What is a Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP)?

Companies have access to various sources of threat intelligence, all of which can bring different benefits to the organization. A threat intelligence platform (TIP) aggregates all of this information in a single system, enabling the organization to extract useful insights from the data.

Request a Demo Download the eBook

What is a Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP)?

The Importance of Having a Threat Intelligence Platform

Companies face a diverse and rapidly-evolving cyber threat landscape. Cyber threat actors are constantly working to develop new tools and techniques that bypass the defenses that organizations have in place. A success can mean a ransomware infection, data breach, or other damaging security incident for an organization.

Threat intelligence can enable an organization to predict and prevent attacks by providing companies with insight into the latest attack campaigns and trends in the cyber threat landscape. However, the sheer volume of available data makes it difficult for analysts to manually process threat data and extract insights in time for them to provide value.

A TIP automates the process of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating threat intelligence data. With a TIP, an organization can ensure that its defenses are using the best available data to identify and prevent potential attacks.

How Threat Intelligence Platforms Work

Threat intelligence platforms are responsible for aggregating and analyzing threat intelligence to extract useful insights. Some of the key steps in this process include:

  • Data Collection and Aggregation: Organizations commonly have access to threat intelligence from numerous internal and external sources. A TIP will collect data from all of these sources to provide a more complete, contextual picture of the cyber threat landscape.
  • Normalization and Deduplication: Threat intelligence data can come in a variety of formats and include redundant data. Normalization translates collected data into a common format, allowing duplicate data to be removed.
  • Processing: TIPs process the data that they have collected to transform it into useful intelligence and reports for the organization. For example, TIPs may generate indicators of compromise (IoCs) that enable an organization to more quickly identify potential threats.
  • Integration: TIPs can be integrated with the rest of an organization’s security architecture, including next-generation firewalls (NGFWs), endpoint detection and response (EDR), extended detection and response (XDR), and security information and event management (SIEM) systems. This integration enables IoCs to be rapidly distributed to the systems that can use them to block attacks and inform security personnel of pressing threats.
  • Analysis: A TIP should provide users with the ability to access and view data in a user-friendly fashion. A TIP should allow queries and may have the ability to generate predefined or custom reports to meet the needs of various stakeholders.

Key Features of a Threat Intelligence Platform

A TIP should have certain key capabilities, including the following:

  • Multi-Source Intelligence: Using multiple sources of threat intelligence expands an organization’s visibility into the cyber threat landscape and reduces the probability of an overlooked threat. A TIP should be able to collect threat intelligence data from multiple sources and handle a variety of different data formats (JSON, STIX, Excel, etc.).
  • Data Analytics: Security teams commonly struggle with data overload, and threat intelligence feeds may include a large number of false positives or duplicate data points. A TIP should automatically process the data to enhance its quality and extract useful information from the large volume of data.
  • Solution Integration: Rapid response is essential to minimizing the cost and impact of a cybersecurity incident on an organization. A TIP that integrates with other corporate security solutions can rapidly disseminate threat intelligence, maximizing the value that it provides.

Who Uses a TIP?

A TIP can be an invaluable tool for multiple roles within the organization. Some of the roles that may use a TIP include:

  • Security Operations Center (SOC): SOC teams are responsible for identifying potential attacks against the organization and managing incident response. Threat intelligence enhances SOC teams’ abilities to identify new exploits.
  • Security Analyst: Security analysts use various sources of data to design and configure an organization’s defenses. Threat intelligence provides insight into the types of threats that these defenses should protect against.
  • Incident Response Team (IRT): The IRT is responsible for remediating a security incident and restoring the organization to normal operation. Intelligence about how a threat works and its effects on corporate systems aids remediation efforts.
  • Management: Executive management is responsible for strategic decision-making, including how the organization invests in security. An understanding of the cyber threat landscape is essential to shaping an organization’s security strategy.

Threat Intelligence with Check Point

Check Point ThreatCloud AI is the brains behind Check Point’s security solutions. Data from over 150,000 connected networks and millions of devices are combined with threat intelligence research by Check Point Research and fed into a big data threat intelligence platform that uses the latest AI technology to extract useful intelligence. Accurate threat prevention data is then disseminated to Check Point solutions, enabling them to identify the latest attack campaigns and threats to the organization. Learn more about how ThreatCloud AI works in this solution brief.

 

×
  Feedback
This website uses cookies for its functionality and for analytics and marketing purposes. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the use of cookies. For more information, please read our Cookies Notice.
OK