The ultimate threat intelligence handbook for cybersecurity professionals

Threat intelligence is essential for effective cybersecurity. It helps professionals analyse information about cyberattacks, such as who is attacking, their motivations, and what signs to look for.

As businesses go digital, the need for strong cybersecurity grows. A Statista study predicts that the Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) market will surpass 44 billion U.S. dollars by 2033. Our research shows that 70.9% of organisations now have teams dedicated to threat intelligence. 

This handbook will help cybersecurity professionals understand what is cyber threat intelligence, its importance, and how to use it to prevent cyber attacks.

Threat intelligence & what is it all about?

Threat intelligence is a vital element of cybersecurity that involves collecting, processing, and analysing data to understand potential cyber threats. It provides organisations with actionable insights that help in preventing and responding to cyber-attacks. This intelligence is based on evidence and focuses on identifying who might attack, the methods they use, and how these attacks could impact your organisation.

The information gathered can contain attributes about the mechanisms of attacks, how to recognise when an attack is happening, and strategies to defend against various types of cyber threats, like phishing and denial of service attacks. Cybercriminals continually evolve their tactics, making it essential for organisations to stay informed about emerging threats.

Threat intelligence in cyber security goes beyond just gathering data; it analyses this information to uncover patterns and relationships that reveal potential vulnerabilities in your organisation. By understanding the motives and behaviours of threat actors, you can take proactive measures to strengthen your defences.

Types of threat intelligence

Now that there is a clarity on what is threat intelligence ,understanding the types of threat intelligence services is crucial for effectively addressing cyber threats. Each type provides specific insights to help organisations defend against cyber attacks. Here are the main categories:

Strategic threat intelligence

This type focuses on high-level information that gives context to threats facing your organisation. Strategic threat intelligence is non-technical and is often used to inform executive-level discussions.

For example, it may include risk analyses that show how certain business decisions can make your organisation vulnerable to attacks. By understanding these risks, you can make informed decisions to strengthen your overall security strategy.

Tactical threat intelligence

Tactical threat intelligence provides more detailed information about how threats are executed and how to defend against them. This includes specifics on the methods attackers use, known as TTP (tactics, techniques, and procedures), as well as the tools and infrastructures involved. 

It also highlights which types of organisations or technologies are frequently targeted. Security teams can use this information to evaluate their existing defences, identify weaknesses, and develop strategies to mitigate potential attacks.

Technical threat intelligence

This type centres on specific evidence indicating that an attack is occurring or has occurred. Technical threat intelligence involves identifying Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), such as malicious IP addresses, phishing email content, and known malware samples. This information is often collected using advanced tools that can immediately analyse large amounts of data.

Operational threat intelligence

Operational threat intelligence focuses on understanding the nature and intent of attacks. It provides insights into factors such as the timing and execution of an attack. This type of intelligence often comes from sources like hacker forums or chat rooms, making it challenging to gather.

Threat actors typically communicate in private, encrypted channels, and they may use language that is difficult to interpret. Despite these challenges, operational intelligence is valuable as it helps you understand potential threats in real-time.

The threat intelligence lifecycle

The threat intelligence lifecycle is a structured process that security teams follow to collect, analyse, and improve their understanding of cyber threats. This cycle helps organisations stay aware of potential dangers and take appropriate actions to protect their systems. It generally consists of six steps:

Step 1: Planning

In this initial phase, security analysts work with stakeholders—such as executive leaders, IT staff, and other team members—to identify what information is needed. You might ask questions like, “What types of attacks could affect our organisation?” This step is crucial because it sets the direction for the entire intelligence process.

Step 2: Threat data collection

Once the planning is complete, your team will gather raw threat data from various sources. This data can include:

• Threat intelligence feeds: These are streams of real-time information about threats. Some feeds provide processed intelligence, while others share raw data (which is unprocessed).
• Information-sharing communities: These are groups where analysts share experiences and insights. For example, industry-specific groups help members stay informed about the latest threats.
• Internal security logs: These are records from your organisation's security systems, which show past incidents and help identify any ongoing issues.

