entry vector for attackers. While targeted attacks make headlines, the prevalence of spam traffic means that a variety of attackers are still finding success in this scattershot method to gain…
The Role of the Security Intelligence Analyst and the Three Main Elements of Cybersecurity
In the modern security operations center (SOC) model, the security intelligence analyst (SIA) represents a core role. In my opinion, it is one of the most important roles in the field of the cybersecurity. Customers often ask me what the role of the SIA actually is. The SIA is responsible for protecting the organization against…
Not all threat intelligence is created equal
Threat intelligence provides you a lot of information and intelligence about what the threats are to your network, and what you need to focus in on from a security perspective. But threat intelligence platforms are, really, that next step in the operational chain. It’s how you actually use, consume and utilize the threat intelligence that’s…
Mirror, Mirror: Using Self-Protection to Boost App Security
Last week while reading to my toddler, I came across the story of “Snow White,” in which the evil queen consults a magic mirror to find her greatest threat, the fairest person in the land. While my kid fell asleep — probably due to my effective storytelling technique — I kept thinking about why the…
Mirai Evolving: New Attack Reveals Use of Port 7547
When the source code for the Mirai botnet was made public in late September, a top concern was that bad actors might modify the code to increase the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices they can compromise. It seems these fears have been realized. A few weeks ago, Reverse Engineering Blog disclosed a vulnerability…
A Year in Collaborative Defense With IBM Security App Exchange
IBM launched its IBM Security App Exchange at the tail end of 2015, so it has been live for almost a year now. We always thought the App Exchange had significant potential, but we’ve been blown away by its success with our customers and other security vendors. We now have security information and event management…
Do You Need a Threat Intelligence Team?
I have the great opportunity to spend time with CSOs and IT executives to understand their cybersecurity concerns and help them map out a strategy for success. An increasingly common question I’ve been hearing is, “Does my organization need a threat intelligence team?” Adding threat intelligence capabilities to your organization can be valuable, with their…
Integrating threat intelligence with existing security technologies
70 percent of security industry professionals believe threat intelligence is often too voluminous and/or complex to provide actionable insights. The Ponemon Institute study, based on 1,072 respondents in the United Kingdom and North America, also showed that organizations neglect to share essential threat data with board members and C-level executives, despite the fact that security…