The threat intelligence lifecycle is a process that empowers organizations to proactively defend against cyber threats. Security teams can produce valuable and actionable threat intelligence by following the six steps of planning, threat data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and feedback. This intelligence enables organizations to make informed decisions, strengthen their cybersecurity defenses, and stay one step ahead of malicious actors.
What are the steps of the threat intelligence lifecycle?
The threat intelligence lifecycle requires ongoing refinement and adaptation. Organizations can mitigate risks and protect their valuable assets by embracing and integrating this lifecycle into their cybersecurity strategies.
Step 1: Planning
The threat intelligence lifecycle begins with planning. Security analysts collaborate with organizational stakeholders, including executive leaders, department heads, IT teams, and security professionals, to establish intelligence requirements during this stage.
Step 2: Threat data collection
Once the intelligence requirements are established, the security team collects threat data. This data serves as the foundation for generating valuable threat intelligence. When investigating a specific threat, such as a new ransomware strain, the team gathers information about the threat actors, their previous targets, and the attack vectors employed in previous attacks. There are various sources from which threat data can be collected:
- Threat intelligence feeds
- Information-sharing communities
- Internal security logs
Security teams often aggregate the collected data in a centralized dashboard, such as a SIEM or a threat intelligence platform, to streamline data management.
Step 3: Processing
In the processing stage, security analysts aggregate, standardize, and correlate the raw threat data collected. This processing step aims to make the data more manageable and conducive to analysis. Analysts may filter out false positives, apply threat intelligence frameworks or identify trends and patterns in the data.
Many threat intelligence tools automate this processing stage thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning advancements. These tools can correlate threat information from multiple sources and uncover initial trends or patterns, saving valuable time and effort for analysts.
Step 4: Analysis
The analysis is the pivotal stage where raw threat data transforms into actionable threat intelligence. Security analysts meticulously test and verify trends, patterns, and other insights to answer stakeholders' security requirements and make informed recommendations.
By examining the collected data, analysts can identify specific vulnerabilities in the organization's IT infrastructure that threat actors will likely exploit and recommend security controls or patches to mitigate them.
For instance, if analysts find that a ransomware gang has targeted other businesses in the organization's industry, they may suggest implementing additional security measures to protect against similar attacks.
Step 5: Dissemination
Once the analysis is complete, the security team shares their insights and recommendations with the relevant stakeholders. These stakeholders include executives, IT teams, system administrators, and other personnel responsible for implementing security measures. The dissemination of threat intelligence enables proactive actions to mitigate risks and enhance the organization's security posture. Some actions that may be taken based on threat intelligence recommendations include:
- Establishing new SIEM detection rules to target newly identified indicators of compromise (IoCs)
- Updating firewall blacklists to block traffic from suspicious IP addresses
- Integrating threat intelligence data with security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) tools to automate incident response processes
- Assigning risk scores to prioritize threats and allocate resources effectively
Step 6: Feedback
The feedback stage allows for continuous improvement in the threat intelligence lifecycle. Stakeholders and analysts reflect on the most recent cycle to determine if the intelligence requirements were met and the insights provided were valuable. This stage also serves as an opportunity to identify any new questions or intelligence gaps that may inform the next iteration of the lifecycle.
Organizations can enhance their threat intelligence capabilities by incorporating feedback to refine their intelligence requirements and stay ahead of emerging threats.
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Farah Amod
