Results identify key factors that are contributing to profound enterprise weaknesses in understanding and operationalising threat intelligence

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ThreatQuotient, a trusted threat intelligence platform innovator, unveiled research results from Enterprise Strategy Group’s (ESG) 2017 Next-Generation Analytics and Operations Study.

The study, which involved a survey of more than 400 IT and cybersecurity professionals, found that 72 percent feel cybersecurity analytics and operations is more difficult today than it was two years ago, and that the rapidly evolving threat landscape and growing volumes of security alarms are the most common challenges facing enterprises today.

Despite increased spending, organisations are still looking for ways to increase efficiency and improve risk management. ESG’s research revealed that 31 percent of organisations are looking to use threat intelligence to help automate remediation tasks.

According to ESG, 89 percent of organisations use external threat intelligence, but IT professionals are still feeling that cyber adversaries are moving faster than network defenders can keep up. These challenges are amplified due to almost half of the organisations reporting a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills, and admitting they still rely on manual processes and individuals to aggregate and analyse threat intelligence.

While analysts work to combine more and more external threat data with internal data and events, organisations will continue to feel as though they are falling behind their adversaries. This need to combine and leverage data is driving automation.

“These findings demonstrate that while in its infancy, the value of threat intelligence as part of an integrated security operations strategy is critical,” said Jonathan Couch, SVP Strategy, ThreatQuotient. “Achieving meaningful threat operations and overcoming common challenges, such as unmanageable amounts of data and alerts, requires the use of a threat intelligence platform to continuously assess threats and prioritise those that are most important and relevant to an organisation.”

Spending is increasing, but so are the challenges of security operations and analytics. Enterprises are under staffed and feel they do not have the right people. This is where the true value of a threat intelligence platform designed to enable threat operations and management comes into play – by aggregating multiple external and internal threat data sources, reducing noise and maximising existing security investments, defenders are able to improve focus and efficiency by knowing exactly what to work on first.