In today’s highly interconnected digital landscape, the necessity for robust, proactive cyber threat intelligence platforms has never been more apparent. As businesses of all sizes increasingly find themselves in the crosshairs of diverse threat actors, having a comprehensive understanding of these potential threats is critical. Cyber threat intelligence tools offer the key to unlocking understanding of emerging threats and threat actors from multiple sources.
These CTI platforms use intelligence feeds and advanced techniques to gather, analyze, and process threat data from numerous sources, helping businesses better comprehend their potential attackers, accelerate incident response times, and preemptively disrupt a threat actor’s next move. However, the myriad of solutions available in the market can be overwhelming.
Cyber threat intelligence has become an essential part of a company’s security strategy. With the rise in cybercrime, investing in the right threat intelligence platform can make the difference between falling victim and proactively defending your digital assets. In this article, we present the top 10 best cyber threat intelligence tools and guide you through the process of choosing the right platform for your needs.
By the end of this guide, businesses should have a clearer picture of what to look for when choosing a threat intelligence platform and how these tools can be leveraged to fortify their cyber defenses. Let’s embark on this journey to deepen our understanding of cyber threat intelligence tools.
Top 10 Cyber Threat Intelligence Platforms in 2023 to detect, block, and eliminate security threats
This Cyber Threat Intelligence platforms guide seeks to demystify this landscape, providing an overview of the top 10 cyber threat intelligence tools. Each tool will be analyzed in terms of its unique offerings and how it can bolster a business’s cyber defenses. Furthermore, we will delve into the core capabilities that a good threat intelligence platform should possess, such as threat intelligence scoring, automated data collection, data cleansing, and more.
- IBM X-Force Exchange
- Anomali ThreatStream
- ThreatConnect Platform
- Recorded Future
- FireEye Threat Intelligence
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Check Point ThreatCloud
- CyberProof Defense Center
- LookingGlass Cyber Solutions
- Digital Shadows SearchLight
IBM X-Force Exchange
IBM X-Force Exchange is a cloud-based threat intelligence platform that enables users to research threats, collaborate with peers and take decisive action. It employs advanced analytics to correlate threat data from various sources and provides actionable threat intelligence. Moreover, its integration with other IBM security products amplifies the organization’s resilience against cyber threats.
Anomali ThreatStream
Anomali ThreatStream platform combines threat data from various sources, including ISACs and open-source feeds, into a single, integrated platform. It offers threat intelligence management, helping businesses understand the context and relevance of various threats. Machine learning is employed for advanced threat modeling, while AI is used for automated threat hunting.
Key Features of Anomali Threat Stream
Dynamic Intelligence Feed
Anomali ThreatStream excels in its ability to dynamically collect data from an extensive range of sources, amalgamating them into a single, high-fidelity data set. This vast pool of information enables a comprehensive and multi-faceted perspective of the cyber threat landscape. By providing a consolidated view of various threat intelligence feeds, Anomali allows organizations to effectively identify, analyze, and prioritize the threats that pose the most significant risk.
Automated Workflows
In the rapidly evolving world of cybersecurity, speed is of the essence. Anomali ThreatStream employs automated workflows to promptly fetch and update threat data, ensuring timely sharing with relevant stakeholders. This automation not only streamlines processes, saving valuable time and resources, but also ensures that teams remain informed with the most up-to-date threat intelligence, enabling swift and effective decision making.
Integration with the IT Ecosystem
Anomali ThreatStream facilitates seamless integration with existing IT tools through its workbench feature. This functionality promotes harmonious operation within the broader IT ecosystem, ensuring that the threat intelligence generated can be rapidly deployed to enhance defensive operations. By weaving threat intelligence into the fabric of the existing IT infrastructure, Anomali enhances the overall responsiveness and adaptability of the organization’s cybersecurity strategy.
Smart Data Visualization
The platform offers smart data visualization through interactive dashboards that provide tactical, technical, operational, and strategic cyber threat intelligence insights. These dashboards, equipped with intuitive graphical interfaces, transform complex data into easy-to-understand visuals. They enable security professionals to quickly grasp the essence of the threat environment, assisting in swift and informed decision making.
Analysis Tools
Anomali ThreatStream also comes with robust analysis tools, including a visual link analysis investigation tool. This tool allows security analysts to correlate individual threat indicators with larger threat models, providing a broader context and deeper understanding of potential risks. By visualizing the connections between various threat indicators, organizations can uncover hidden patterns, identify trends, and anticipate potential threat vectors before they materialize.
USP
ThreatConnect Platform
ThreatConnect combines threat intelligence, orchestration, and automation into a single platform. Its ML-based threat scoring system enables better prioritization and risk mitigation strategies. It also supports API and SDK integrations, providing flexibility in connecting with various cybersecurity systems.
Recorded Future Fusion
Recorded Future employs advanced ML algorithms to collect data from a multitude of sources and formats. It provides threat intelligence scoring, data cleansing, and integration with inbound data ingestion and outbound response orchestration. Its real-time threat intelligence feeds ensure rapid threat detection and response.
FireEye Threat Intelligence
FireEye provides a comprehensive threat intelligence platform, encompassing data from multiple sources. One of its distinguishing features is its brand monitoring ability that auto searches for typosquatted domains and compromised credentials, offering brand protection.
Splunk Enterprise Security
Splunk offers a SIEM platform that provides analytics-driven security. It supports flexible integration via RESTful API and SDKs, making it adaptable to various cybersecurity ecosystems. It also incorporates machine learning to improve threat detection and incident response times.
Check Point ThreatCloud
Check Point ThreatCloud utilizes big data analytics, AI, and machine learning for threat prediction, detection, and prevention. Its data cleansing capability includes de-duplication of data and removal of false positives, ensuring accuracy and relevance in threat data.
CyberProof Defense Center
CyberProof offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities, incorporating features such as phishing response to extract data from suspicious emails for immediate blocking. Its platform seamlessly integrates with multiple security tools to enhance overall defense capabilities.
LookingGlass Cyber Solutions
LookingGlass provides a comprehensive threat intelligence platform driven by machine learning. It offers threat intelligence scoring, automated data collection, data cleansing, and integration with security tools, providing a holistic approach to cyber threat management.
Digital Shadows SearchLight
Digital Shadows SearchLight offers digital risk protection, monitoring for risks across a wide range of data sources. It provides brand monitoring and protection against cyber threats, ensuring the security of vital organizational assets.
Core Cyber Threat Intelligence Capabilities
1. Threat Intelligence Scoring
Threat Intelligence Scoring is a fundamental aspect of cyber threat intelligence. It provides a quantifiable measure to the level of risk or danger posed by a particular cyber threat or threat actor. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, these scores (for example CVSS Scores) are determined based on several factors, including the severity of potential damage, the likelihood of a successful attack, and the value of targeted assets. This scoring system aids in identifying critical threats and helps organizations prioritize their response and mitigation strategies. It gives incident response teams the capability to allocate resources where they are most needed and helps to provide a more strategic and proactive response.
2. Automated Data Collection
Automated Data Collection refers to the system’s capability to gather threat data from multiple sources automatically. A robust threat intelligence platform should incorporate data from a plethora of sources, including open-source OSINT feeds, proprietary databases, and information sharing and analysis centers (ISACs). By amalgamating threat data from these various sources, the system can create a comprehensive and diverse threat landscape. Automated data collection minimizes manual data gathering, ensuring real-time threat intelligence. Furthermore, the application of machine learning and AI enables the system to learn from each data point and improve its predictive capabilities continually.
3. Data Cleansing
Data cleansing is the process of identifying and correcting or removing errors in datasets. It involves normalization, enrichment, and de-duplication of data, and the removal of false positives. For threat intelligence, data cleansing ensures the data used to derive insights and inform decision-making is accurate, reliable, and relevant. It improves the quality of threat data, which in turn enhances the performance of analytics and machine learning models used to identify and assess threats. This process, when done at scale, can significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of threat detection and response.
4. Security Tool Integration
Security Tool Integration enhances the threat intelligence platform’s interoperability, allowing it to ingest data from and orchestrate responses through different security tools. A good threat intelligence platform should integrate seamlessly with various security tools, such as SIEMs, SOARs, firewalls, IPS, and endpoints. This ensures a cohesive and coordinated defense against cyber threats, minimizing potential gaps that threat actors could exploit. By integrating with security tools, threat intelligence can be incorporated directly into an organization’s defense mechanisms, improving its categories‘ ability to detect, analyze, and respond to threats.
5. Flexible Integrations
Flexible integrations refer to the ability of a platform to adapt and connect with various systems. For a threat intelligence platform, it should support integrations through RESTful APIs and SDKs. These integrations offer a high degree of customization, allowing organizations to tailor their threat intelligence solutions to their specific needs. By connecting the platform with different systems, the threat intelligence capabilities can be enhanced, resulting in a more comprehensive and effective defense against cyber threats.
6. Data Analysis Tools
Data analysis tools refer to functionalities that enable organizations to sift through vast amounts of data and extract valuable insights. Within a threat intelligence platform, these could include advanced search capabilities, visualization tools, and automatic reporting features. In particular, workflow capabilities can streamline the process of analyzing and sharing data. For example, users might be able to automate the generation of reports or the sharing of threat intelligence within their organization. Moreover, data analysis tools often include capabilities for correlating and contextualizing data, allowing users to understand the broader implications of specific threat indicators.
7. Brand Monitoring
Brand monitoring in the context of cyber threat intelligence includes features like automatic searching for typosquatted domains and compromised credentials. Typosquatting refers to the practice of registering domains that are similar to popular brands, hoping to catch traffic from users who mistype URLs. By automatically identifying and alerting companies to these domains, threat intelligence platforms can help protect brands and their customers from phishing attacks and fraud. Similarly, detecting compromised credentials can mitigate the risk of unauthorized access and protect sensitive information.
8. Phishing Response
Phishing response is a critical feature of a cyber threat intelligence tool. It involves the capability to extract data from suspected phishing emails for immediate blocking. This means that once the tool identifies a suspicious email, it can automatically analyze the email’s content, find indicators of compromise (like malicious URLs or attachments), and use this data to update security controls. This proactive response can help prevent the phishing attack from succeeding, potentially saving the organization from substantial financial loss and reputational damage.
9. MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a globally recognized, continuously updated knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques, based on real-world observations. It’s a useful resource for understanding the behavior of threat actors. MITRE ATT&CK mapping refers to the ability of a tool to align identified threats with this framework. This provides context around how particular threats or threat actors operate, aiding in proactive defense measures. Furthermore, it helps organizations to understand their risk landscape more clearly and to devise effective strategies for detection, mitigation, and prevention.
