Episode 177: The Power and Pitfalls of Threat Intelligence

In this week’s podcast (#177) we’re back from RSA Conference and talking about the growing prominence of cyber threat intelligence services with Eric Olson of the firm LookingGlass Cyber Solutions.  


Last week’s RSA Security Conference in San Francisco showcased the latest the technology industry has to offer against sophisticated hackers, bots and viruses – even as a real world virus, COVID-19, stalked the streets of San Francisco and prompted the city government to declare a state of emergency mid-way through the event.

Threats – Virtual and Otherwise

That was a reminder, if any was needed, that the threats facing global organizations today are more varied and harder to predict than ever. Global pandemics can interrupt critical supply chains or bring business operations to a screeching halt. So too malware and denial of service attacks aimed at you, or just a region or third party you rely on.

Eric Olson LookingGlass Cyber
Eric Olson is the senior vice president of product management at LookingGlass Cyber Solutions.

That cold reality may go some way towards explaining why so-called threat intelligence is all the rage among organizations both large and small. By one count, there were 79 vendors alone at RSA offering some variation of threat intelligence services.

Words of Advice from the Justice

The hunger for threat intelligence is so great that the Department of Justice, in recent weeks, issued guidance to private firms that were considering threat intelligence, warning them away from actions or business partners that might cross the line from gathering information on malicious activities to engaging in them.

Managed Threat Hunting Bridges the Talent Gap

What is threat intelligence and what value does it offer to companies worried about falling victim to sophisticated cyber actors? In this RSA wrap-up podcast, we’re taking on the challenge of answering that question. And, to do so, we’ve invited an expert on the subject into the studio.

Opinion: AI and Machine Learning will power both Cyber Offense and Defense in 2020

Eric Olson is the senior vice president of product management at LookingGlass Cyber Solutions. In this conversation, Eric talks about what the term “threat intelligence” means in 2020, how companies are turning threat intelligence to their advantage and about some simple steps that organizations who haven’t already invested in this type of information service can take to start making threat intelligence work for them.


(*) Disclosure: This podcast was sponsored by LookingGlass Cyber Solutions or more information on how Security Ledger works with its sponsors and sponsored content on Security Ledger, check out our About Security Ledger page on sponsorships and sponsor relations.

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