Cyber Threat Intelligence: What is it?

As technology develops, so too do hackers find new ways to exploit cyber attacks.

Hackers and defenders constantly seek to outdo each other.

In light of this, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) technology has emerged, consisting of an area of cyber security that can anticipate, prevent and reduce cyber attacks.

In other words, it is based on a set of tools that collect, identify, process and analyze data in order to understand the reasons, behaviours and targets of current and potential attacks.

Through CTI, it is possible to find out who the person behind the attack is, what tools the hackers are using, what they want to achieve and what indicators reveal that systems have been compromised.

In this way, faster, more informed, data-driven security decisions can be made, thereby changing behaviour from a reactive to a proactive stance. In addition, they prevent data breaches and save the financial costs of cleaning up after an incident.

ADVANTAGES

But why is this process important?
This strategy is essential for any entity, as it:

• Enriches the organisation by providing real information about tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by attackers;
• Reveals the motives of hackers, allowing the adoption of preventive measures, avoiding financial losses and/or valuable data and reputational damage;
• Uncovers advanced persistent threats (APTs), exploiting security vulnerabilities;
• Assists cybersecurity professionals by helping to better understand the behaviour of threat actors, as well as the decision-making process, consequently improving security policies;
• Empowers companies to make better informed decisions based on reliable data.

TYPES

According to CrowdStrike, there are three types of Threat Intelligence:

Organizations usually focus only on single threats. In this typology, the goal is to get a broader perspective on threats in order to combat the underlying problem. It is also focused on the immediate future, is technical in nature, usually automated, and identifies simple indicators of compromise such as incorrect IP addresses, known malicious domain names, among others.
With a shorter lifespan, this type of intelligence targets more technically proficient audiences.

In this case, the goal is to understand the profile of the attackers in order to predict their next moves. The “Who” is called attribution, the “Why” is motivation or intent, and the “How” is composed of TTPs that the agent employs. Technology alone cannot create operational threats. Human analysis is crucial, as behind every attack is another human being.
In this case, the target is experts in the field of cybersecurity.

Strategic intelligence shows how external events, such as politics, global events and other local and international movements, over the long term, could potentially affect an entity’s cybersecurity.
Here, decision makers can understand what risks are being posed to their organizations, choosing to make a more targeted investment that effectively protects the organization while being aligned with internal strategic priorities.
This is the most difficult intelligence to generate as it requires the collection and analysis of human data, which requires a deep understanding of cybersecurity.
The target audience for this strategy is non-technical, high-level individuals.

STAGES

This process consists of 6 stages:

1. Requirements Gathering– The first stage consists of gathering the requirements of the stakeholders for threat intelligence. It can also be defined as the planning stage, where the goals for CTI and the best methodology to be adopted are defined.
2. Raw Data Gathering– After the identification of requirements, it is crucial to gather the necessary data to satisfy established goals and objectives. To complete this stage, organizations need to determine the sources of threat data based on these prerequisites.
3. Data Processing– In this step, the goal is to transform the raw data into easily analyzed formats. However, this process depends on the data source.
4. Data Analysis– Search, interpret and analyze the formatted data to meet the defined goals and objectives, answering the questions identified during the collection phase. This phase reveals patterns of threats and potential security impacts on the organization, assisting in the process of investments to be made and actions to be taken to address immediate dangers.
5. Dissemination or Socialization of the Analysis– Once the analysis is complete, according to the organization’s requirements, the reports are shared with stakeholders.
6. Feedback– The last phase focuses on obtaining feedback for the CTI report. Stakeholders will inform whether they need changes, whether the analysis meets goals and objectives, among other data.
   Feedback is essential to improve and succeed with this strategy.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how advanced your cybersecurity mechanisms are. Threats are constantly evolving and it is important that you make use of all technologies that ensure the maximum security of your entity.

By investing in CTI strategies, it improves its defense processes against emerging cyber threats.

Count on ActiveSys to implement the best services and solutions for your company, keeping it updated and secure.

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