What is Threat Intelligence used for?

Threat Intelligence threat Intelligence (TI) is evidence-based knowledge about existing or emerging threats. TI encompasses information about TTPs, IOCs, attacker attribution, and context enabling better security decisions and proactive threat defense. Learn more in the full article above.

How does Threat Intelligence work?

Threat Intelligence (TI) is evidence-based knowledge about existing or emerging threats. TI encompasses information about TTPs, IOCs, attacker attribution, and context enabling better security decisions and proactive threat defense. Detailed explanation can be found in the article above.

What is Threat Intelligence?

Threat Intelligence Definition

Threat Intelligence is the collection, processing, and analysis of information about threats to support security decisions. TI provides context that transforms raw data (logs, alerts) into actionable knowledge about who is attacking, how, and why.

Threat Intelligence Pyramid

Strategic (Executive level):

Geopolitical trends
Threat actor motivations
Long-term risks
Audience: C-level, board

Operational (Analyst level):

Campaign analysis
TTPs of specific groups
Incident context
Audience: SOC managers, threat hunters

Tactical (Technical level):

IOCs (indicators of compromise)
Malware signatures
Malicious IPs/domains
Audience: SOC analysts, automation

Threat Intelligence Lifecycle

Planning: Defining intelligence needs
Collection: Gathering data from sources
Processing: Normalization and correlation
Analysis: Creating intelligence products
Dissemination: Delivery to stakeholders
Feedback: Evaluation of usefulness

TI Sources

Internal:

Own incidents
Logs and telemetry
Threat hunting findings

External:

Commercial TI feeds
ISACs (sector-specific)
Open source (OSINT)
Government agencies (CERT, CISA)

TI in Security Operations

SIEM: IOC correlation with events
EDR: Threat hunting using TI
Firewall: Blocking known malicious IPs
Email gateway: Phishing domains
Vulnerability management: Prioritization based on exploitation

Intelligence Requirements

Before implementing TI, define:

What threats are relevant to the organization?
Who will be the consumer of intelligence?
What decisions will TI support?
What sources to use?

TI Platforms (TIP)

TI management tools:

IOC aggregation from multiple sources
Deduplication and normalization
SIEM/EDR integration
Collaboration and sharing

Threat intelligence is essential for proactive security, enabling threats to be anticipated rather than merely reacted to.