HOW WE CAN LEVERAGE ‘THREAT INTELLIGENCE’ TO BOLSTER CYBER SECURITY:

It is pretty obvious by now that cyber security is an integral part of the successful operation of the critical cyber infrastructure of businesses (small, medium or otherwise) but more fundamental are the cyber security strategies chosen and employed by various business, persons and industrial players in the way they can assess, identify and isolate potential cyber threats and risks, which if properly managed can be central to the smooth long and short runs of the business.

Cyber actors from different planes with various motives are increasingly adopting sophisticated and draconian modus operandi to attack and cripple systems that are integral to the operation of firms with sinister motives. If players do not take keen heed to these various threats, once orchestrated may culminate in worse and hapless results for the victims of the various cyber transgressive conduct.

Where is the role of Cyber Threat Intelligence in all this?

‘Cyber Threat Intelligence’ (CTI), a process by which persons, companies and businesses alike collect information in regard to threats and threat actors thereby enabling them to devise means for diminishing the resulting effects on the critical cyber infrastructure.

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic came the adoption of a new normal constituting modes such telecommuting, online lectures among others came the need to foster the capacity of persons, businesses and businesses to respond to the drastic increase in ill-motivated and rogue cyber activity in face of any present or anticipated misdeed on the vast cyber space upon which the machines and processes of these businesses and individuals interact.

Therefore CTI would be so pivotal and actually come in handy as regards disabling the various cyber threats, vulnerabilities and curtailing the different cyber breaches that these parties are faced with.

What way forward should be devised?

According to the 2020 Cybersecurity Insiders’ Cyber Threat Intelligence Report composed of research from 338 CTI practitioners, it is imperative that there exists a wide gap in the skilling, training and facilitation of persons to run the CTI that the various business and operations require. It is important to equip the personnel in charge of the CTI with the much needed resources to fish for the intelligence from the open, deep and dark web. Given the contemporary nature of CTI, it is equally important to up the requisite skilling to support the capability of businesses to plan, counter and flash out any spots of cyber vulnerabilities arising from the CTI gathered.

Writer is a cyber law student at Uganda Christian University

raymondamumpaire@gmail.com

Twitter: @RayGoneWild