Step 3: Processing

After gathering data, your team will process it to make analysis easier. This involves organising and standardising the information, filtering out irrelevant data, and identifying patterns. Some security tools use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help with this step by automatically sorting through data and recognising trends.

Step 4: Analysis

In the analysis stage, raw data is transformed into actionable intelligence. Your team will review the processed information to find insights that address the initial questions. For example, if a new ransomware strain has emerged, analysts might look for patterns in past attacks to determine vulnerabilities in your systems. This step helps the organisation prepare for potential threats.

Step 5: Dissemination

Once the analysis is complete, the findings need to be shared with stakeholders. The information should be presented in a clear and understandable format, avoiding technical jargon where possible. This could involve creating concise reports or presentations that summarise the insights and recommendations, enabling decision-makers to take action.

Step 6: Feedback

The final step involves gathering feedback from stakeholders about the intelligence provided. This feedback is essential for identifying any gaps or new questions that may have arisen. It helps your team refine future intelligence cycles and ensure that the process remains effective and relevant.

Benefits of threat intelligence

Here are some key benefits of utilising threat intelligence:

Early threat detection

One of the most significant advantages of threat intelligence is its ability to provide early warnings. By gathering information about emerging threats, CTI enables your organisation to identify and respond to threats before they can cause damage. This proactive approach helps mitigate the impact of attacks, allowing your cybersecurity team to implement protective measures in advance.

Understanding threat actors

Behind every cyberattack is a human with specific motivations and techniques. CTI gives you insight into the profiles of these attackers, including their Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs). By understanding how attackers think and operate, your organisation can anticipate their moves and better prepare defences against potential threats.

Prioritising vulnerabilities

Every organisation has vulnerabilities in its systems that attackers can exploit. CTI helps you identify which vulnerabilities pose the most significant risks to your business. By focusing on these critical vulnerabilities, you can prioritise patching and remediation efforts, ensuring that your cybersecurity resources are allocated effectively. This targeted approach strengthens your overall security.

Informing strategic decisions

CTI provides ongoing insights into the ever-changing cyber threat landscape. This knowledge is crucial for informed decision-making within your organisation. By understanding current threats, trends, and vulnerabilities specific to your industry, you can refine your business strategies to minimise risks. For example, if you plan to expand into a new market, knowing the associated cyber risks can help you prepare adequately.

Enhancing team efficiency

Incorporating threat intelligence can significantly enhance the efficiency of your cybersecurity team. Automated threat intelligence solutions can streamline the process of monitoring and responding to threats. By automating data collection and analysis, your team can focus on strategy and defence rather than manual monitoring. This leads to faster response times and allows your cyber security threat intelligence professionals to operate more effectively.

Collaborative knowledge sharing

Cyber intelligence enables collaboration across different organisations and sectors. Through information-sharing communities and collaborative security platforms, businesses can share experiences and insights about threats they have encountered. This collective knowledge enhances the understanding of the threat landscape and helps all participants improve their defences.

Cost-effective solution

Implementing CTI can be a cost-effective approach to protecting your organisation. The financial impact of a data breach can be considerable, with average costs running into millions. By investing in cyber security threat intelligence, you can reduce the likelihood of falling victim to a cyberattack, thereby saving money in the long run. A proactive stance against threats protects not only your data but also your organisation's reputation and financial stability.

Key components of threat intelligence

Here are the key components you need to consider for a robust threat intelligence program.

Data collection

Data collection is the foundation of any threat intelligence strategy. It involves gathering information from different types of sources, including:

• Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): This includes publicly available information from blogs, news articles, social media platforms, and online forums. It helps you remain updated on the latest trends and discussions in cybersecurity.
• Technical intelligence: This type of data comes from technical sources such as network logs, firewall logs, and malware analysis. It provides insights into the activities happening within your systems.
• Human Intelligence (HUMINT): This information is gathered from people, such as insiders or even threat actors. It offers a unique perspective on potential threats.
• Dark web intelligence: This involves monitoring underground forums and marketplaces where cybercriminals operate. Understanding these activities can help you anticipate and counter threats.

