Automated data collection shortens the time frame between threat detection and threat response. It’s a faster way to spot trends with cyber threats and anomalies with your security defense. The real-time monitoring allows security teams to respond to threats quickly. Automated data collection is a valuable prevention tool in cybersecurity.
Automated Data Collection: Cybersecurity Overview
What is automated data collection in cybersecurity?
Automated data collection is the process of gathering, organizing, and analyzing security-related data with minimal human input. Automation is not a tool to replace the human touch. It’s a tool to help with repetitive tasks, so security teams can focus on more complex issues.
The traditional days of manual processing for data collection are inefficient. There is a high volume and velocity of cyber threats and automation makes it easier to sift through. The faster data processing means security teams can have real-time monitoring and faster responses to red flags.
Some key uses of data collection include:
- Automated threat intelligence: Aggregating data of bad actors to predict future threats.
- Log collection: Internal logs can provide visibility into network traffic.
- Incident response: Automatically isolating infected systems and minimizing the impact of breaches.
- Vulnerability management: Scanning systems for vulnerabilities and making recommendations to fix them.
What are the benefits of automated data collection?
The key benefits of automating data collection in cybersecurity include:
Efficient resource allocation
Instead of having your security team consumed by manual data processing tasks, they could focus on high-priority activities. Having data collection automated, frees up your team’s time and improves cost efficiency.
Another reason why automation is cost-effective is because it’s capable of handling large volumes of data. Perfect for scalability.
Improved accuracy
Automated data collection leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence. This helps analyze large datasets, identify anomalies, and detect possible threats.
Automation helps reduce false positives and prioritizes high-risk incidents for security teams to evaluate.
Creates an efficient data policy
Automation enhances data quality by standardizing collection methods and integrating information from multiple sources. It helps the automated data collection process produce more reliable results.
Another side effect of automation is that it encourages your organization to establish a data policy on how data is collected, stored, and deleted.
Faster threat detection and response
Since automated data collection is a real-time process, it can quickly notify security teams of risks. It can significantly reduce the time between detection and response. Automation enables security teams to stay ahead of bad actors and cyber threats.
Adhering to compliance standards
Compliance standards provide a framework for cybersecurity defenses. Automation can help ensure organizations are complying with regulatory requirements. This can help avoid fines, penalties, and other legal consequences.
Proactive defense
Security teams can turn offensive instead of defensive. Automation is a crucial part of threat intelligence. It reviews historical data and monitors the dark web for conversations between bad actors. Then the intelligence makes predictions about how bad actors will attack. Security teams can use this information to protect their systems from similar threats.
Why is Automated Data Collection Relevant
What is the purpose of automated data collection in cybersecurity?
How does saving $2.22 million sound? That’s the average cost saved when organizations use automation as part of their cybersecurity defenses.
Automated data collection works even while you’re on a lunch break. It never stops searching billions of data points for new risks or threat actor movements. Combined with human intelligence, it can provide a way to stay ahead of cyber threats.
Integrate the world’s easiest to use and most comprehensive cybercrime database into your security program in 30 minutes.
What are the tools and techniques for automated data collection?
Automated tools are essential for modern intelligence. There are billions of data points, and it’s not feasible for humans to manually search all of them.
Threat intelligence data use web scraping and automated monitoring to detect leaked information. Data collection pulls from a range of sources, including:
- Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
- Commercial threat intelligence feeds
- Dark web forums
- Underground marketplaces
- Network logs
- Security event logs
- Endpoint telemetry
- Firewall logs
- Intrusion detection system (IDS) alerts
- Historical data of threat actors and their TTPs
- Information sharing communities
Your security team may also benefit from web application firewalls, security analytics, and vulnerability scanning. Each tool serves a valuable purpose to block threats and escalate issues to your team as needed.
How Can Flare Help With Automated Data Collection?
How Flare automates data collection
Flare pulls from a massive amount of data. Our growing threat intelligence database sources from over 7,000 cybercrime forums and channels. We automatically monitor 16 billion leaked credentials and maintain a database of 2.4 million threat actors.
We’re continuously monitoring a vast amount of sources and notifying your team of any relevant alerts. This can empower your security team to take a more active role in dark web investigations.
How does Flare help your security team?
Security teams receive many alerts every day. The constant alerts can get noisy and potentially cause mental fatigue. Flare takes on the task of dark web monitoring and searches for information relevant to your organization.
The platform looks for mentions of your organization’s name, employees’ names, domains, IP, or any other crucial data. When a keyword is detected, Flare immediately alerts your security team so they can proactively investigate the situation.
What do you get with Flare’s automated data collection solution?
- Data collection: Flare uses billions of data points to provide your team with information about your security stance, relevant threats, and the movement of bad actors.
- Clear and dark web monitoring: Flare provides 24/7 monitoring of prominent threat actor communities, including illicit Telegram channels.
- Transparent sourcing: Flare cites every threat intelligence source.
- Provides actionable insights: Flare shares relevant, summarized, and easily accessible intelligence.
Automated Data Collection and Flare
The Flare Threat Exposure Management (TEM) solution empowers organizations to proactively detect, prioritize, and mitigate the types of exposures commonly exploited by threat actors. Our platform automatically scans the clear & dark web and prominent threat actor communities 24/7 to discover unknown events, prioritize risks, and deliver actionable intelligence you can use instantly to improve security. Automated data collection is ready at your fingertips.
Flare integrates into your security program in 30 minutes and often replaces several SaaS and open source tools. Learn more by signing up for our free trial.