MISP vs. Anomali ThreatStream

Which threat intel platform should you choose?
Both MISP and Anomali ThreatStream are popular threat intelligence platforms (TIPs).You may be comparing MISP vs. Anomali ThreatStream to find out which TIP is a the best fit for your use case. Here, we’ll offer a simple breakdown of the main differences between them.

MISP is open source, whereas Anomali ThreatStream is a commercial TIP

Free vs. Paid

  • MISP is free to use, provided you are prepared to host the platform on your own infrastructure. The downside of free is that it doesn’t come with any guarantee of support if things go wrong. You’ll need to rely on volunteers in the open source community for whom you are not a #1 priority. Self-hosting can also have hidden costs, such as the labour cost of setup, configuration, hardening, upgrades, and maintenance.
  • Anomali ThreatStream is an enterprise product with a matching pricetag, although this means it comes with a support SLA. Because you’re paying for ThreatStream, you can expect commercial support when you run into an issue or have a question you need help to answer. You also don’t need to worry about infrastructure and hosting.

Public vs. Private Codebase

  • MISP’s codebase is fully open source, meaning it is reviewed and patched by a community of software engineers. MISP’s developer community is thriving, updating the platform roughly once per month with new features, bug-fixes, and security patches. Public scrutiny from security-focused software engineers means any potential vulnerabilities are quickly patched. However, one potential drawback of open source software is that the pace of development depends on the time and energy of community members, which can be variable.
  • Anomali ThreatStream’s codebase is closed source and managed by a software engineering team. Using Anomali ThreatStream requires a level of trust that the company follows secure development practices and that the software is secure and bug-free, since its codebase is developed behind closed-doors. One potential advantage of commercial software is that it doesn’t have to depend on potentially variable community energy and enthusiasm to remain under active development.

If MISP seems like the best fit for your organisation, we recommend CloudMISP, our managed MISP service that offering the benefits of open source with the commercial support and hosting of an enterprise-grade product.