Actionable threat intelligence is a priority: Global Cyber Resilience think tank

Mimecast Chief Trust Officer and Cyber Resilience Think Tank member Marc French

MimecastLtd., a leading email and data security company, announced it has released the latest report ‘Threat Intelligence: Far-fetched Idea or Must-have Security Tactic?’ from the Cyber Resilience Think Tank, an independent group of more than a dozen security leaders dedicated to working together to address cyber resilience challenges facing organisations.

In this Mimecast-sponsored report, insights from global IT leaders have been sewn together to offerfirst-handprescriptive advice and tacticsfor navigating the challenges of threat intelligence, including how to make actionable threat intelligence a priorityin any sized organisation. As one leader explains, “Good, actionable threat intelligence can help tell you who is behind an attack, the tools and tactics used, the who, the how and what they’re after.”

If threat intelligence isn’t built into an organisation’s comprehensive cyber resilience strategy, the organisation could be vulnerable to phishing attacks, malware incidents or worse. The Cyber Resilience Think Tank recently met to discuss threat intelligence and why it’s a must-have, and obtainable, security asset for organisations of all sizes – regardless of budget.

Malcolm Harkins, Chief Security and Trust Officer at Cylance and Cyber Resilience Think Tank member said, “As a security industry, we have to move away from being in a constant state of reaction. I want to minimise damage to my organisation – I want prevention. I’ve always looked at threat intelligence broadly: What’s my open source intelligence? What’s my human intelligence? What’s my signals intelligence? I want it all, because it all matters.”

The report provides key insights from the group on how to avoid data exhaust;how businesses can use information they already have in-house, like previous data breach and vulnerability reports; andwhat’s absolutely critical when it comes to implementing this critical security capability. Additional themes throughout the report include: 

• How threat intelligence isnot just for the one-percent;
• How to use open APIs and known threat patterns;
• How to prove value with little (or no) budget; and
• Why most threat intelligence is outsourced – and why it is OK.

Maurice Stebilia, CISO at HARMAN and Cyber Resilience Think Tank member said, “I have various cybersecurity partners collecting intelligence on my behalf. All of their tools I have protecting the cloud, the network, the endpoint – they’ve taken those feeds and built them into their products so if there’s a vulnerability, it’s going to be blocked and captured. And I’ll get an alert.”

According to Marc French, Chief Trust Officer at Mimecast and Cyber Resilience Think Tank member, true intelligence means turning information into action.

The Cyber Resilience Think Tank meets quarterly to provide valuable insights from their own experiences for security practitioners and their teams.