The rise of IoT, digital transformation, and cloud migration has ushered in an era where individuals and organizations rely on the internet more extensively than ever before. While these advancements have brought numerous benefits, they have also led to the evolution of cyber attack avenues, providing malicious actors with new opportunities. Consequently, adaptive security has emerged as a crucial protective strategy against these malicious actors, achieved through the seamless integration of threat intelligence. This post into the mechanisms of safeguarding against malicious actors using threat intelligence.
Malicious actors refers to individuals or groups that engage in harmful activities in the digital realm with objective to compromise computer systems, networks, or data for multiple malicious purposes such as financial gain, political motives, espionage, or disruption. Malicious actors can be:
Hackers – Individuals or groups that obtain unauthorised access to computer systems or networks to steal data, disrupt operations, or cause damage.
Phishers – Individuals or groups that conducts phishing attacks to gain sensitive information like usernames and passwords.
Insiders – Employees or contractors that misuse their authorised access to company system to carry out malicious actions.
Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Groups – Highly skilled and organized groups or nation-state actors that conduct long-term, sophisticated cyber espionage campaigns to infiltrate and compromise targeted organisations.
Hacktivists – Individuals or groups that hack computer systems or websites by defacing websites, leaking sensitive information, or disrupting services to promote a political or social agenda.
Cybercriminals – Individuals or groups that use online activities and technologies to commit crime specifically for financial gain through identity theft, ransomware attack and identity fraud.
Malicious actors firmly adhere to the idiom ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ As organizations embrace increasingly interconnected technologies, the likelihood of becoming targets for malicious actors grows. To effectively combat the threats posed by these adversaries, organizations must stay one step ahead of them. Threat intelligence and behavioral analysis stand out as the key approaches within adaptive security for safeguarding against malicious actors.
