Threat Intel Odyssey: Mapping the Convergence of Social Cyber Risks

Successful threat intelligence sharing–intel that cuts fraud losses and attributes indicators of compromise (IoCs) to responsible threat actors–will hinge on a few key factors and contributors. First, successful threat intel must rely on a breadth of data signals accessed and shared through a wide range of industry sectors. Second, intel has to be digestible, anonymous, and usable—meaning it must be translatable across platforms and technology. Javelin Strategy & Research believes cyber fusion models and/or those that fuse cyber fraud and anti-money-laundering intel will help industries accomplish successful sharing of threat intel, but cyber fusion is only one piece of the information-sharing puzzle. Without the right players at the table, information sharing that relies on meaningful threat intel will provide little more than it does today: views of accountholder data that are limited to specific types of financial accounts and fails to bring in the multitude of digital complexities and data that can make IoC signals around threat intel richer and more insightful. 

This impact note reviews why the sharing of threat intel must expand beyond traditional financial services and governments to include the more traditionally casual and peripheral digital channels of social media, which are now the breeding ground for cybercrime and nation-state threats.