Mastering Threat Management: The Five Essential Ingredients

Introduction

Threat management is a critical component of every organisation's security strategy. The rising volume of threats, and the increasing cost of managing data breaches with relevant technology and security expertise are emerging as major concerns for enterprises and leading to organisational and security risks. To effectively mitigate these risks and safeguard against potential threats, it is essential to adopt a comprehensive approach that covers all aspects of the threat lifecycle. In this blog post, we will lay out the 5 “I”s of effective threat management – Identify, Ingest, Improve logs, Investigate, and Involve – and provide a framework that organisations can use to enhance their threat management capabilities.

Identify

The first step in effective threat management is the identification of potential threats for the crown jewel apps and infrastructure of your organisation. This involves conducting a thorough assessment of the organisation's IT assets and systems, and associated risks. By understanding the specific risks they face, organisations can prioritise their efforts and allocate resources accordingly. Regular risk assessments and vulnerability scans play a vital role in identifying potential threats.

Ingest

Many businesses encounter difficulties when it comes to data/logs ingestion, particularly due to the dispersion of applications across various locations/vendors/technologies. Once the critical apps and infrastructure are identified, ingesting meaningful log data by filtering the irrelevant logs at the source becomes important. This ensures that the threat management platform only processes the logs that are truly significant for security purposes. By effectively prioritising and filtering the log data, organisations can focus their resources on analysing the most relevant information, optimising their efforts at threat management.

Improve logs

Data enrichment or improvement plays a valuable role in consolidating various elements and adding value to the information. By incorporating contextual information, organisations can cut through the noise and develop a coherent understanding of the data. Often, malicious logs from both internal infrastructure and external sources coexist with meaningful logs. To address this, it becomes crucial to enrich and improve the logs. Additionally, leveraging industry feeds from the organisation’s cyber threat intelligence infrastructure can further enhance the quality of the logs.

A comprehensive set of correlation rules and multiple data models are then applied to the enriched logs. This helps identify outliers within the ingested logs. This process helps to refine the data and ensure that only relevant and actionable information is retained. Enriching log data offers several benefits, including improved observability and diagnostic capabilities, rendering the data more valuable for search, analysis, and operational needs, and enabling the organisation to take proactive measures and effectively mitigate security risks.

Investigate

Analysing and investigating logs is a proactive measure that leverages additional information from the organisation’s infrastructure. Using rules, analysts delve deeper into the data to analyse historical occurrences or identify patterns that are similar in nature. This process enables them to swiftly implement preventive measures, reducing the proliferation of threats and effectively isolating and targeting endpoints that may be connected to potential attackers. Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) playbooks are a valuable tool for Security Operations Center (SOC) specialists. These playbooks aid in triaging and qualifying threats, streamlining the response process and ensuring that appropriate actions are taken based on the severity and nature of the threats identified.

Involve

When a critical alert is detected, the security service provider should promptly engage with the customer's Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) or incident manager to initiate the remediation process based on the incident's priority and severity. Having predefined Standard Operating Procedures for remediation ensures that remediation actions are executed promptly and effectively.

A SOAR-assisted security ecosystem plays a crucial role in expediting detection and remediation of cyber risks. Real-time feedback mechanisms, incident reporting, and good communication are crucial in fostering proactive security monitoring and the implementation of preventive controls. By leveraging a combination of technology automation, predefined procedures, and effective communication channels, organisations can respond swiftly to critical alerts, prioritise remediation efforts, and enhance their overall security posture.

Conclusion

Effective threat management is crucial for organisations to protect their assets, maintain business continuity, and safeguard their reputation. By continuously assessing risks, leveraging threat intelligence, implementing robust security measures, developing an effective incident response plan, and striving for ongoing improvement, organisations can strengthen their security posture and effectively mitigate potential threats. Remember, an organisation's ability to adapt and respond to emerging threats is key to maintaining a resilient and secure environment.

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