A Proven Security Intelligence Model for Combating Cyber Threats: A Reference Model for IT Security

IT environments have become much more vulnerable as enterprise mobility, cloud services and “bring-your-own-everything” have broken down the defensible perimeter and added layers of complexity to securing the enterprise. At the same time, the nature of cyber threats has changed dramatically. Threat actors are well organized and well funded, and many of them are known to be supported by nation states. They have sophisticated technical skills which allow these actors to create custom malware for very specific targets, and they are relentless in pursuit of their objectives. Moreover, almost anyone with a malicious intent can purchase malware and rent botnets on the Dark Web, lowering the bar for criminal entities, nation states, and terrorists to use cyber as a weapon of choice towards their intended purpose.