“There are two types of companies: those that have been hacked, and those who don't know they have been hacked.”- John T. Chambers

Regardless of the type of company, giant telecommunication companies or budding startups, no company is a hundred percent quarantined against the ever changing, ever growing security threats of the cyber world.

Hackers can use the smallest loophole within their security framework and get away with critical user and company data, and most organisations may never even know about it. It can safely be said, that the actual reason behind the hacking of a firm isn’t the hacker or their unethical behaviours. The actual reason lies with the vulnerability of the security system of the firm.

This article aims to highlight how threat intelligence works and how it small businesses could benefit from such advanced techniques that guarantee data protection.

Threats to new businesses and startups

Entrepreneurs, being at the bottom of the corporate chain, often ask “Why me?” when someone tells them about the importance of cyber security for their firm. Considering the size of a budding firm this may seem a valid question; however, there are numerous examples available that show hackers don't care about the size of the business but what it brings.

Ola Cab, one of the largest cab providing firm in India processes approximately 150,000 bookings per day. The hacker could not only see all the vulnerabilities within the network, but he also managed to charge his wallet without paying

Zomato, an online food delivery service in India revealed a data breach of about 17 million of its users including their user IDs and their passwords.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. All over the world; startups everywhere have been known for their vulnerabilities which attract hackers. The increased security threat to growing businesses and startups can be attributed to numerous aspects some of which have been listed below:

• The critical information that most startups have stored including payment modes, credit and debit card information.
• Increased usage of mobile and web apps that have increased the surface area for the threats to act on
• Inclination of startups to store data on cloud services which  prove to be less expensive
• The carelessness among the employees who allow hackers to gain access into the system.

How Threat Intelligence can help security threats

Threat intelligence can be described as factual information all information relevant to an emerging threat, mechanism, context indicators and implications. The information acquired can be used by security systems in order to generate an appropriate response.

In recent years, the services of threat intelligence have become a necessity for business owners as they realise the benefits of acquiring detailed information regarding threats and how well protected threat intelligence may,

Benefits of threat intelligence to small businesses

Prevention of Data loss:

CTI ( cyber threat intelligence) system can help monitor any suspicious activities, domain or IPs which attempt to communicate with the networks of the business and can gather information about these IPs. The addresses can be blocked and infiltration into the system can be made unsuccessful.

Respond with due diligence

The sooner a data threat is realised, the sooner a system can act against it and the smaller the damage to user data will be.

Along with that, the information that is gathered through CTI will be used to craft the most appropriate response to the incoming threats. A well-researched response not only helps with incoming threat but also helps plan out the responses for any future threats.

Analysis of threats

Using CTI, companies can gain information regarding the tactics and procedures used by hackers and cybercriminals, and it also allows businesses to gauge the strength of their security strongholds. 

Conclusion: The need for a threat intelligence program:

Despite the size of your startup, cyber protection for your small venture is a must have. Threat intelligence programs and platforms focus on hiring the best person for the security of your organisation which could be a third party or someone from within your technical firm.

Numerous professional firms can help businesses out with the complete process that helps you set up a system that's secure from cyber threats. They also improve any features to cater to the dynamic world of cyber threats.