The “cyber threat” refers to actions that are deemed malicious and are carried out deliberately or inadvertently by; hackers, criminals, business rivals, spies, dissatisfied workers, organized crime groups, and hactivist societies, in order to obtain unauthorized access, interrupt infrastructure, intercept classified data, and/or share data with third parties. Phishing, 0-day attacks, APT (Advanced Persistent Threat), trojans, botnets, ransomware, DdoS, malware, and other intentional cyber threats are some of the most well-known examples. Internal risks, on the other hand, may arise within a company. These risks have the potential to do significant harm to the affected company and/or organisation.
What is “Cyber Threat Intelligence”?
One of the sub-branches of cyber security is “cyber threat intelligence” which is the gathering and processing of data regarding cyber threats that affect an institution’s or organization’s security. Data by itself does not constitute knowledge. The information must be processed. A critical component of the cybersecurity ecosystem is cyber threat intelligence. Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) tracks the patterns attackers use by detecting and assessing risks, and by doing so, it assists companies in taking defensive steps to defend themselves from potential attacks. This allows for proactive steps to be taken in order to plan for potential cyber threats. Cyber threat intelligence is not a cure by itself. It is, nonetheless, a critical security measure. Because of the changing nature of risks, defense strategies are just as good as the information they depend on. It is very difficult to heed security alerts, according to a report published by the Ponemon Institute in January 2015 on “the cost of malware safety.” According to the findings of this study and report, 40 percent of businesses have suffered a financial security breach in the last 24 months. It has been determined that 80 percent of these breaches could be avoided or the harm caused by the violations could be reduced using Cyber Threat Intelligence. Furthermore, having a bad reputation is one of the most serious issues that an organisation can face. To avoid this, using these methods is no longer an option, but rather a must. The following questions are raised within the scope of cyber threat intelligence: who is attacking, who is being attacked, what is the intent of the attack, how can the attack happen, where does the attack come from, and how can the system be defended. It is important to be able to answer these questions. What distinguishes knowledge is the ability to have answers to these questions. As a result, Cyber Threat Intelligence teams aim to communicate with individuals or groups when possible, and they use a variety of sources to do so, including social media, illegal websites, communication platforms, the 3W (common web, deep web, dark web), individuals, open sources, photos, and so on. About every platform and cyber threat employs its own set of strategies and approaches. Sensitive and vital data regarding the organisation were closely traced by having a comprehensive investigation. The attackers’ views, goals, motives, and strategies are more or less decided after reviewing the collected data. The data is filtered, evaluated, and interpreted by experts as a product of the data gained.- Intelligence news – All information obtained from intelligence sources, our own intelligence network, or other places.
- Intelligence analysis – It is the work done to determine whether the information obtained is true or false.
- Accurate intelligence news – It is news and information that has been confirmed to be accurate after a good analysis.
- Suspicious intelligence news – News and information that can be both true and false. Such news and information should be re-analyzed carefully.
- False intelligence news – It is the news and information that is completely clear to be false or confusing news, and which does not match the current situation in any way with intelligence data. These are also called garbage information for short.
- Reliable intelligence sources – Sources who have consistently delivered reliable information in earlier research, who have never leaked intelligence information to the outside, and who are the least likely to awaken the target This services are confidential and do not function in any manner to support oneself.
- Unreliable intelligence sources – Sources that have previously been collected several times, all or the majority of which were garbage information, leak out in some way, and where targets can spot. Such resources are known to almost everyone, offering assistance and support within the framework of their own interests.
- Determination of needs
- Intelligence gathering
- Attack detection
- Analysis
- Reporting
Benefits of Threat Intelligence
Cyber threat analysis allows organizations to quickly collect information on the cyber threats they face and the dangers they pose. Before being affected by newly developing threats, necessary intelligence is gathered and preventative steps are planned. Threat events are tracked in real time. The organisation is informed of its vulnerabilities and deficiencies in the face of cyber threats. It facilitates a mechanism in which threats are passed to SIEMs (Security Information and Event Management) in order to deter them by initiating a quicker and more reliable associating operation. It allows SOC (Security Operation Center) observers to easily identify alerts by categorizing symptoms into severity levels. Security breaches are detected, and the appropriate steps are taken to address them. After all of this, the requisite steps can be taken. Most notably, Cyber Threat Intelligence ensures a consistent flow of data. As a result, the institution’s, workers’, and consumers’ losses will be reduced. In light of all of this, cyber threat intelligence can be divided into three categories:- Strategic Intelligence: It is the type of intelligence aimed at recognizing the attacker. It occurs as a result of monitoring people and groups that have the potential to cause harm.
- Operational Intelligence: This type of intelligence includes the techniques, methods and procedures of the attackers. This information is served to the teams that provide SOC (Security Operation Center) services and can be analyzed by them to be used as a precaution against potential attacks.
- Tactical Intelligence: This type of intelligence includes data describing possible malicious activities on the system and/or network. Tactical intelligence is integrated into security solutions such as SIEM, IDP / IPS, DLP, anti-spam, firewall, Endpoint Protection and so on.