Why CTI is important to implement

In today's digital age, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) has become an essential aspect of modern business operations. CTI refers to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information about potential threats and attacks on an organisation's IT infrastructure. This intelligence is crucial to mitigate potential risks and protect against cybersecurity threats. In this article, we will discuss the key factors that impact CTI, proactive security measures, trade offs, and challenges involved in CTI, and the importance of considering the impact of CTI.

Key factors impacting Cyber Threat Intelligence

CTI is a crucial element of every organisation’s cyberdefense - by knowing which cybertreats each department faces, you might find it a lot easier to prevent cyberattacks from happening.

What you can look at to improve your cyber threat intelligence is:

• Threat actors: Understanding the different threat actors is essential to creating a comprehensive CTI strategy. Threat actors can include nation-states, organised crime groups, or individuals. Each of these actors has different motivations and methods of attack, which can inform an organisation's security measures. By knowing what each threat actor is motivated by, you can improve and adjust your cyberdefense, so you avoid an attack.

• Threat intelligence sources: The sources of CTI can vary from open source intelligence (OSINT) to closed source intelligence (CSINT). OSINT is information that is publicly available, while CSINT is intelligence that is gathered from classified or restricted sources.

• Threat intelligence platforms: The tools and platforms used to collect, analyse, and disseminate CTI can also impact an organisation's CTI strategy. These platforms can range from simple threat feeds to more advanced platforms that integrate multiple sources of data.

Proactive Security Measures

CTI is a proactive approach to cybersecurity; being proactive ensures that you are one step ahead of the hacker. If you know where and how the hackers infiltrate your systems, you can patch the holes and entry points - this is both in the software, but also by training your employees with awareness training.

Below we have listed some of the essential proactive security measures that your organisation can adopt in your cyber security:

• Implementing a strong cybersecurity posture: A security posture is important to your organisation because it is essentially an assessment of your software and cybersecurity initiatives. A strong cybersecurity posture includes implementing best practices for network security, such as secure configurations, firewalls, and access controls.

• Awareness training: Employee education and training programs are crucial to prevent insider threats, phishing attacks, and other forms of social engineering. Through awareness training each employee gets an insight into the world of the hacker, as well as learn their methods of tricking people into clicking on a phishing mail.

• Vulnerability management: Organisations must proactively identify and remediate vulnerabilities in their IT infrastructure in order to prevent potential exploits. When you know which vulnerabilities there are in your software (and how employees react to phishing), you can correct them to strengthen your cybersecurity.

Tradeoffs and Challenges

One of the biggest challenges in CTI is balancing the need for proactive measures with the potential cost and impact on business operations. An organisation must decide how much the cybersecurity is important - and of course how many financial means they wish to spend on it.

Additionally, organisations must weigh the benefits of using advanced threat intelligence platforms against the cost of investment and maintenance. It is important to note, though, that hacking attacks can have a great cost on an organisation if the hacker is smart enough. It is often a better investment to train and educate employees on cybersecurity through awareness training, as well as updating software etc., than not doing it.

A challenge about CTI is that it can create a false sense of security, as organisations may rely too heavily on the information provided and neglect other security measures. This should of course be avoided.

Another challenge might also be the speed at which cyber threats evolve which can make it difficult for organisations to keep up with the latest threats and vulnerabilities. That is why every organisation and their IT departments should have updated software and hardware. Service providers know about the newest threats, so your software is as updated as possible - if you update it yourself of course.

The Importance of Considering Impact

When implementing CTI measures, organisations must consider the potential impact on business operations, including the costs of implementation, maintenance, and potential disruptions. Instead of seeing it as a costly one-time initiative, it can benefit an organisation to perceive the CTI measures as a long-time investment for the organisation as well as the employees.

Furthermore, organisations must also consider the ethical implications of collecting and using CTI, such as the protection of individual privacy rights. GDPR and privacy policies become crucial when handling sensitive personal data - every employee has the right to privacy, and so do your customers. The privacy and right to this is of utmost importance.

CTI is a critical aspect of modern cybersecurity. Organisations must stay vigilant and proactive in their approach to CTI, utilising a variety of sources and platforms to ensure that they are adequately protected against potential threats.

Balancing the tradeoffs and challenges of CTI requires careful consideration of the potential impact on business operations and ethical considerations. By implementing a comprehensive CTI strategy, organisations can protect against potential cyber threats and minimise the risks of data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents.