Timely and comprehensive threat intelligence is a crucial aspect of an effective cybersecurity strategy. It provides organizations with insights into the threats they face, vulnerabilities within their systems, and strategies to bolster their defenses. However, the threat intelligence industry is rapidly expanding. The global threat intelligence market is projected to reach $4.93 billion by the end of this year and is expected to grow more than 20% annually, reaching $18.11 billion by 2030. While this growth is positive for cybersecurity, it also means a massive influx of threat intelligence signals that security operations center (SOC) teams need to monitor.
As companies continue to undergo digital transformation, SOC teams face the challenge of integrating data from across the organization to obtain a comprehensive view of their attack surface. Moreover, they need to sift through this vast amount of information quickly to extract relevant insights. This requirement for speed is crucial in the defense against cyber threats.
SOC teams encounter various challenges in keeping pace with the ever-changing tactics of cybercriminals. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, placing immense pressure on SOC teams to remain vigilant. Microsoft’s report revealed a staggering 130% increase in ransomware attacks last year and the blocking of 70 billion email and identity threats. These numbers highlight the scale of the challenges faced by SOC teams.
To stay informed about threat groups and potential infrastructure risks, SOCs rely on security signals from open source threat intelligence, threat intelligence feeds, and in-house analysis. Comprehensive threat intelligence also aids in identifying and addressing system or process vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by malicious actors.
However, it is not only cybercriminal activities that strain SOC resources. The increase in ransomware attacks translated to over 10,000 alerts per day for SOC teams. Microsoft Security alone processes 65 trillion daily security signals from the global threat landscape. Although Microsoft employs a vast number of security researchers, analysts, and threat hunters, human efforts alone cannot adequately monitor and respond to this volume of data. Advanced technology solutions are needed.
Unified extended detection and response (XDR) and security information and event management (SIEM) tools can assist SOC teams in managing these challenges. Equipped with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms, XDR and SIEM provide end-to-end threat visibility across the entire enterprise. These solutions automatically correlate and prioritize security alerts across various areas, including identities, endpoints, applications, email, the Internet of Things (IoT), infrastructure, and cloud platforms. Consequently, SOC teams can focus on preventing, detecting, and responding to threats instead of manually analyzing raw data. Additionally, internal XDR and SIEM inputs can be combined with third-party threat intelligence to enhance future ML models.
While threat activity continues to grow, security solutions are evolving in parallel. By leveraging unified XDR and SIEM solutions, SOC teams can effectively adapt to the influx of new threat intelligence and quickly respond to emerging threats. These advanced technologies enable SOC teams to create secure digital environments for organizations of all sizes.
In conclusion, as the global threat intelligence market continues to expand, SOC teams face the challenge of managing a massive influx of threat intelligence signals. They need to rapidly extract relevant insights from this information to protect organizations from cyber threats. Advanced technology solutions like unified XDR and SIEM, powered by AI and ML, can help SOC teams overcome these challenges by providing end-to-end threat visibility and automating the analysis and prioritization of security alerts. By embracing these solutions, SOC teams can keep pace with the evolving threat landscape and create secure digital environments for businesses.