<p>Businesses today have so much to lose from an online attack that it is easy to be overwhelmed when thinking of potential disasters. Finding the right threat intelligence platform is an important choice, however choosing the right protection for your data does not need to be an overwhelming decision. Take an objective look at your needs, peruse the products available, and invest in the right tools for your enterprise with confidence.</p><p>Threat intelligence platforms have several common elements which you must understand to thoroughly compare options.</p><ul><li><strong>Customization</strong> – Nobody hires a home security system to protect entries the home does not have, nor would you buy a safe that does not fit your valuables. So why pay for enterprise security features you do not need? Ideally, your security suite can be modified by an in-house developer or customized with the help of a customer service rep. A customizable threat intelligence platform allows you to select the elements you will use and opt out of the rest.</li><li><strong>Service</strong> –Small and medium-sized businesses are <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/risk-management/10-cyber-threats-small-businesses-cant-ignore/d/d-id/1106327?" target="_blank">a growing class of victims</a> as more hackers are finding them unprepared against attacks. Many SMEs lack the resources to hire a cyber-security professional or do not believe advice about guarding against threats applies to their particular business. Staff network administrators or general IT professionals often spend the bulk of their time handling in-house issues and do not have a chance to monitor potential threats. IT staff can only respond to threats they are looking for, and so relying on a service which offers support as needed is often the answer.</li><li><strong>Speed </strong>– Major online attacks begin with months of probing and lurking in the shadows, but the breaches themselves are notoriously swift. Cyber-crime is truly a new brand of crime, unlike any theft or espionage we had previously known. Weapons to guard against it must be equally revolutionary. A quality threat intelligence platform <a href="https://www.anomali.com/blog/passive-dns-analytic-use-cases-in-threatstream">automatically detects and responds to suspicious activity</a>. Choose a product which will conduct incident response, network defense, and threat analysis in real time. The application must notify the appropriate people immediately of threat actors while simultaneously responding to the attack with protective measures. Responses depend on the blocking and tackling their attacks, and/or degrading their infrastructure.</li><li><strong>Accuracy of notifications</strong>– Threat intelligence platform warnings must be sensitive to suspicious activity, obviously. However, an overly-sensitive system can be as bad as having no system at all. Web traffic behavior is so nuanced it is possible for false positives and general “noise” to be mistaken as a threat. After a few false warnings, “the Boy Who Cried Wolf” effect will set in. <a href="http://www.thesba.com/2012/12/24/50-percent-of-companies-ignore-cyber-threats/" target="_blank">Ignoring excess notices</a> will eventually precede ignoring a true sign of attack, and so warnings must be finely calibrated.</li><li><strong>Quality of responses</strong> – Learning you are under attack is the crucial first step to taking action. Your threat intelligence platform must also be effective at resolving the threats quickly. How distressing would it be to learn of a threat in time to find you are powerless to take action? Look for tools which can stop attacks anywhere along the kill chain.</li><li><strong>Data sharing</strong> – The future of threat intelligence data relies on enterprises to <a href="https://www.anomali.com/blog/sharing-threat-intelligence-why-and-how">securely contribute threat data</a> to the greater good of cyber intelligence. Responses are mixed with regards to how businesses feel about sharing their online security histories with others, including competitors. The standards for trusted collaboration practices that more people will feel good about are evolving now.</li></ul><p>Choosing appropriate security for your digital assets has untold benefits. Some bottom line realities include savings from outsourcing IT staff as well as quantifiably reducing liability. Having peace of mind is still priceless.</p><p>Now that you know what you are looking for in a threat intelligence platform, learn more about building your own by acquiring and using threat intelligence in ways that are strategic, operational, tactical and technical.</p><p><span class="hs-cta-wrapper" id="hs-cta-wrapper-f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083"><span class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083" data-hs-drop="true" id="hs-cta-f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083" style="visibility: visible; display: block; text-align: center;"><a class="cta_button" cta_dest_link="{page_3451}" href="https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/ctas/v2/public/cs/c/?cta_guid=0a81b108-0c35-466f-8ccb-36ff661bc040&amp;placement_guid=f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083&amp;portal_id=458120&amp;redirect_url=APefjpGaVMK3-cJ_CFnnLdjfKpWiNDCoofF5MnI8V2UL8KNMIDaD-ObQqrtk8zZaa-SVP1Tz6wLjLswhEtSTrChNA0PMOsYtTxj3D5ttIDJcz8rbGF7d_jY8mIkRlRYhCNOPvb34hxFy-olGjtGUDNDwQmgDc-DFjz3s6gr-v2YHNNPPDjoXEKYHmJAXpj3F1uDh2fvGXWmgJXj-WuYD7Hqxr1aIVTXapgBVz9ex1Z0Gg3Xnk1weBZzek7A6Z6Ca2M9DRkU0Zt0VWLIuuUSfdJfRuOJpimFXARHXlOpEb6Wr2snbzCvqPh4HxEct2NEcih6nXAzADoj8Mb2_p-KRQy5OdGgg5iO5TA&amp;hsutk=2767d93d6471d657e0c9f660e4b58ef8&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.anomali.com%2Fhow-to-choose-the-right-threat-intelligence-platform-for-you&amp;canon=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.anomali.com%2Fhow-to-choose-the-right-threat-intelligence-platform-for-you&amp;pageId=4276988845&amp;__hstc=41179005.2767d93d6471d657e0c9f660e4b58ef8.1456736058655.1478831861868.1478887113345.180&amp;__hssc=41179005.32.1478887113345&amp;__hsfp=1335165674" id="cta_button_458120_0a81b108-0c35-466f-8ccb-36ff661bc040" style="margin: 20px auto;" target="_blank" title="View It Here">View It Here </a> </span> <script charset="utf-8" src="https://js.hscta.net/cta/current.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">hbspt.cta.load(458120, 'f68f0b2e-fb62-48eb-acd6-8b2ad6455083', {});</script> </span></p>