Chris Kissell
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Threat Intelligence FAQ
CTI is refined insight into cyber threats. Intelligence teams use credible insight from multiple sources to create actionable context on the threat landscape, threat actors and their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs). The effective use of CTI allows organizations to make the shift from reactive to becoming more proactive against threat actors.
Proactive security refers to the use of credible threat intelligence to understand the malware and TTPs threat actors use and the vulnerabilities they exploit to target specific industries and regions. Organizations use this intelligence to implement, configure and adjust security tools and train staff to thwart attacks.
A threat actor is a person or group of people who conduct malicious targeting or attacks on others. Typically motivated by espionage, financial gain or publicity, threat actors may conduct a full campaign alone or work with other groups who specialize in specific aspects of an attack.
Assuming we all agree that a “threat” is defined as a plan or inclination to attack as opposed to an “attack” which is an existing or previously successful breach. Identifying active threats can be done using threat intelligence which will help provide context into the threat actors and malware impacting your specific region or industry. Another method to identify active threats is by scanning the open, deep and dark web for chatter around your organization, personnel, technology or partners. By identifying threats like these security professionals can proactively adjust their defenses to block or reduce the impact of a potential attack.
- Strategic – High level trends used to drive business decisions and security investments
- Operational – Contextual information on impending threats to the organization, used by security professionals to understand more about threat actors and their TTPs.
- Tactical – Understanding of the threat actor TTPs, used by security professionals to stop incidents and make defensive adjustments.