Types of Threat Intelligence
Threat intelligence refers to information regarding possible or current cyber threats that enables organizations to comprehend and reduce security risks. Organizations often use a variety of threat intelligence types. Here are a few examples:
Strategic Intelligence
The main goal of this kind of threat intelligence is to give an overview of the threat landscape to the organization, including new trends, attacker profiles, motives, and geopolitical factors. It is a high-level analysis intended for non-technical audiences, such as executives and decision-makers, to help them comprehend the cyber risk that their organization is facing. It helps organizations set priorities for security activities to successfully reduce risks in long-term planning and decision-making.
Tactical Intelligence:
Tactical threat intelligence makes it possible for more technically savvy audiences, such as the security operations center (SOC) and incident response teams, to identify and address cyberattacks as they are happening in real-time. It offers more detailed and valuable information regarding threats, such as indicators of compromise (IOCs), malware analysis, vulnerabilities, and attack methods. It helps organizations detect and respond to immediate threats.
Technical Intelligence:
This type of threat intelligence focuses on technical specifics and an in-depth examination of cyber threats. It gives details on the behavior of malware, exploit techniques, network traffic patterns, and vulnerabilities in the system. Organizations can learn more about the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by threat actors. This knowledge enables organizations to develop and implement effective countermeasures, strengthen their defenses, and proactively detect and respond to emerging threats.
Operational Intelligence:
This type of intelligence provides information about existing threats and attacks in real-time. It includes up-to-date intelligence on active campaigns, specific targets, attack infrastructure, and indicators of ongoing compromises. Operational threat intelligence enables organizations to decisively and efficiently respond to urgent threats, allowing them to contain and mitigate attacks. Organizations may proactively defend their networks, systems, and sensitive data from cyber threats through the use of operational threat intelligence
Each type of threat intelligence serves a specific purpose and audience within an organization. By utilizing a combination of these intelligence types, organizations can gain a holistic understanding of the cyber threat landscape, implement proactive security measures, and effectively protect their assets from potential and existing cyber threats.
