IBM Security announced today that it is expanding its incident response capabilities, adding new facilities, services, and software as part of a $200 million investment made this year.
Specifically, this includes a new global security headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a consulting team called IBM X-Force Incident Response and Intelligence Services (IRIS). This investment includes and builds on the company’s acquisition of incident response company Resilient Systems.
X-Force Command Center
One of the main focuses in IBM Security’s new headquarters is its X-Force Command Center, which features what IBM calls a Cyber Range for the commercial sector. Here, participants can experience and learn how to deal with cyber attacks using live malware and real-world scenarios. It is meant to teach anyone from security teams to board members and students how manage a variety of threats.
The Cyber Range has access to hacker tools pulled from the dark web to deliver realistic attack experiences in a simulated version of the Internet with more than 3,000 users on it. The simulation offers a range of regulatory requirements from different regions, businesses, and customers.
The company also added X-Force Command Centers in Atlanta, Bangalore, and Poland. IBM touts these command centers bringing in 200,000 new pieces of threat intelligence a day by using analytics from web pages, images, and endpoints.
X-Force IRIS Team
IBM’s new incident response team includes more than 100 security consultants with experience spanning retail, political, and international banking networks. Many of its members are former security experts at federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The goal is to extend the company’s incident response and threat intelligence capabilities to help IBM clients understand where and how attacks are being launched and how to defend and respond.
IBM X-Force IRIS will test clients’ environments, run attack scenarios, and identify business processes that are most crucial and need stronger security.
