Cyber threats now more common and complicated than ever before. They have become a norm in the age of information technology. Usually, most organizations have a small team that’s responsible for IT and cybersecurity. However, recent developments mandate bigger teams with relevant Information Security training for all members. This will give them the power to deal with increasingly sophisticated hackers and malware attacks, giving them the tools they need to stop data breaches and resulting in cybersecurity disasters.

Businesses from across the globe and all industries are now taking considerable steps to improve their compliance and data security. Government regulations have emerged in many countries, to protect local economies, organizations, and citizens. These laws include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for protection healthcare information. Then there is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) that protects and regulates the financial records of US businesses. And of course, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that applies to data policies of companies incorporated within the European Union.

No one’s willing to take risk their cybersecurity now. And that’s understandable because the average cost of a data breach can run up to $3.86 million on an average. Information security training is the need of the day as it offers detailed guidance on threat detection as a part of a comprehensive defense and mitigation strategy. It can teach how to protect, detect, manage and respond to cybercrime while also exploring the abilities of threat detection and some essential mitigation techniques.

Threat Detection – Take a Proactive Approach

Threat detection is the first step to identifying, analyzing and neutralizing cyber attacks as they occur and before long-lasting damage happens. It is imperative to investigate and stop threats before they turn into expensive data breaches. Organizations are investing in real-time intelligence gathering tools that can alert users to system vulnerabilities as well as internal and external threats – ensuring data protection.

Threats don’t just arrive from the outside. Sometimes, cybersecurity is at risk from the very employees of an organization. For example, even a conscientious team member can unknowingly click on a malicious link, or open an infected email attachment. That is why it is important to put in place checks and balances to ensure that your organization remains protected from internal and internal threats.

The faster you discover these threats, the quicker you can remediate and mitigate its impact.

Failure to Detect Threats Could Be the End of an Organization

62% of security experts interviewed during a survey agree that hackers will start using Artificial Intelligence to carry out their malicious intent. Unfortunately, the IT security specs for most organizations aren’t increasing as quickly as the expertise of the hackers. There are some reasons why organizations fail to detect cybersecurity threats; these include:

Tunnel vision

Advanced persistent threats can easily hide from a traditional security setup. Mobile access is an easy way for sophisticated cybersecurity threats to make their way in. However, IT teams fail to recognize the need for training and learning about these new threats due to their tunnel vision.

Analysis paralysis

Sometimes, IT security teams get entangled in too many false alarms and possible threats that a real threat can pass them by and they are too busy to spot it. They haven’t used Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to track threats to their roots, and they simply don’t have the capability of managing and safeguarding business-critical data.

Cybersecurity Plans - How To Detect Threats Before They Occur?

In addition to Information Security training for IT and data teams, it is imperative that they are provided with the right tools and technologies to ensure the security of data, the databases along with the entire IT framework.

It is possible for businesses to devise defensive programs that can identify and stop a majority of threats. Detecting threats quickly, is the first part of this equation as it ensures that hackers and attackers do not get the time to root into sensitive data. It is especially important to put in place a program that detects ‘unknown’ threats, i.e., ones an organization hasn’t come across before, as it has been carried out using methods and technologies. But that doesn’t mean it’s downright impossible.

There are several ways for organizations to detect both known and unknown threats. These include:

Using Threat Intelligence

This is a way of looking at the data gathered about the previous attacks and comparing it to enterprise information to learn more about any impending threats. This is a very effective method for the detection of known threats.

User and Attacker Behavior Analytics

User behavior analysis offers a good baseline understanding of how an ordinary employee behaves over a day. You can get insights on what kind of data they have, what time they log in and from where and which files they access on the network. This is a pretty good way of figuring out if there have been any sudden changes in behavior for anyone in the workplace. Internal threats can be pinpointed and mitigated before they become a huge problem.

For attacker behavior analysis, we may not be able to figure out a baseline behavior. However, we can put in measure to detect any unrelated activities on the network. These breadcrumbs can help put us up a bigger picture of how an attacker may be sniffing around the network and plan an attack.

Setting Traps

Security teams have to know the most fascinating aspects of their network and set traps around that not only bait hackers, but also trap them for good.

Carrying Out Threat Hunts

Instead of waiting for threats to show up, security analysts can monitor the network, endpoints and other security technology to look for any attackers that might be lurking around or even just keeping an eye on their network.

The Last Word

Organizations must employee a combination of the defensive methods listed above to increase their chances of detecting cybersecurity threats that can endanger their networks. Security is a never-ending process, and it is only as successful as the efforts and resources you put into it.