Threat intelligence transforms raw security data into actionable insights enabling proactive defense against cyber threats. Rather than reactively responding to attacks, threat intelligence empowers organizations to anticipate threats, prioritize defenses, and hunt for adversaries before significant damage occurs. This guide covers threat intelligence fundamentals, the intelligence lifecycle, types of threat intelligence, sources and feeds, and building effective threat intelligence programs.
What is Threat Intelligence?
Threat intelligence (also cyber threat intelligence or CTI) is evidence-based knowledge about existing or emerging threats to assets, including context, mechanisms, indicators, implications, and actionable advice. Threat intelligence enables informed security decisions by answering: Who is targeting us? What are their capabilities? How do they operate? What should we prioritize?
Types of Threat Intelligence
Strategic Threat Intelligence
Audience: Executives, board members, non-technical stakeholders
Content:
- High-level threat landscape trends
- Risk assessments and business impact
- Threat actor motivations and capabilities
- Geopolitical cyber threat developments
Use case: Security budget allocation, risk management decisions
Tactical Threat Intelligence
Audience: Security architects, engineers
Content:
- Attacker TTPs (tactics, techniques, procedures)
- Attack vectors and methods
- Vulnerability exploitation patterns
- Defense recommendations
Use case: Security control selection, architecture decisions
Operational Threat Intelligence
Audience: SOC analysts, incident responders
Content:
- Specific attack campaigns
- Threat actor infrastructure
- Attack timing and patterns
- Attribution details
Use case: Threat hunting, incident response
Technical Threat Intelligence
Audience: Security tools (SIEM, IDS, firewalls)
Content:
- Indicators of Compromise (IOCs): IPs, domains, file hashes
- Malware signatures
- Attack patterns
- Machine-readable threat data
Use case: Automated blocking, detection rules
The Threat Intelligence Lifecycle
Phase 1: Planning and Direction
- Define intelligence requirements
- Identify priority intelligence questions
- Determine scope and objectives
Phase 2: Collection
- Gather data from multiple sources
- Internal logs and security events
- Open-source intelligence (OSINT)
- Commercial threat feeds
- Information sharing communities
Phase 3: Processing
- Normalize data into consistent format
- Enrich with context
- Correlate across sources
- Filter noise and false positives
Phase 4: Analysis
- Identify patterns and trends
- Assess threat relevance to organization
- Determine threat actor attribution
- Develop actionable recommendations
Phase 5: Dissemination
- Deliver intelligence to appropriate stakeholders
- Tailor format to audience (technical vs executive)
- Provide actionable recommendations
- Enable security control updates
Phase 6: Feedback
- Evaluate intelligence effectiveness
- Refine requirements based on needs
- Improve processes and sources
Threat Intelligence Sources
Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)
- Security blogs and research
- Vulnerability databases (CVE, NVD)
- Public threat feeds (AlienVault OTX)
- Security news and advisories
- Social media monitoring
Commercial Threat Feeds
- Recorded Future: Comprehensive threat intelligence
- Mandiant Advantage: APT intelligence
- CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence: Real-time threat data
- Anomali ThreatStream: Aggregated feeds
Information Sharing Communities
- ISACs: Industry-specific sharing (FS-ISAC, H-ISAC)
- CISA: Government threat bulletins
- MISP: Open-source threat sharing platform
Conclusion
Threat intelligence transforms security operations from reactive firefighting into proactive threat-informed defense. Organizations leveraging threat intelligence detect threats faster, prioritize defenses effectively, and hunt for adversaries before damage occurs.
subrosa provides threat intelligence services including threat intelligence program development, managed threat hunting, and threat intelligence integration with security operations. Schedule a consultation.