How to Improve Network Security With Cyber Threat Intelligence Feeds

While industry-specific threat intelligence feeds keep financial institutions up to date on the latest security threats in the banking industry, the sheer amount of information collected can be challenging for community banks and credit unions to process efficiently. In this blog post, we outline three key information-sharing organizations that community banks and credit unions should consider utilizing and offer a few tips to improve cybersecurity processes as well.

Types of Threat Intelligence Feeds

According to the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council’s (FFIEC) Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT), it is important for financial institutions to have processes in place to effectively discover, analyze, and understand cyber threats. Implementing bank-specific threat intelligence feeds provides financial institutions with industry-specific security information needed to meet this requirement. Here are a few of the top threat intelligence feeds:

1. Geo-IP Threat Feed

IP-based geolocation is a mapping of an IP address to the geographic location of an Internet connected computing device. Financial institutions can use IP geolocation data to monitor threats from high-risk locations and use this data to strengthen their cybersecurity posture.

2. FS-ISAC

FS-ISAC is an information sharing organization designed specifically for financial services organizations and financial institutions. The organization leverages its intelligence platform, resiliency resources, and a trusted peer-to-peer network of experts to anticipate, mitigate and respond to cyberthreats.

3. IBM X-Force

IBM X-Force Exchange is a cloud-based threat intelligence platform that allows organizations to consume, share and act on threat intelligence. With this platform, you can quickly research the latest global security threats, collect actionable intelligence, consult with experts and collaborate with peers.

Strengthening Your Cybersecurity Posture

Regulators expect financial institutions to belong to an information sharing organization or utilize a crowdsourced security feed because they believe that if institutions can share threat information they’re seeing in the industry, then other financial institutions of similar size and complexity will know how to deal with new and emerging security threats. However, there are two key issues with this concept:

1. Financial institutions are receiving large amounts of information and don’t know what to do with it
2. Financial institutions are consuming threat information but are not sharing security threats they’ve encountered with their peers

For smaller financial institutions with limited resources, engaging with a knowledgeable third-party provider that has a solid methodology in place to analyze all of the data disseminated from threat intelligence feeds and filter the information to identify key threats can be a great benefit to the institution’s cybersecurity efforts. It is equally important for these institutions to share cybersecurity threats or incidents they’ve encountered with information sharing organizations to ensure other financial institutions are informed, strengthening the banking industry as a whole.

For more information on enhancing your cybersecurity posture, view our cybersecurity resources.