Actionable Threat Intelligence: The Key to Efficient and Comprehensive Security

“Action is the true measure of intelligence.” There is much truth in these words by Napoleon Hill; and, even though they are aimed at personal improvement, they also apply to cybersecurity. Intelligence allows for better organization, prioritization, and display of network and threat data. Intelligence, applied in the right way to network security, leads to informed and fast action necessary to prevent cyberattacks from succeeding.

Having actionable, well-organized information about network traffic and threats at your fingertips is more crucial today than ever before. IT and security organizations are inundated with unmanageable and uncorrelated amounts of data from multiple, independent security deployments, making it impossible to find critical threats buried in mountains of information.

Frequently it is not a lack of data that leads to a data breach but a lack of appropriately prioritized, actionable data. When it comes to network security management, complexity really is your enemy. Today’s security environment results in multiple independent interfaces and policy engines, or loosely integrated security solutions with several bolted-on technologies falsely marketed as unified products. Companies these days usually have a legacy web security product, many firewalls, a mobile and an endpoint security deployment, and more. IT teams have to manage too many data sources. Security teams don’t have the time or the resources to pinpoint critical threats among the mountains of data. Both teams are simply too overwhelmed to find the needle in the haystack and, as a result, can’t prioritize responses appropriately. That becomes a dangerous problem because real threats slip through among thousands of alerts.

What is needed is a platform that simplifies and consolidates data flows, highlights critical data, offers quick answers to security questions, and streamlines creation and management. A well-designed security platform should provide:

• Visual Display of Data – A visual interface is critical because the overwhelming amounts of data in today’s cybersecurity space are just too confusing.
• Customization – Every network administrator has different needs. Customization of the UI allows the system to display exactly what the user is looking for in the best possible way.
• Interaction – When you are searching for answers, you need them fast. Easy drill-down capabilities within the UI should provide these answers with just a few clicks.
• Automation – Automation is critical in today’s security environment. Automation eliminates duplication of work, cuts back on manual research, and reduces human error and oversight.

Palo Alto Networks Next Generation Security Platform offers all of these benefits in its UI. Learn more about how we provide actionable intelligence within our UI by downloading the Actionable Threat Intelligence whitepaper.