Book Image

Operationalizing Threat Intelligence

By : Kyle Wilhoit, Joseph Opacki
Book Image

Operationalizing Threat Intelligence

By: Kyle Wilhoit, Joseph Opacki

Overview of this book

We’re living in an era where cyber threat intelligence is becoming more important. Cyber threat intelligence routinely informs tactical and strategic decision-making throughout organizational operations. However, finding the right resources on the fundamentals of operationalizing a threat intelligence function can be challenging, and that’s where this book helps. In Operationalizing Threat Intelligence, you’ll explore cyber threat intelligence in five fundamental areas: defining threat intelligence, developing threat intelligence, collecting threat intelligence, enrichment and analysis, and finally production of threat intelligence. You’ll start by finding out what threat intelligence is and where it can be applied. Next, you’ll discover techniques for performing cyber threat intelligence collection and analysis using open source tools. The book also examines commonly used frameworks and policies as well as fundamental operational security concepts. Later, you’ll focus on enriching and analyzing threat intelligence through pivoting and threat hunting. Finally, you’ll examine detailed mechanisms for the production of intelligence. By the end of this book, you’ll be equipped with the right tools and understand what it takes to operationalize your own threat intelligence function, from collection to production.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Section 1: What Is Threat Intelligence?
6
Section 2: How to Collect Threat Intelligence
12
Section 3: What to Do with Threat Intelligence

Chapter 2: Threat Actors, Campaigns, and Tooling

When people think of threat actors, they often associate the iconography of the hooded miscreant; hiding out in a basement, their features illuminated by the glow of the monitor, tirelessly pecking on the keys of a worn-out keyboard. While this may be a semi-accurate portrayal for a percentage, the reality is that threat actors are far more professional and organized. Studying their behaviors and approaches to committing cybercrimes is much more detailed and involves studying the threat actors, their motivations, and the associated tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that they utilize in their attack chain.

As we learned in the previous chapter, there are many diverse methods we can use to collect, enrich, rate, and operationalize threat intelligence. A foundational part of CTI involves studying and understanding threat actors, campaigns, vulnerabilities, and malware. These building blocks, when properly defined, help determine...