Data processing and analysis

Once you have gathered data, the next step is to process and analyse it to create actionable intelligence. This involves several important steps:

• Normalisation: Standardising data from different sources into a common format so that it can be analysed consistently.
• Correlation: Identifying relationships between different data points helps uncover patterns and trends that could indicate a threat.
• Contextualisation: Providing context helps you understand the relevance and potential impact of the data on your organisation.

Threat history data

To create actionable threat intelligence, it’s essential to have a comprehensive dataset that includes threat history data. This historical data allows for better analysis of cyber threats, helping you:

• Recognise previous attacks and their characteristics.
• Anticipate future threats based on patterns in the data.

Automated detection and blocking

Your cyber security threat intelligence system needs to not only identify threats but also automate the response. With the increasing volume of cyber threats, manual responses are not sufficient. Automation allows you to:

• Quickly block threats as they are detected, reducing the risk of damage.
• Implement proactive measures to safeguard your systems.

Analysing threat intelligence

Threat intelligence analysis is a crucial step in the threat intelligence lifecycle. It involves cyber intelligence analysts examining and interpreting the threat data collected from various sources. This phase is essential for understanding potential security risks and creating actionable insights that guide your response strategies.

During the analysis phase, several key activities take place:

• Correlating indicators and incidents: Analysts link specific signs of a threat (called indicators) to actual incidents that have occurred. This correlation helps identify patterns that indicate a potential security issue.

• Establishing relationships: Analysts explore how different data points relate to one another. For instance, they may look at the connection between a malicious IP address and specific malware attacks to understand how threats spread.

• Structuring data for indexing and search: Organising the data makes it easier to search and access. This structure allows analysts to quickly find relevant information when investigating incidents.

• Visualising information: By creating visual representations of the data, such as charts or graphs, analysts can see the bigger picture of the threat landscape. Visualisation helps identify trends and potential vulnerabilities more effectively.

Integrating threat intelligence into security operations

Here’s a detailed guide on how to effectively integrate threat intelligence into your security strategy.

Step 1: Define goals and objectives

The first step is to identify the specific goals and objectives of your threat intelligence program. Consider what types of threats you want to address and how you plan to utilise the information within your organisation. Establishing clear goals helps direct your efforts and resources effectively.

Step 2: Identify relevant sources of threat intelligence

Once your goals are set, the next step is to determine which sources of threat intelligence will be most beneficial. You can gather data from various sources, including:

• Proprietary data: Information owned by your organisation or a vendor.
• Open-source information: Publicly available data from the internet.
• External partnerships: Collaborations with trusted vendors or industry-specific threat intelligence teams.

Step 3: Establish a framework for data collection and analysis

Creating a structured framework for collecting, analysing, and sharing threat intelligence is essential. This framework ensures that the information can be effectively incorporated into your security operations. Here are the key components of the framework:

• Data collection: Engage in strategic data collection to gather relevant threat intelligence tailored to your industry.
• Automation: Implement automation to filter and prioritise threat data, enabling your team to focus on the most significant threats.

Step 4: Regularly review and update protocols

The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving. Regularly reviewing and updating your threat intelligence protocols is crucial to maintaining resilience against new threats. By continuously improving your threat intelligence capabilities, you can enhance your organisation's overall security posture.

Tools and technologies for threat intelligence

To effectively enhance your organisation's cyber security intelligence, various threat intelligence tools are available, such as:

• Malware disassemblers: Malware disassemblers reverse engineer (analyse the structure of) malware to understand how it operates. This insight helps security engineers develop strategies to defend against similar attacks in the future.

• Security Information And Event Management (SIEM) tools: SIEM tools provide real-time monitoring of your network. They gather data about unusual activities and suspicious traffic, allowing security teams to identify potential threats quickly.

• Network traffic analysis tools: These tools collect and analyse network data, recording network activities. They help security teams detect intrusions by providing critical information about traffic patterns and anomalies.

• Threat Intelligence communities and resource collections: Various online communities offer free access to cyber intelligence resources. These platforms aggregate known indicators of compromise (evidence that a security breach has occurred) and community-generated data about threats. They often support collaborative research and provide actionable advice on preventing or responding to attacks.

