Migrating your data and applications to the cloud provides flexibility, scalability, and the potential for enhanced efficiency and innovation. But the sobering truth is that moving to the cloud also opens up an expansive attack surface for cybercriminals. From ransomware that can lock out your systems to stealthy infiltrations aiming to steal sensitive data, you must navigate an entirely new landscape of cloud-based cyber threats.

To anticipate and respond to these threats more effectively, organizations employ cloud threat intelligence — a critical part of cybersecurity that focuses on gathering and analyzing data about potential threats to their cloud environments.

In this post, we’ll explore what cloud threat intelligence is and its role within the larger context of cybersecurity. We’ll also discuss the role that AI plays in effective cloud threat intelligence. Finally, we’ll consider some key challenges to keep in mind and talk about how modern cybersecurity platforms and tools can help you overcome these challenges.

The basics of cloud threat intelligence

Cloud threat intelligence helps your organization understand the cyber threats it faces so that it can develop effective defensive strategies. Unlike traditional threat intelligence, which covers a broad range of IT environments, cloud threat intelligence focuses specifically on cloud services and infrastructure. This focus is important because certain cloud computing characteristics — such as its rapid scalability, resource sharing, and remote accessibility — introduce unique security challenges.

Key processes: Data collection and analysis

Cloud threat intelligence begins with data collection. Data is collected from various sources, including security logs, threat databases, and real-time threat feeds. These sources provide up-to-date information on new and evolving threats so that an organization can be confident that the intelligence is current and relevant.

Of course, merely collecting data isn’t enough. That data must be analyzed, and effective data analysis requires a mix of automated tools and human expertise. Automated tools can process vast amounts of information swiftly, identifying patterns and anomalies that might indicate potential threats. Nonetheless, human expertise is indispensable for contextualizing these findings to assess the severity of threats.

Key goal: Actionable insights

Cloud threat intelligence aims to provide actionable insights that your organization can use to enhance its security measures. By understanding potential attackers' methods and motivations — and the specific vulnerabilities they might exploit — your security team can anticipate these attacks more effectively.

The role of cloud threat intelligence in cybersecurity

Within the larger context of cybersecurity, cloud threat intelligence serves two main roles: preventive measures and reactive measures.

Preventive measures

Cloud threat intelligence enables a security team to identify and assess potential threats early on. Data analysis — especially when powered by AI-native tools — can help predict and prevent attacks before they occur. This helps fortify defenses and improve the overall security posture.

Reactive measures

In the event of an attack, cloud threat intelligence supports quick and effective incident response and mitigation strategies. It provides detailed insights about the nature of the attack, which can help with swift recovery and forensic investigations to prevent future incidents.

The role of AI in cloud threat intelligence

AI is playing an increasingly significant role in cloud threat intelligence. With a growing number of data sources and a massive volume of security data to analyze, AI has become an indispensable ally for data analysis. With AI in the mix, your cloud threat intelligence efforts gain the following:

• Predictive threat modeling: Machine learning algorithms analyze trends and data to forecast potential threats, allowing your security team to proactively implement defensive measures.
• Accuracy and efficiency: AI allows you to process large volumes of data quickly, improving threat detection. In addition, AI-native threat intelligence reduces false positives, allowing security teams to focus on genuine threats.
• Real-time threat detection: AI tools continuously monitor cloud environments, enabling you to identify and respond to threats as they arise.

Challenges in cloud threat intelligence

As noted, cloud computing is fraught with complexities, and cyberattacks are constantly growing in number, speed, and sophistication. It’s no surprise that cloud threat intelligence presents several challenges.

Data overload

Handling the immense volume, variety, and velocity of data from cloud environments is a major challenge. Efficiently processing and analyzing this data to extract meaningful intelligence requires advanced technologies and strategies.

Noise

Distinguishing critical threats from benign anomalies is crucial. A security team does not have the time or bandwidth to waste on false positives. Effective cloud threat intelligence requires tools that filter out and reduce false positives, allowing your security team to concentrate on genuine threats.

Timeliness and relevance

Advances in cloud technology and cyberattack methods emerge every day, which makes maintaining up-to-date and relevant threat intelligence challenging but essential. To keep pace with these changes, you need cloud threat intelligence that features continuous updates and the ability to respond swiftly.

Human expertise

Although automation is key to dealing with the massive volume of modern security data, human insight remains vital for interpreting complex threats and refining security measures. The expertise of skilled human analysts cannot be overstated, as it’s crucial for contextualizing automated findings and making strategic security decisions.

An AI-native cybersecurity platform for effective cloud threat intelligence

Cloud threat intelligence helps secure your cloud environments by providing the necessary insights to anticipate and respond effectively to potential threats. In this post, we've explored the fundamental aspects of cloud threat intelligence, from its role in cybersecurity to integrating AI for enhanced threat detection and response.

CrowdStrike Falcon® Cloud Security exemplifies how AI-native capabilities are integral to modern cloud threat intelligence strategies. With these capabilities, organizations can detect threats more accurately and respond to them more efficiently. This integration of AI into cloud threat intelligence transforms traditional security measures into dynamic, predictive defenses, making it indispensable for organizations looking to protect their cloud infrastructures against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.To learn more about Falcon Cloud Security, try the self-paced demo or schedule a free Cloud Security Health Check today.