By Re4perZ3d ( Med Bayrem Bane)
New to the Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) field, I soon learned why it is so important, not only for large enterprises, but for any enterprise trying to defend against ever-evolving cyber threats.
This is the beginner's guide to breaking down the CTI, what it's utilized for, the most important categories, as well as the analysis of the tactical threat intelligence report, from my end as someone learning in the field and studying Cyber Threat Intelligence currently.
At its core, threat intelligence is about turning raw data into valuable insights. It's the collection, analysis, and interpretation of information on potential or real cyber threats directed at an organization. All in the hope of enabling security teams to make speedier, wiser decisions from reactive defense to proactive protection.
Before I get all the details, I'd like to frame it this way in my mind: instead of sitting around for someone to visit your residence, CTI lets you know in advance that they're going to attempt to and the way in which to stop them before they even reach the front door.
CTI is utilized for predicting, identifying, and responding to threats before the harm has occurred. This allows the security teams to:
One sentence that lingered in my thoughts during the research is one by François Deruty, COO of Sekoia.io:
"To give you an image: I will reinforce my front door with locks and cameras. These extra layers help me deal with actors trying to force it open every day. CTI is the detection mechanism that lets me know when someone is trying to enter my home—it’s all about anticipation.”
At the cyber layer, locks and cameras can be IP blacklists, quarantined files, or attack pattern-based rules of detection. Cyber threat intelligence systems can aggregate all of that information in one location so that it can be understood all at once, but, most notably, can be acted upon in real time.
CTI is often broken down into four main categories, each with its own use case and audience: