In any robust cybersecurity strategy, cyber threat intelligence holds a pivotal role. It can help organizations understand the threats they face, protect their assets, and respond to incidents faster and more efficiently.
But what exactly is cyber threat intelligence, and what are the different types of it? In this guide, we will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about cyber threat types and explain how they can benefit your organization.
What is Cyber Threat Intelligence?
Cyber threat intelligence refers to information gathered, processed, and scrutinized to grasp threat actors’ intentions, targets, and tactics.
This type of intelligence empowers us to swiftly and knowledgeably make security choices grounded in data, shifting our approach from being responsive to being anticipatory in our confrontation against threat actors.
It can help organizations:
- Illuminate areas of uncertainty, empowering security teams to enhance their decision-making.
- Empower cyber security stakeholders by revealing adversarial motives and their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP)
- Help security professionals better understand the threat actor’s decision-making process.
- Empower business stakeholders, such as executive boards, CISOs, CIOs, and CTOs, to invest wisely, mitigate risk, become more efficient, and make faster decisions.
What Are the Different Types of Cyber Threat Intelligence?
Different types of cyber threat intelligence serve other purposes and audiences. According to various sources, the main types are:
- Strategic: high-level analysis of threat actors, motives, and capabilities. It is intended for business stakeholders, such as executive boards, CISOs, CIOs, and CTOs, to help them make informed decisions, mitigate risk, and invest wisely.
- Tactical: best practices and recommendations to prevent or mitigate threats. It is intended for security professionals, such as analysts, engineers, and incident responders, to help them tailor their defenses and respond faster to incidents.
- Technical: specific indicators of compromise (IOCs) and malware signatures that can be used to detect and respond to threats. It is intended for security tools like networks, IPS, firewalls, and SIEMs to help them identify and block malicious activity.
- Operational: actionable intelligence on ongoing or imminent attacks, such as targets, methods, and sources. It is intended for security teams or law enforcement agencies to help them disrupt or prevent seizures.
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Some other types of cyber threat intelligence that can provide additional context or information are:
- Open-source: collects information from publicly available sources, such as news, social media, and public reports. It can help identify emerging trends, threats, or vulnerabilities.
- Geospatial: collects information from geospatial data, such as GPS data and maps. It can help locate the physical origin or destination of threats.
- Financial: contains information about the financial capabilities or motivation of the attackers. It can help trace the money flow or detect suspicious transactions.
- Tech: collects information on equipment and material used by the attackers. It can help assess their technical skills or resources.
How Can I Use Cyber Threat Intelligence Types Effectively?
To use cyber threat intelligence types effectively, you need to:
- Define your objectives and requirements: What are you trying to achieve with cyber threat intelligence? What are your information needs and gaps? Who are your stakeholders and consumers?
- Choose suitable sources and methods: Where can you get reliable and relevant cyber threat intelligence? How can you collect, process, analyze, and disseminate it? What tools and techniques can you use?
- Evaluate the quality and value: How accurate, timely, complete, and actionable is your cyber threat intelligence? How does it help you achieve your objectives and requirements? How can you measure its impact and return on investment?
- Share and collaborate: How can you communicate your cyber threat intelligence effectively? How can you leverage external partners or communities for more insights or feedback? How can you align your cyber threat intelligence with your organizational goals and culture?
What is the classification of cyber threat intelligence?
Cyber threat intelligence can be classified into three types: strategic, tactical, and operational. Every form of threat intelligence serves a distinct purpose and function, and their collective utilization can provide organizations with a holistic understanding of the risks they encounter.
The three types of threat intelligence are fundamental to building a comprehensive threat assessment.
- Strategic: high-level analysis of threat actors, motives, and capabilities. It is intended for business stakeholders, such as executive boards, CISOs, CIOs, and CTOs, to help them make informed decisions, mitigate risk, and invest wisely.
- Tactical: best practices and recommendations to prevent or reduce threats. It is intended for security professionals, such as analysts, engineers, and incident responders, to help them tailor their defenses and respond faster to incidents.
- Operational: actionable intelligence on ongoing or imminent attacks, such as targets, methods, and sources. It is intended for security teams or law enforcement agencies to help disrupt or prevent seizures.
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What are the five types of cyber attacks?
Cyberattacks can be categorized into two primary types: active and passive. Active attacks strive to modify or dismantle system resources or data, while passive attacks aim to extract information from the system without causing any alterations.
Some of the most common types of active cyber attacks are malware, phishing, password, zero-day, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and ransomware. Some of the most common passive cyber attacks are eavesdropping and transmission monitoring.
- Malware: Malware refers to a file, program, or code intentionally crafted to interfere with, harm, or illicitly access a computer system. Malicious links sent through phishing emails, unaddressed vulnerabilities, or policy misconfigurations are common vectors for delivering malware.
- Phishing: A deceptive email impersonating a trustworthy company, aiming to deceive individuals into revealing personal information or engaging with malevolent links or attachments.
- Password: an attack that attempts to guess or steal passwords to access a system or account. Password attacks can use brute force methods, dictionary attacks, keyloggers, or social engineering techniques.
- Zero-day: an attack that uses a previously unknown vulnerability in a software or system before the vendor patches it. Zero-day attacks can be complicated to detect and prevent.
- SQL injection: an attack that inserts malicious SQL commands into a database query to manipulate or access data. SQL injection attacks can compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the database.
- Cross-site scripting: an attack that injects malicious scripts into a web page to execute on the user’s browser. Cross-site scripting attacks can steal cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive information from the user.
- Ransomware: Ransomware is a form of malware that restricts system access or menaces to expose private information until a ransom is remitted. Such attacks can either encrypt the victim’s data or immobilize their screen.
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Conclusion
For any organization aiming to enhance its cybersecurity stance and resilience, cyber threat intelligence is a potent asset. By understanding the different types of cyber threat intelligence and how to use them effectively, you can gain a competitive edge over your adversaries and protect your organization from current and future threats.
If you want to learn more about cyber threat intelligence types or how we can help you with our services, please contact us today. We would love to hear from you!
