Cyber threats and attacks are a growing concern for businesses of all sizes. Research from ThoughLab reveals that budgets for cybersecurity solutions rose by 51% from 2020–21 [1]. Still, 40% of CSOs and 29% of CEOs and CISOs say their organizations are “unprepared” for a landscape with rapidly changing threats [1].
One of the most effective cybersecurity solutions for businesses is Microsoft’s Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA), an on-premise platform that protects enterprises from advanced targeted cyberattacks and threats. It comes with Microsoft E3 and E5 licenses, so you might already have access to this powerful tool without knowing it.
Here’s everything you need to know about ATA.
What Security Threats Should Worry You?
Investing in a tool like ATA can protect your business from the following types of security threats:
- Malware
- Ransomware
- Phishing
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks
- Pass the Ticket (PtT)
- Pass the Hash (PtH)
- Malicious replications
- Reconnaissance
- Remote execution
- Weak protocols
- Known protocol vulnerabilities
- Anomalous logins
- Password sharing
All of these threats could jeopardize your business operations.
Read more: Tighten Up Security By Reducing Unnecessary MFA Prompts for Your Users
What is Advanced Threat Analytics?
ATA utilizes a proprietary network parsing engine to identify and analyze the network traffic of various protocols. It collects information by deploying a lightweight gateway on domain controllers and port mirroring from domain controllers and DNS servers to a gateway.
One of the best features of ATA is its ability to capture data from logs, events, and other sources in your network to learn the user behavior of your team members. ATA creates a behavioral profile of each team member by receiving logs and events from Windows Event Forwarding, SIEM integration, and the Windows Event Collector.
Microsoft provides guidance for moving from an existing ATA installation to Microsoft Defender for Identity (formerly Azure Advanced Threat Protection). That’s because Advanced Threat Analytics ceased mainstream support in January 2021, even though the final release of the software tool is still available. Extended support will continue until January 2026, so you can still use ATA for the next few years — a good idea if you want to protect your business against security threats!
Read more: Microsoft’s New App Keeps Your Teams in the Loop
What Are the Benefits of Installing Advanced Threat Analytics?
Adding ATA to your tech stack provides the following advantages:
Monitor User Behavior
ATA’s behavioral analytics monitors the behavior of team members by cataloging their actions and what systems they use. If an unusual event occurs — such as a team member logging into a system during the night — ATA will send you an alert so you can take quick action.
Simple Attack Timeline
ATA provides you with an overview of security information in your organization on your home feed, allowing you to quickly identify threats. For each suspicious activity, Microsoft gives recommendations for investigation and remediation.
Identify Security Threats Fast
ATA’s behavioral analytics detects suspicious activity fast without the need to create baselines, rules, and thresholds. The program takes information from SIEM logs and Active Directory traffic.
Customize Alerts
While other threat analytics tools might bombard you with notifications, you can customize ATA alerts based on your business requirements. You can also choose where you want ATA to send alerts. For example, you can have health notifications emailed to your IT admin and suspicious activity notifications sent to your security analyst.
Reduce False Positives
It’s common for other analytics tools to send notifications when no serious threats exist. Constantly checking these alerts can be a time-consuming process for your IT team. ATA resolves this problem by only sending alerts about genuine threats to your business. Its intelligence analytics can reduce false positives and fake red flags, allowing your team to focus on tasks other than threat maintenance.
Other ATA benefits include mobility support, seamless integration with SIEM, and an easy-to-use interface.
How DCG Can Help
Dynamic Consultants Group can implement ATA into your organization and provide more value from this platform, helping you protect your critical infrastructure from the latest security threats. Alternatively, ATA can suggest other security solutions like Azure AAD that suit your specific use case.
As a Microsoft partner, DCG can help you fight against cybersecurity challenges and implement your system faster than other companies.
Read more: Dynamic Consultants Group Among First to Receive New Microsoft Partner Designation
Final Word
Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics is a powerful tool that identifies the security threats that pose a danger to your business. This platform lets you monitor user behavior, customize alerts, and reduce false positives, providing peace of mind in an increasingly dangerous cybersecurity landscape.
Want to incorporate Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics into your organization? Talk to DCG now and stay ahead of malicious attacks and security threats!
References
[1] https://thoughtlabgroup.com/cyber-solutions-riskier-world/
