Threat management platform: Everything you want to know

Introduction

Over the last several months, the cybersecurity space has witnessed an upsurge in ransomware attacks, regulatory changes, and increased cyber insurance premiums. Moreover, the lingering global health event, along with its Omicron variant, has spurred digitisation and cloud migration to suit remote work.

Unfortunately, such rapid shifts to the work-from-anywhere culture have increased enterprises’ attack surface, exposing them to more susceptibilities. Even the slightest exposure in asset security leaves an entire company, and sometimes the industry, susceptible to critical cyber threats. According to IBM, data breaches in the US alone cost companies around USD $10 Million in 2021. These trends and statistics emphasise, instead of change, the focus for threat management solutions moving forward.

Enterprises now must re-engineer their tech fabric and business models to negotiate the potential cybersecurity challenges while also surviving the pandemic world. The time is ripe for them to allocate funds to scalable threat management services to achieve their goals faster and more efficiently. Companies showing urgency in implementing security strategies will be well-prepared for an unpredictable environment.

What is a threat management platform?

The threat management platform is an integrated repository of threat intel data that delivers cybersecurity experts with insights on active and potential vulnerabilities and enables them to respond to them faster and more effectively. It allows enterprises to consolidate a risk-aware strategy into their overarching security operations (SecOps) that build on their legacy security investments - infrastructure and people.

Threat management solutions provide a single point of security to targeted networks, servers, and applications against well-known threats, including ransomware, DDoS, and SQL injection. According to Globe Newswire, the deployment of threat intelligence security services will zoom at 7.8 percent CAGR during 2020-2027.

Seven key features of a threat management platform

Threat management services come with the following features:

Antivirus software

Antivirus scans the web traffic and immediately detects and blocks any affected file, trojan, or worm. Moreover, the feature provides decoding support for application-layer protocols, including FTP, HTTPS, and SMTP.

IDS and IPS

Intrusion detection systems (IDS) oversee the network for signs of cybercrime, while intrusion prevention systems (IPS) take measures to inhibit the crimes by neutralising unwanted traffic.

While IDS cannot block any incoming threats, it can alert administrators about encroachment and log the activity for further assessment. On the flip side, an IPS modifies the network traffic to impede suspicious activities.  

Content filtering

Web content filtering controls the type of traffic that can pass through a network, using multiple filtering methods, including port number, Internet Protocol (IP) address, or media access control (MAC) address. Users can block unwanted content and avoid data loss by filtering outgoing data.

Antispam defence

Antispam services or spam filters tag or block incoming email-based attacks (such as phishing) by inspecting outbound and inbound email traffic for signs of a potential attack. They utilise algorithms to identify spam by scrutinising the email message content for patterns associated with that spam.

Application control

With application control, threat management solutions can add particular applications to allow lists to connect to the Internet without handling spam content filtering or other security measures. Typically, application control comes coupled with firewalls, virtual private networks (VPN), and web traffic filters to ensure optimal protection of the incoming traffic.

SOAR

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) helps companies' security analysts automate SecOps, especially incident response, by aggregating and tracking threat intelligence from numerous sources. Also, it can respond to low-grade incidents without manual intervention.

SIEM

Security, information, and event management (SIEM) allows security experts to review log data, security alerts, and events, analyse and prepare for threats, and report on the log data – all via a centralised portal.

SIEM systems combine security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM). While SIM collects and manages logs and other security information, SEM involves real-time evaluation and reporting.

Five reasons every business need a threat management platform

Given the need to streamline the security environment, businesses – large and small – are increasingly inclining toward threat management services. According to IBM, organisations that deploy a mature Zero-trust approach can save around USD $1.8 Million. Here is how organisations benefit from these new-age security solutions:

Visibility into the dark web

Online brand abuses lead to identity theft, reputational damage, and lost revenue. Threat management vendors allocate resources to determine whether employees’ or customers’ confidential details, including login credentials, are available for purchase on the darknet. However, while looking to compile dark web data, they proceed cautiously due to the uncertain legal repercussions of holding stolen data without authorisation.

Single data portal

Network security architecture entails several components - application controls, firewalls, and URL filters - that become cumbersome to manage independently. Threat management services consolidate all the security functions under a single management dashboard.

This simplifies network monitoring and enables administrators to put flags on particular threat management elements that might need attention for specific functions. Moreover, the centralised security control allows cybersecurity staff to simultaneously oversee numerous online threats impacting various system components.  

Faster response times

Threat management solutions manage, monitor, and assess corporate networks under one roof, allowing for synchronisation of functionalities across multiple platforms. This leads to quicker and more fine-tuned data processing while scaling down the resources required to inspect the data.

Consequently, service providers can allocate network resources as per enterprise needs, such as Internet-heavy applications, without sacrificing performance. Besides, security analysts can capitalise on the gathered threat intelligence from numerous sources in a unified stack, rather than chasing false positives and coping with loads of alerts and alarms.

Better threat awareness

Given its integrated nature, threat management solutions detect incoming multi-faceted threats faster compared to single-component technologies. Organisations’ IT personnel can work on network security in advance with several (necessary) code changes.

Cost-effectiveness

Using multiple software translates into increased update and alteration costs. However, a centralised framework slashes the number of relevant devices and systems, and the staff strength earlier required to manage them. Furthermore, a proactive strategy and a robust central library of threat management stave off the need to approach multiple vendors for buying various software solutions and maintenance.

Get in touch with us for best-in-class threat management services

Tata Communications’ threat management services help organisations tackle rising threat vectors across the Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT). Powered by MITRE and SOAR frameworks, the turnkey solution gathers threat intelligence in near-real-time from global next-gen SOCs, separates benign occurrences, and escalates incidents likely to represent a threat.  Our worldwide threat intelligence offers organisations visibility over 100,000 IOCs through a unified portal, offering industry-leading protection to critical digital assets.

Centralised security framework monitors on-premises and cloud paradigms, including networks, endpoints, and applications round-the-clock. Our certified cybersecurity professionals combine threat intelligence with AI- and ML-driven automation to boost SOC efficiency and improve response times.

Explore Tata Communications’ threat management solutions to know more.