From cloud migration and AI-powered customer service bots to augmented reality onboarding and beyond, businesses in every conceivable industry are discovering the benefits of digital transformation. Incorporating technology into business processes has delivered numerous productivity advantages, but it’s not all upside.
Digital transformation has exposed organizations to a broader range of cyber threats than ever before – and facing them down is a constant challenge. Right now, it’s ransomware and advanced persistent threats (APTs), but you know that cybercriminals are continually developing new techniques to bypass traditional network security and wreak severe damage to your business.
In this blog, we’ll introduce you to the latest weapon in the fight against ever-evolving security threats. We’ll also share five game-changing benefits of implementing this new tool in your business. Read on.
The Latest Weapon: Threat Intelligence Powered by Deception
Threat intelligence powered by deception technology has emerged as a powerful tool in the cybersecurity arsenal. Unlike traditional cybersecurity measures, threat intelligence powered by deception allows you to take a proactive approach to threat detection and cyber risk mitigation.
Rather than relying on reacting to known threat signatures, deception technology creates a dynamic, parallel environment to lure attackers into engaging with fake assets. These interactions generate valuable threat intelligence, enabling security teams to better understand attacker behaviors, techniques, and objectives.
However, threat intelligence isn’t solely about deception. It’s also about rapid detection and gathering the insights that matter most – specific, actionable threat intelligence that ensures security teams prioritize the right areas while minimizing alert fatigue.
Let’s look at five key benefits threat intelligence powered by deception can deliver to your business.
1. Proactive Threat Detection
Traditional approaches to cybersecurity have always been reactive. The cyber attackers infiltrate your environment, and you respond. Hopefully, you can respond quickly enough that they don’t have time to do too much damage, but as many businesses know, attackers don’t need much time for their actions to have devastating consequences. A 2023 survey of CISOs found that 75% of US companies are at risk of a cyber attack [1], while research by IBM placed the average cost of a data breach at a staggering USD 4.45 million [2]. Surely, a change in approach is needed?
The great thing about threat intelligence powered by deception is that it is proactive, taking the fight to the cyber attackers rather than waiting for them to come to you. The digital twin network lures in the attackers, and while they’re in that environment, they give away their playbook without impacting your organization in any way. That playbook, the attacker’s TTPs, exposes potential vulnerabilities in your system that your security professionals can then fix, so when those attackers (or others) come knocking on your door again, they can’t find their way in.
Specific, actionable threat intelligence powered by deception is a game-changer for threat detection. It’s the most effective way to know who is in your system and what they’re doing without compromising your network security. It enables you to pinpoint your incident response to those priority areas, safeguarding your business’s essential systems for the future.
2. Reduced Dwell Time
Cyber attackers only need a few minutes in your network to start causing significant damage. However, 2023 research by Secureframe found that the average time it takes an organization to identify and contain a data breach is a mind-blowing 204 days [3]. Threat intelligence is essential for determining what security threats are out there and the methods attackers are currently utilizing. However, if you’re only focusing on indicators of compromise in your own system, the damage may already have been done.
Threat intelligence powered by deception can significantly reduce the time a threat remains undetected in your network. In most cases, it will get that dwell time down to zero, because the attackers are in the deception environment rather than the real thing. While they’re in that environment, you can gather essential security intelligence to fix vulnerabilities and defend your business.
3. Enhanced Threat Analysis
Despite your best efforts, all business IT environments have vulnerabilities, and that’s before you consider the impact of human error on cybersecurity. While cybersecurity technology can help you discover and fix vulnerabilities, the tech always has to be better than the best cyber attacker currently operating. Otherwise, you’re at risk of a successful cyber attack. It’s an arms race.
So, who better to inform you of the vulnerabilities that exist in your environment than the cyber attackers themselves? Threat intelligence powered by deception lures those attackers into a decoy environment, where they will attempt to carry out their malicious acts without breaching your actual network.
While the attackers are in your decoy environment, they deliver detailed insights into their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), enriching your threat intelligence and informing better defense mechanisms for the future.
4. Fewer False Positives
False positives mean security professionals aren’t dealing with real problems. A recent survey reported in Security Magazine discovered that 20% of cloud security alerts are actually false positives, while 43% of IT professionals said that their alerts were false positives more than 40% of the time [4].
False positives also waste time trying to prioritize alerts. Alert fatigue leads to burnout and friction within security teams. All this leads to one thing: when a genuine attack comes, security teams are less likely to identify it and respond in time.
Threat intelligence powered by deception is set up to ensure every alert is a genuine signal of a potential attack in progress. Attackers are in your decoy system – by the very fact that they’re there, you can be sure they’re attackers.
When security teams receive an alert from their threat intelligence powered by deception solution, they can be sure that it’s an immediate priority, specific and actionable, delivered before the attackers have found a way into your business’ network. By addressing the most critical areas first, you’re more likely to repel future attacks.
5. Future-Proofed Security
Traditional cybersecurity platforms need to be upgraded regularly. This can be costly for businesses like yours, continually changing your tech stack to incorporate the latest shiny new object.
Deception technology creates a digital twin network and goes threat hunting with breadcrumbs to lure in attackers. While they’re there, they give away their secrets in a safe, non-impactful environment. The technology may require tweaks from time to time, but the principle never changes. It preys on attackers’ greed and ego. Helping you anticipate their next more and truly stay informed and ahead of their motivations.
For this reason, implementing threat intelligence powered by deception can future proof your security meaning you are less likely to need to continually upgrade your traditional security measures.
Conclusion
For businesses looking to enhance their cybersecurity strategy, exploring the integration of threat intelligence powered by deception technology is a crucial step toward achieving comprehensive protection.
This type of threat intelligence is proactive rather than reactive. It delivers specific, real-time threat intelligence your security teams can treat as a priority and keep you secure from future attacks.
Sources:
[1] https://www.statista.com/topics/1731/smb-and-cyber-crime
[2] https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
[3] 101 of the Latest Data Breach Statistics for 2024 (secureframe.com)