What is Cyber Threat Intelligence? A Detailed Guide (2024)

Cyber Threat Intelligence

Cyber threat intelligence is a new type of intelligence being developed by researchers, IT security professionals and other industry professionals.

It includes information on the state of cyber threats, their locations and methods, as well as their impact on business networks and systems.

This type of intelligence is beneficial for businesses and governments as it helps them detect and stop cyberattacks before they happen.

Today, cyber threats are not as easy to detect and prevent as in the past. However, Organizations use this type of information to their advantage by using it to protect their web-based systems, networks, applications, and data.

People associated with this process have a better understanding of how hackers work, as well as what information they seek out to do their daily work. Essentially, cyber threats are the spoils of war being carried out by hackers in the cyber world.

Hiring qualified cybersecurity professionals will give business owners a lot more control over how they protect themselves against cyber attacks.

Risk Intelligence is a type of intelligence that is able to identify who the biggest risk is on the network and what kind of information they send onto it.

It knows when and where a hacker may be coming from which will prevent them from becoming victims in the first place.

This type of intelligence comes in handy when businesses have to deal with attacks very frequently and thus need the resources to secure their networks.

For example, if a hacker were using open-source software to send malware through the network, then it would be possible for them to identify the specific type of attacks such as ransomware, spyware, command and control to gain access to the system.

What are the Three Types of Cyber Threat Intelligence?

Cyber threat intelligence can be classified into three types:

1) Threat Intelligence

This type of cyber threat intelligence comes from external sources such as the public sector, private sector and law enforcement agencies. This type of information is not shared with the public for security reasons.

2) Vulnerability Intelligence

This type of cyber threat intelligence also comes from external sources. It includes third-party research firms that regularly collect data on threats.

3) Internal data

This type of cyber threat intelligence refers to any information that companies have collected about their own networks to identify threats.

The United States and Canada have experienced a growing number of cyber attacks since the turn of the century due to increasing technology integration, global expanding markets, and new countries becoming connected in cyberspace.

Cyber attacks can lead to public disclosure of government secrets, private sector business data theft or loss of intellectual property rights. Cyber attacks are considered one of the most serious threats to the national security of countries.

Cyber attacks are considered one of the most serious threats to the national security of countries.

• Businesses, citizens and nation-states face a growing need for cyber intelligence in order to protect themselves from malicious activity on their networks.

• New capabilities and technologies are enabling the emergence of new cyber intelligence disciplines.

• The expanding market for cyber intelligence services has led to an increase in demand for these products and services.

What is the Role of Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst?

Cyber threat intelligence analysts are responsible for analyzing cyber threats and their impact on business. They have to be able to find the best possible solution for a given situation.

This means that you need to be able to identify and isolate problems, so your team can fix them. They will be responsible for finding cost-effective solutions, which you can implement into your business.

This is an all-encompassing role in a company that requires a strong analytical skillset, diplomatic and communication skills, and problem-solving abilities.

If you want to be sure that you’ll be able to hold your own in this job then a cybersecurity qualification like Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or a specific certification in that domain is a requirement.

There are many companies that hire cybersecurity specialists who earn between $100,000-$130,000 per year depending on their role within the company. 

Cyber Threat Intelligence Certification

With the rise of cyber threat intelligence, there is a need for companies to ensure that they are prepared to deal with the threats. To do this, they need to invest in cyber threat intelligence and get certified in it.

However, getting certified can be very time-consuming and expensive. And it is not as easy as getting a certificate from an online platform. So many companies don’t bother with it since they think that the certification is just a waste of time and money.

GIAC Cyber Threat Intelligence

The GIAC Cyber Threat Intelligence (GCTI) Program is a set of programs that focuses on cyber threat intelligence collection and analysis, with special emphasis on threat actors targeting critical infrastructure systems such as

• Water supply
• Power grids
• Nuclear facilities
• Transportation systems and
• Other critical infrastructures around the world

The GCTI program provides information about global cyber threats to protect U.S. interests from those who seek to attack or compromise critical infrastructure systems for profit or political gain.

This is done through espionage or sabotage of these systems by nation-state actors or criminal elements affiliated with these actors.

The GCTI Program provides information to the United States Government, including through the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), as well as international partners.

The goal of the GCTI Program is to prevent attacks against U.S. infrastructure, improve the resilience of critical systems and networks in the event of an attack, and protect U.S. interests in cyberspace.

In brief, the GCTI Program gives access to the monitoring of cyber threats that affect communications and information technology systems.

It also provides information about the types of attacks and their methods so that they can be more easily detected by observing changes in behavior, IP addresses and other indicators of a cyber attack.

The director of national intelligence has said that it will be used to support law enforcement and intelligence capabilities in cyberspace, as well as protect privacy interests.

Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA) program

The Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA) program is a certification for people who are interested in the field of Computer Forensics and are responsible for identifying and analyzing threats to information systems and networks.

The purpose of the CTIA certification is to provide credentialing and recognition that will allow individuals to pursue careers in this field. Certification does not guarantee success at work in the IT profession.

The CTIA certification provides the opportunity to acquire practical skills in the areas of incident response, threat analysis, and information technology security.

The certification is for those who want to get into this field as an entry-level job, and it should help any candidate obtain a position in the information security field.

The CTIA certification requires only that individuals be able to identify and manage threats to a computer system that fall within the scope of information technology security.

Cyber Threat Intelligence Jobs

The demand for cyber threat intelligence is increasing at a rapid pace. The Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 8% during the forecast period.

The importance of CTI for organizations has increased as cybersecurity incidents are becoming more frequent and severe. Many organizations have started to invest in cybersecurity to maintain a high level of security.

Cyber threat intelligence will reduce the potential damages due to cyber-attacks and translate into higher profits for businesses.

The competitive landscape is highly fragmented due to the lack of regulations and continuous operating challenges faced by enterprises.

The scope for growth in the market is highly uncertain due to limited regulatory framework, lack of product innovation and high-cost nature of cyber threat intelligence monitoring services.

However, growth is expected to be driven by countries such as the United States, India and China in the mid-to-long term. Key findings:

1. Cyber threat intelligence will lead the market for cybersecurity threat monitoring and management in the coming years

2. Security will be a critical requirement for enterprises across all industries in the future.

3. The application of cybersecurity processes to increasingly challenging threats requires greater automation and smarter software to support more advanced security processes.

4. High-quality data, intelligent analytics, and advanced technology are required to resolve evolving cyber-attacks.

5. Threat actors are the primary drivers of cybersecurity threats, but competition from cyber-resilient organizations will remain an important factor in the security market.

6. Primary geographies for growth include the Asia Pacific and North America.

7. Emerging technology and applications such as blockchain will have a positive economic impact on the security market

8. The overall volume forecast for this market is $5.24 billion by 2025.

Cyber Threat Intelligence Report

A cyber threat intelligence report is a document that provides an overview of the cyber threats and vulnerabilities of a company. It also includes recommendations on how to prevent cyber attacks.

The report is usually created by a team of security experts who have expertise in this field. The main purpose of the report is to help companies protect themselves from cyber attacks, but it can also be used for marketing purposes.

Cyber threat intelligence reports are very popular in the market because they can help companies save millions of dollars in their budgets by preventing cyber-attacks and mitigating their effects. 

The report includes information about the company, including its profile and a list of current technology. It also includes a list of the top cyber threats to the company, as well as its vulnerabilities.

The document is organized into five sections: Vulnerabilities, Network security, Estimated cost savings/cost avoidance, potential security methodologies to be implemented and recommended actions. 

Cyber threat intelligence reports typically have a list of recommended actions readers can take to address their problems and reduce costs.

The top five vulnerabilities are

• Privileged access
• Encryption keys
• Firewall policy management
• Malware control
• Endpoint security

The following recommendations would help the company address these problems:

• Limit privileged access by changing default passwords when appropriate; monitor endpoint security to ensure it is configured correctly.
• Monitor for suspicious activity by looking for information traffic that is not from known sources.
• Ensure all encryption keys are managed centrally and backed up in a safe location.
• Monitor firewall policy changes to ensure that the appropriate changes are being made.

What are the benefits of Cyber Intelligence?

• Cyber intelligence offers more opportunities to gather more robust, accurate and comprehensive information about threats with less risk of error.

• Cyber intelligence is an important tool for finding weaknesses in networks that can be exploited by hackers. and can help identify the cyber vulnerabilities of a network.

• Cyber intelligence is also used to gauge the level of cyber intrusion on a network and in doing so, can provide better security.

Cyber Threat Intelligence Tools

Cyber threat intelligence can be collected through a variety of tools and methods, including:

• Use of honeypots to collect data on cyber threats
• Publicly available data such as hacker chat logs
• Diving into a network’s systems and manually finding out what data is being captured, how the software works to capture the information and what commands are used to capture the data.

Cyber threat intelligence tools can also be used to detect new online threats that have not yet been seen by IT security professionals before. It can provide an early warning system for potential breaches.

For example, if a new email address is found to be malicious and is sending out spam, this information could then be fed into an automated malware detection tool, which would then warn IT, specialists.

What are the levels of Threat Intelligence?

The article discusses the levels of threat intelligence. It talks about how the levels of threat intelligence are divided into three categories

• Low-level threats are those that have limited impact and can be mitigated by a security product.
• Medium-level threats have an average impact and can be addressed by a security product with a few changes.
• High-level threats have a high impact and require a complete overhaul of the security product to address them.

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