National Network Operator Case Study
Elite Threat Hunters Unmask Hidden Attackers with Team Cymru Advanced Threat Reconnaissance
Key Insights
Gained Global Visibility
Discovery and monitoring of threat actor infrastructure enabled early detection of impending attacks.
Improved Incident Response Efficiency
Reduced time wasted on false positives, focussing on critical threats.
Sector-wide Security
Strengthened collaboration across business units, third-party vendors, and industry peers.
Summary
A national organization responsible for critical network infrastructure faced growing cybersecurity challenges, including targeted attacks from sophisticated threat actors, supply chain vulnerabilities, and limited visibility into shadow IT. With their pivotal role in supporting national communications and operations by maintaining internet access, the stakes for protecting their infrastructure were especially high.
By adopting Team Cymru’s Pure Signal™ Recon, the operator transitioned from reactive threat defense to a proactive threat reconnaissance approach. This allowed their teams to trace attacks beyond their perimeter, map threat actor infrastructures, and prevent attacks across their business units and across third-party vendors. The result was enhanced protection of national systems, improved efficiency in incident response, and strengthened sector-wide collaboration.
The Challenges
Faced with persistent cyber threats targeting critical national infrastructure, the network operator lacked insights that provided timely insights and visibility beyond its perimeter to coordinate defenses across multiple business units and their third party partners. Challenges such as fragmented intelligence, third-party vulnerabilities, and resource strain from false positives underscored the need for a transformative approach.
The organization’s cybersecurity teams struggled with several ongoing critical issues:
Limited Visibility Beyond the Perimeter: Traditional tools failed to uncover shadow IT and threat actor infrastructure outside their own network.
Third-Party Risks: Compromised vendors introduced vulnerabilities, making it difficult to manage supply chain security.
Inefficient Incident Response: False positives and delayed attribution hindered the efficiency of their response processes.
Targeted Attacks Across Business Units: Sophisticated threat actors coordinated attacks against multiple internal networks, increasing the risk of recurring incidents.
The Solution
With Pure Signal™ Recon, the organization transitioned from a reactive to a proactive threat defense strategy. By leveraging the global telemetry, the team could now trace any IP of interest to their origins, helping to completely map threat actor infrastructure, and mitigated recurring risks. Passive monitoring of vendor activity identified vulnerabilities early, strengthening collaboration with partners and bolstering supply chain security.
Additionally, Recon’s accurate data helped streamlined investigations, allowing analysts to focus on validated threats and ensure critical resources were directed where they mattered most.
The national network operator leveraged Pure Signal™ Recon to address these challenges and fortify their cybersecurity strategy:
Faster Root Cause Analysis
Using Recon’s global internet telemetry, the security team traced breaches to their origins and pinpointed internet-facing shadow IT components with unpatched vulnerabilities. This allowed for rapid remediation and improved network hygiene.
Prevention of Breach Recurrence
Recon enabled the team to identify malicious patterns and trace infrastructure linked to specific threat actors. This proactive capability allowed the organization to mitigate risks by neutralizing entry points before incidents recurred.
Enhanced Vendor Risk Management
Passive monitoring of third-party activity revealed security lapses, enabling early interventions. The team worked collaboratively with vendors to address these issues, bolstering supply chain security.
Blocking Multiple Cooperating Threat Actors
Recon provided insights into interconnected threat actor networks, allowing the team to disrupt campaigns by blocking both individual nodes and entire malicious infrastructures.
Reducing False Positives
Recon’s confirmed telemetry data minimized false positives, streamlining investigations and enabling analysts to focus on validated threats.
Demonstrated Results
Improved Visibility of Persistent Threats
The creation of its own threat intelligence allowed the organization to block six coordinated threat actor infrastructures, protecting critical telecommunications services.
Enhanced Vendor Collaboration
Early detection of exposures across vendor networks prevented potential contagion risks, reducing response times and strengthening interconnected systems.
Proactive Incident Management
Recurring attacks were mitigated across multiple business units, ensuring operational continuity and minimizing disruption.
Operational Efficiency Gains
Reducing false positives freed analysts to focus on high-priority incidents, accelerating response times and improving resource allocation.
Long-Term Risk Reduction
Recon’s insights facilitated stronger defensive measures, including network segmentation, to ensure the resilience of critical and customer-facing systems.
Conclusion
By adopting Pure Signal™ Recon, the national network operator transitioned from a reactive cybersecurity posture to a proactive threat defense strategy. Recon’s real-time insights provided unmatched visibility into threat actor infrastructure, enabling the organization to safeguard critical systems, mitigate supply chain risks, and disrupt potential attack campaigns before they could escalate.
The ability to identify and neutralize threats early strengthened the resilience of their critical telecommunications services and reduced the burden on internal teams by streamlining workflows and minimizing false positives. With enhanced collaboration across vendor networks and operational units, the organization not only secured its own infrastructure but also contributed to a safer and more robust ecosystem.
Pure Signal™ Recon empowered the national network operator to stay ahead of evolving threats, ensuring long-term operational stability and reinforcing its role as a trusted provider of critical national services.
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