How are IP Reputation and Threat Intelligence Data Connected?
There’s a common misconception that IP reputation and threat intelligence data are unrelated, but they are actually connected in terms of providing cyber protection. They provide complementary information that can help organizations protect their networks and users.
So how do IP reputation and threat intelligence data work together? IP reputation data helps identify and assess the risk of certain sources online whereas threat intelligence data give more timely information about the latest trends about cyber attacks. Together, they help boost your security by curtailing risks and preventing attacks altogether.
Differentiating IP Reputation and Threat Intelligence
Understanding What IP Reputation Is
An IP reputation is a record of a computer or network’s activity on the internet. It contains information about how that computer has acted in the past, and can be used to determine whether or not it’s malicious. Additionally, IP reputation can also tell you if the device accessing your website is human or bot, which can be useful for determining whether someone should be allowed access to protected content.
Having so, IP reputation analyzes the reputation of a given IP address across multiple sources. This helps determine the risk of an IP address identifying malware-infected systems or an attacker’s intention. It’s also used to determine the risk of a given domain, which can help you identify malicious ones that host phishing campaigns or malware distribution sites. In addition, it can be used to alert you if you’re about to visit a risky website or download a harmful file from the internet.
The Link Between IP Reputation and Threat Intelligence Data
IP reputation is closely related to threat intelligence data. Threat intelligence and IP reputation can be used together to strengthen an organization’s cybersecurity and prevent attacks. Threat intelligence is a broad term that refers to information about cybercrime, cyberattacks, and other cyber-related threats. IP reputation data is one component of threat intelligence where both assets can provide information on potentially malicious IP addresses.
While threat intelligence deals primarily with what has happened before, IP reputations tell you about the recent behavior of a given domain. For example, an organization might want to block or allow access based on a known good or bad IP reputation that they have observed in the past. An organization can also use threat intelligence data to identify potential attacks before they happen and block them from happening at all.
Cybersecurity: IP Reputation complements Threat Intelligence
Despite their differences, threat intelligence and IP reputation data are complementary. Threat intelligence data as a subset of IP reputation data, provides information about the context of an IP address of a given environment, its owners and their activities. This information provides actionable information to increase protection against attacks by helping you understand:
- The root cause of a specific threat
- If an IP address is owned by a threat actor
- The activities of the threat actors associated with an IP address
Threat intelligence data is also more specific than IP reputation data focusing on a potential compromise. And threat intelligence data is more accurate and timely than IP reputation data, which often relies on third-party sources for information about threats.
As mentioned, IP reputation data helps determine the risk of a file, which can help warn against downloading files that contain malicious code or not. Threat intelligence data, on the other hand, provides additional context about specific events and trends that are occurring on the internet including new malware campaigns and phishing attacks.
By combining both of these together, organizations have an easier time identifying which threats should be prioritized based on their criticality level.
Nowadays though, organizations are starting to integrate these two together in order for their employees and users to receive better protection from online threats such as phishing attacks and malware infections.
Both become helpful in the fight against cybercrime and cyberattacks.
How to Use IP Reputation for Cybersecurity
IP reputation is not just about detecting threats – it also provides insights that can help you identify trends across industries and even countries so you can take steps toward proactive cyber defense strategies for your organization.
1) Identify and Monitor Potential Risks
IP reputation data is useful for monitoring threats. This type of information helps you determine whether your network has been compromised by malware or other malicious intruders before they cause damage, as well as how often this happens. It’s important to know what’s normal and what’s not so you can identify anomalies that may be worthy of further investigation.
Once you’ve collected and analyzed threat intelligence data, you can use that information to assess the risk of a potential attack. Conducting a risk assessment is part of any cybersecurity strategy, but threat intelligence helps you make better decisions about how to handle cyber threats or incidents.
2) Assess How Likely an Attack Is
To assess how likely an attack is, use data from your security teams and other sources to determine whether there have been any recent attacks against your company or its competitors. If there have been no recent attacks, then it’s unlikely that one may occur in the near future.
However, if there have been several recent attacks against similar organizations within the same industry sector then it’s more likely that your organization will be targeted as well. Use this information when deciding what action steps should be taken next so as not only to protect yourself from new threats but also proactively mitigate existing ones.
It’s important to identify vulnerabilities within your organization’s infrastructure an then taking steps toward mitigating those vulnerabilities before something malicious can happens like losing control over sensitive information due another security breach occurring within the organizational infrastructure
3) Use Geolocation Against Attacks
Geolocation can be used to understand the origin of an attack and identify the attack vector using an IP address. Having so, geolocation can also help you identify who is attacking you; this information can be used to build profiles of your attackers and their methods, enabling you to better defend yourself against future attacks.
You may also want to use geolocation information when determining which target has been affected by an attack—and what vulnerabilities were exploited in order for the attacker(s) to access it.
Geolocation gives you the flexibility in filtering who gets access to your system based on their location. This tool also helps identify fraudulent transactions that could be targeting your organization and customer. More importantly, using geolocation can upgrade your cybersecurity system as it prevents malicious bots from targeting your website or network that could steal sensitive data and information.
Get All Your IT Security Needs With Abacus
With the right tools on hand, you can use IP reputation and threat intelligence data to make sure your organization is free from threats from any type of cyber attack. With Abacus, we provide different IT services and products that you need at an affordable price. We help businesses and organizations run smoother, efficient, and more secure online. Contact us today and let’s discuss how we can help you.
