When Sophos wanted to acquire DNSSense just when I joined, it wasn’t just betting on DNS security, it was hedging against the spiralling costs of in-house threat intelligence development.
For early stage cyber founders, that calculus is now unavoidable: build a bespoke threat intel operation or buy your way into maturity?
The Build Case: When Control Outweigs Cost
Building in-house threat intelligence makes sense if:
- Your SaaS platform generates unique telemetry (e.g., API call patterns in identity and access management (IAM) systems)
- You’re targeting a niche vertical with undocumented attack patterns (think maritime OT systems)
- Your team includes former TI analysts
But consider the hidden costs:
- A mid-level threat analyst now costs £85k+ annually, before tools, training, or threat feeds.
- Maintaining <5% false-positive rates requires continuous tuning of security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) systems.
- Time to detection (TTD) for novel threats takes days sometimes months without mature TI workflows.
Example: A healthtech start-up cited in Medium slashed phishing incidents using a custom TI model trained on medical-sector attack patterns.
The Buy Calculus: Speed vs. Strategic Depth
Modern zero trust architectures demand real-time TI feeds. For most start-ups, integrating commercial solutions like Recorded Future or Anomali delivers immediate value:
- 90 day time to value vs. 18+ month build timelines
- Premapped domain name system (DNS) and IP reputation data
- Compliance-ready documentation for SOC 2 and ISO 27001
The trade off? Generic TI feeds won’t differentiate you from competitors. But as Cloudflare proved with its Radar team, smart augmentation of third-party data can create unique insights.
Before committing to either path, CISOs should:
- Audit existing data sources – if <15% of alerts tie to your unique tech stack, buying accelerates GTM
- Benchmark false-positive rates – commercial TI typically maintains ≤5% vs. 20%+ for first-gen in-house systems
- Model three year TCO – find out the break even point
For hybrid approaches, consider open-source frameworks like MISP for core infrastructure while layering commercial feeds for emerging threats.
The Fork in the Road
Threat actors now weaponise GenAI faster than defenders can adapt. Does your roadmap let you pivot at their speed or are you building yesterday’s defences?
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