UPDATED 13:57 EDT / JUNE 09 2016

NEWS

Carbon Black launches a new kind of threat intelligence network

Security professionals are cooperating more closely than ever in the fight against hacking. Key industries such as finance and retail now have dedicated threat intelligence networks for sharing data about attacks, while tech firms like Facebook Inc. operate similar communities that span multiple verticals. But Carbon Black Inc. believes that the market still has room for one more.

The endpoint protection giant’s newly launched Detection eXchange attempts to set itself apart by providing richer information about hacker activity than the competition. Currently, much of the threat intelligence that organizations receive consists of so-called “Indicators of Compromise” with relatively little long-term value. Virus signatures, IP addresses and the other data points that fall into this category do have the potential to provide useful context about a breach, but they’re easy for criminals to modify. As a result, a sophisticated attacker will almost always change up their arsenal before moving on to a new target, which renders the collected intelligence obsolete in many cases.

Detection eXchange, in contrast, tracks the modus operandi of hackers. The network aims to aggregate data about the specific vulnerabilities used in breaches, the methods used to spread malware stands and their path of propagation. Regularly modifying these parameters is so difficult that the average attacker simply doesn’t bother, which makes the intelligence aggregated by Carbon Black tremendously useful. The vendor plans on automatically feeding the information shared by customers into its security software to ensure that its user base is protected against new threats.

For added measure, Detection eXchange also features a forum where customers can consult with peers and Carbon Black partners on how to optimize their security policies. The vendor says that more than 600 members of its business ecosystem have joined the network so far, a number that is only set to grow over time. The company claims to have over 2,000 client organizations in total, including numerous Fortune 100 firms and government agencies.

Image via Pixabay

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