External Threat Protection

What is External Threat Protection?  

External Threat Protection (ETP) refers to a set of approaches, processes, tools, and technologies used to defend against cybersecurity threats coming from malicious actors outside your organization. It plays a critical role in protecting organizations against cybersecurity attacks because it involves implementing several layers of security for systems and applications. ETP acts as an early warning system, identifying and blocking external threats before they reach critical systems and data.

What are some common external threats?

Common threats include social engineering, ransomware, and supply chain threats. Let’s examine common external threats and how they are evolving to become more dangerous to companies. 

Social engineering (phishing, business email compromise) is the most prevalent form of cyberattack. Other common external threats include: 

1. Ransomware 
2. Brute Force Attack 
3. Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) 
4. Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)

Key benefits of External Threat Protection

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report ,

 “Organizations using threat intelligence identified breaches 28 days faster.”

When you deploy external threat protection you gain many benefits, including:

• Early detection of emerging threats serves as an early warning system, allowing organizations to identify emerging threats before they reach systems, networks, applications, and data like the following:   
  • Compromised employee credentials on the dark web. 
  • New types of ransomware appearing on dark web marketplaces. 
  • Zero day exploits related to technology in your network or in your supply chain.
• Improved threat visibility provides critical visibility into the external threat landscape, enabling proactive security measures. ETP platforms achieve this by: 
  • Consolidating threat intelligence: It is easier for SOC teams to spot potential threats when there is a single pane of glass for all information coming from different threat intelligence platforms.  
  • Attack surface mapping: Identifies potential weaknesses in internal and external assets so security teams can monitor them. 
  • Contextualization: Connecting disparate events and data points for a complete attack picture (e.g., correlating dark web data leaks with vulnerability scans).
• Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) relies on technologies like machine learning, behavioral analysis, and sandboxing to detect and prevent sophisticated attacks that traditional security tools cannot, including zero-day exploits, APTs, advanced phishing, and fileless malware. These technologies enable the identification of anomalous behavior, malicious patterns, and suspicious file activity, even when dealing with unknown threats.
• Accelerated incident response by automating processes for identifying potential threats and attacks, enabling teams to react more effectively. Automating processes like alerts and SOAR integration reduces the Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) for security incidents, minimizes the impact of attacks, and improves the overall efficiency of the security team.

Industries that benefit from external threat protection

In general, every company connected to the internet can benefit from external threat prevention. However, industries dealing with highly sensitive information, generate massive amounts of revenue, or maintain critical infrastructure for entire regions, making them especially attractive targets for malicious actors. Industries like finance, energy and utilities, and supply chain face far more external threats than others, which makes it even more important for them to implement external security threat prevention strategies.

Some of the industries that benefit most from ETP are:

• Energy and utilities — ETP helps companies in this sector defend against cyberattacks that disrupt critical infrastructure, such as power grids and power generation plants, oil and gas pipelines, and water treatment facilities. APT groups consider energy and utility companies prime targets.  
• Manufacturing — Companies in the manufacturing industry can benefit from ETP in many ways. For example, it can protect against activities aimed at stealing intellectual property, disrupting supply chains, or taking control of industrial control systems (ICS). Nation-state actors often target manufacturing facilities with ransomware, malware, or cyber espionage attacks. 
• Government and defense — Deploying external threat protection enables government and defense agencies to better defend against cyber warfare and espionage. It also allows agencies to safeguard classified information and trade secrets from threat actors. 
  • Ransomware is among the top external threats for government organizations, with the average ransom topping $1 million. 
  • Phishing is another common threat for this industry, a method often used by threat actors to obtain credentials for critical government systems and data. 
• Financial services — ETP helps companies protect customer accounts from threats including account takeover (ATO) and data breaches. It also safeguards systems against cybersecurity threats, such as APTs, DDoS attacks, and ransomware deployments. The average cost for each data breach is $6.08 million for the financial industry.
• Healthcare — Companies in the healthcare sector benefit from external threat prevention as it protects systems from unauthorized access, leading to potential data breaches, operational disruptions, or compliance violations (e.g., HIPAA). Malicious actors gain access to healthcare systems using a variety of methods, including malware, phishing, code exploits, and third-party integration vulnerabilities. 

Now that you know the benefits of external threat protection, we’ll highlight a few approaches you can take to implement it.

Key strategies for external threat protection

Effective External Threat Protection (ETP) combines proactive threat intelligence, robust security controls, and a strong incident response plan. It’s about anticipating attacks, not just reacting to them.

1. Proactive threat intelligence & monitoring:

• Dark web monitoring: Specialized tools scan dark web forums and marketplaces for mentions of your organization, employees, or technologies, identifying emerging threats and stolen data. Key considerations: scope (data leaks, brand mentions, vulnerabilities); automation (real-time alerts); and context (actionable insights).
• Threat modeling: Understand your attack surface by identifying potential threat vectors, analyzing their impact, and prioritizing risks. This involves asset identification, vulnerability assessment, and attack simulation.
• Vulnerability scanning & penetration testing: Regular scans identify known weaknesses, while penetration testing simulates real-world attacks for a practical security posture assessment.

2. Robust security controls:

• Zero trust: Assumes no implicit trust, verifying every user and device before granting access. Key elements: microsegmentation (limiting attack impact); MFA (verifying identity); and least privilege access.
• Advanced threat protection: Detects and prevents sophisticated attacks like zero-day exploits and APTs using machine learning and behavioral analysis. Protective measures include endpoint protection, firewalls, and access controls.
• SIEM: Collects and analyzes security logs to identify suspicious patterns and enable real-time threat detection.

3. Incident response & recovery:

• Incident response plan: A crucial plan outlining roles, procedures for incident detection and containment, and recovery steps.
• SOAR: Automates incident response tasks like threat detection and containment for faster, more effective responses.
• Security audits & training: Regular audits identify vulnerabilities, while training educates employees about common threats.

Integrating the strategies:

These strategies are interconnected. Threat intelligence informs threat modeling, which prioritizes security controls. Continuous monitoring assesses control effectiveness and identifies incidents. A strong incident response plan ensures effective response to breaches. Coordinated implementation of these strategies significantly improves protection against external threats.