Best practices for using threat intelligence

As you navigate the various sources of threat data—from commercial and open-source options to government and industry-specific information—consider the following best practices to enhance your approach.

Select the right sources of threat data

Choose threat intelligence sources that are relevant to your industry and risk profile. Start with your internal data to provide context for external information. This ensures you focus on threats that matter most to your organisation.

Determine who will acquire the data

Assign a dedicated team to gather and analyse threat intelligence. This team should focus on delivering actionable insights tailored to different stakeholders within the organisation, ensuring everyone receives the information they need.

Structure data for analysis

Standardise threat data for effective analysis. Use normalisation to adjust different data formats so they can be easily compared and understood. Implement a threat intelligence platform that automatically ingests and organises this data for quick prioritisation.

Use tools to help with analysis

Leverage analysis tools that extract relevant context from threat data. Select a platform that integrates with your existing security infrastructure, allowing for efficient responses to identified threats.

Share intelligence effectively

Share threat intelligence with the appropriate teams to ensure it reaches those who need it most. This targeted dissemination enables your organisation to respond to threats more efficiently and enhances overall cybersecurity.

Challenges in threat intelligence

 Here are the top four challenges of cyber threat intelligence analyst and how to address them.

Overwhelming volumes of data

Cyber threats are increasing in number and complexity, leading to too much data for security teams to handle. It can be hard to know what data to focus on. To solve this, curate data that fits your organisation's specific needs, like threats relevant to your industry. Using threat intelligence providers or automation can help streamline this process.

Inability to interpret the data

Interpreting security data requires both expertise and context. You need to know what information is most important and understand the background of threats. For example, analysts must determine if an indicator of compromise (IoC) applies to their industry. Working with threat intelligence providers or hiring experts can help organise relevant data and provide the necessary context.

Too few sources

Using only a few data sources can limit your ability to detect threats. To improve detection, gather data from multiple sources, such as commercial services, open-source intelligence, and your internal data. A variety of data elements, like files and IP addresses, is essential for effective analysis.

Poor Operationalisation

Diving into threat monitoring without a clear plan can lead to missed insights. To improve operationalisation, centralise all your threat feeds for better analysis. Create clear runbooks that link indicators of compromise (IoCs) to security settings. This will help you generate useful security information and enhance your overall defences.

Future trends in threat intelligence

As the cybersecurity landscape evolves, several key trends will shape the future of threat intelligence. Here’s what to expect.

Zero trust security models

Organisations are increasingly adopting Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), which emphasises continuous verification of users and devices. This approach rejects the idea of trusting anyone by default, regardless of their location. Instead, it focuses on verifying every access request to protect sensitive data and resources effectively.

IoT security

As the IoT expands, securing IoT devices will become crucial. This will involve implementing enhanced security standards and regulations, as well as better management practices for IoT devices. Organisations must address the risks associated with unsecured devices to prevent potential vulnerabilities.

Biometric and behavioural authentication

Authentication methods are evolving to include biometric features like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning. These methods will become more secure through liveness detection (ensuring the person is real and not a photo or video) and behavioural analytics (analysing user behaviour patterns). The use of multi-modal biometric authentication, which combines multiple biometric methods, will also increase and enhance security further.

Conclusion

Incorporating threat intelligence into your cybersecurity strategy is crucial for staying ahead of potential threats. By understanding the different types of threat intelligence and leveraging Threat Intelligence Solution, organisations can enhance their ability to detect, analyse, and respond to cyber risks.

Our Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) platform aggregates and analyses data from 65+ disparate sources, including our proprietary global NetFlow data. This ensures you receive high-fidelity, actionable threat intelligence without the noise of information overload.

Moreover, with our Next-Gen Security Operations Center (SOC), powered by AI, machine learning, and automation, we dramatically reduce mean time to detect, qualify, prioritise, and respond to multi-stage attacks. Our platform boasts:

• 400+ MITRE ATT&CK aligned use cases
• Over 99% improvement in Mean Time To Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time To Respond (MTTR)
• Rapid deployment of SOC in just 14 days

Schedule a conversation with our experts today and experience the future of threat intelligence. Our team is prepared to customise a solution that meets your unique organisational needs.