Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)
Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) refers to gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about potential and existing cyber threats to an organization's information systems, networks, and digital assets. CTI collects data from various sources, including open-source intelligence, dark web monitoring, security incidents, malware analysis, hacker forums, and more. This information is then processed and contextualized to provide actionable insights that help organizations understand the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by threat actors, their motivations, and the potential impact of their activities.
The primary goals of Cyber Threat Intelligence include:
Risk Mitigation: Organizations can proactively protect their systems and data by understanding emerging threats and vulnerabilities preventing potential breaches or attacks.
Incident Response: In a security breach or cyber attack, CTI can provide critical information to facilitate effective incident response, containment, and recovery efforts.
Security Strategy: Organizations can develop and refine their cybersecurity strategies based on the insights gained from CTI, focusing resources on areas most vulnerable to potential threats.
Vulnerability Management: Organizations can prioritize patching and mitigation efforts by staying informed about newly discovered vulnerabilities and exploits.
Threat Actor Attribution: CTI can contribute to identifying the origin, motivation, and techniques used by threat actors, which can be valuable for law enforcement or counterintelligence operations.
Threat Hunting: Proactively searching for signs of potential threats within an organization's environment is made more effective with the help of CTI, which provides indicators of compromise (IoCs) and behavior patterns to look for.
Situational Awareness: CTI enhances an organization's awareness of the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape, enabling better decision-making and adaptation to new threats.
The following types of Cyber Threat Intelligence are strategic, operational, and tactical. These levels correspond to the depth of technical detail and the intended audience for the intelligence. Strategic CTI is more high-level and focuses on broad trends and potential impacts. At the same time, operational and tactical CTI is more specific and technical, aimed at assisting security teams in taking practical actions.
Cyber Threat Intelligence is crucial in helping organizations stay ahead of cyber threats and make informed decisions to protect their digital assets, reputation, and business operations.
An integrated solution like ThreatNG that combines External Attack Surface Management (EASM), Digital Risk Protection (DRP), and Security Ratings can significantly enhance an organization's Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) capabilities. Here's how each component contributes to CTI:
External Attack Surface Management (EASM): EASM involves identifying and monitoring an organization's external-facing assets, such as websites, applications, servers, and cloud services. It helps organizations understand their digital footprint as seen by potential attackers. This information is valuable for CTI in several ways:
Asset Discovery: EASM tools discover and catalog all external assets, reducing blind spots and ensuring comprehensive coverage for threat analysis.
Vulnerability Assessment: By continuously scanning these assets for vulnerabilities, EASM provides insight into potential entry points for attackers. This information feeds into CTI to prioritize patching efforts and inform risk management.
Attack Surface Analysis: EASM helps identify potential attack vectors and misconfigurations that threat actors could exploit. CTI benefits from this knowledge by focusing on the most likely avenues of attack.
Digital Risk Protection (DRP): DRP involves monitoring digital channels, online platforms, and social media for signs of brand impersonation, data leaks, phishing attacks, and other threats. This component contributes to CTI in the following ways:
Early Threat Detection: DRP tools identify threats and malicious activities targeting an organization's brand or sensitive information. These early warnings allow for timely responses and potential mitigation.
Threat Analysis: Insights from DRP help CTI teams understand the tactics and techniques used by threat actors targeting the organization externally, enhancing threat intelligence profiles.
Fraud Prevention: DRP assists in identifying fake domains, social media accounts, and other fraudulent online activities. CTI can use this information to track and analyze threat campaigns.
Security Ratings: Security ratings provide a quantifiable assessment of an organization's security posture based on various factors such as vulnerabilities, patch management, and overall cyber hygiene. Security ratings contribute to CTI in the following ways:
External Visibility: Ratings provide an external perspective on an organization's security. CTI teams can use this information to evaluate their security posture from a potential attacker's viewpoint.
Benchmarking: Security ratings can be used to compare an organization's security performance with industry standards and peers. This context informs CTI strategies and helps prioritize areas for improvement.
Risk Assessment: Security ratings highlight areas of concern, allowing CTI teams to focus on vulnerabilities and weaknesses that might attract threat actors.
An integrated solution like ThreatNG that combines EASM, DRP, and Security Ratings helps with Cyber Threat Intelligence by providing a holistic view of an organization's digital presence, vulnerabilities, and potential threats. By offering insights into the organization's attack surface, ongoing threats, and security posture, this solution enables more informed decision-making, proactive threat mitigation, and a better understanding of the evolving threat landscape.
