Establishing a Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) team is crucial for enhancing the operational efficiency and effectiveness of a Security Operation Center (SOC). The CTI team acts as the SOC’s eyes and ears, proactively gathering and analyzing information on adversaries’ tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). By staying ahead of the constantly evolving threat landscape, the CTI team enables the SOC to anticipate, identify, and mitigate potential threats before they can exploit vulnerabilities within the organization’s infrastructure.
This team is responsible for continuous intelligence gathering, leveraging open-source intelligence (OSINT) and proprietary sources to monitor and analyze threat activities. They investigate indicators of compromise (IOCs) and assess the relevance and severity of emerging threats specific to the organization’s environment. By doing so, they provide actionable insights that help refine security strategies, update defensive measures, and enhance incident response protocols.
Furthermore, the CTI team monitors the company’s technological footprint. This involves closely monitoring the security landscape for any disclosed vulnerabilities related to the organization’s software, hardware, or services. Upon discovering a new vulnerability, the CTI team promptly assesses the risk it poses to the organization, determines the likelihood of exploitation, and collaborates with the SOC to ensure appropriate patches or mitigations are implemented. This vigilance reduces the attack surface and minimizes the potential impact of zero-day exploits.
Vast amounts of data must be collected and processed to operate an effective CTI program. The sheer volume of information generated daily—from threat feeds, vulnerability databases, and other intelligence sources—necessitates a robust approach to data management and analysis.
Take vulnerability management, for instance, if you don’t mind. More than 50 new vulnerabilities are disclosed daily, up to thousands annually. Each disclosed vulnerability must be meticulously examined to determine its relevance to the organization. This involves reading, studying, and analyzing each vulnerability to assess its potential impact. If a vulnerability is deemed appropriate, the appropriate response process will need to be started, including patching, reconfiguring systems, or implementing temporary workarounds.
However, not all vulnerabilities pose the same level of risk. A vulnerability that is deeply embedded within a system—one that is not directly exposed to the Internet or critical company operations—may require a different remediation approach and urgency than one that is publicly accessible and could be easily exploited by attackers. The context in which a vulnerability exists, such as its proximity to critical data or its exposure to external threats, plays a significant role in determining the appropriate response.
A comprehensive register or inventory must be maintained within the organization to manage this process effectively. This register should contain detailed information about the technology used, where it is deployed, and its relationship to other Configuration Items (CIs) and critical business processes. It is not just a matter of listing assets; it is about understanding the interdependencies and potential attack paths that could be exploited through these assets. Keeping this register up-to-date is critical, as outdated information can lead to incorrect assessments, delayed responses, and increased vulnerability to attacks.
Typically, this information is maintained within an IT Service Management (ITSM) platform. The ITSM platform is a centralized repository that helps organize and track assets, configurations, and changes. However, in practice, not all relevant information can be, or is, stored in the ITSM platform. Gaps in data or incomplete records can significantly undermine the effectiveness of the CTI team. For example, suppose the ITSM platform needs more detailed mapping of how specific systems interact or omits information about shadow IT (unauthorized systems and applications). In that case, the CTI team may need help fully understanding the potential impact of a given threat.
The effectiveness and efficiency of the CTI program is directly influenced by the completeness and accuracy of the data it relies on. An incomplete or poorly maintained register can lead to blind spots, where particular vulnerabilities or threats are not fully understood or addressed. This can expose critical assets to attack, negating the proactive measures the CTI team is meant to implement.
To mitigate these risks, organizations must ensure that their ITSM platforms are as comprehensive and up-to-date as possible, incorporating all relevant data and continuously updating it as the IT environment evolves. Additionally, supplementary data sources and tools should be integrated with the ITSM platform to fill gaps, providing the CTI team with the most accurate and actionable intelligence possible. This holistic approach is critical to maintaining a strong cybersecurity posture, where the CTI team can operate effectively to protect the organization against current and emerging threats.
While maintaining an up-to-date ITSM platform is crucial for running an effective CTI program, it is only one component of a comprehensive strategy. The dynamic nature of cybersecurity threats requires more than just accurate asset management; it demands sophisticated tools and platforms capable of processing, analyzing, and correlating vast amounts of threat data. This is where a dedicated CTI platform becomes indispensable.
As part of its core functions, the CTI team continuously gathers extensive data from various sources, including threat feeds, open-source intelligence (OSINT), dark web monitoring, and internal telemetry. The sheer volume of this data can be overwhelming, making it nearly impossible to sift through and extract meaningful insights promptly manually. The team typically relies on a CTI platform designed to handle this data collection, storage, and analysis at scale.
https://filigran.io/solutions/open-cti
One widely recognized CTI platform is OpenCTI. This open-source platform provides a robust framework for managing cyber threat intelligence, enabling teams to centralize their data, automate the ingestion of threat feeds, and perform in-depth analysis. OpenCTI integrates seamlessly with other security tools and systems, such as SIEM, IDS/IPS, and ITSM platforms, ensuring a cohesive security ecosystem. The platform allows CTI teams to:
- Centralize Threat Data: OpenCTI is a single repository for all threat intelligence data, consolidating information from various sources. This centralization gives the team a unified view of the threat landscape, reducing the likelihood of missing critical information.
- Automate Data Ingestion: Given the volume of data the CTI team must process, automation is key. OpenCTI can automatically ingest and normalize data from multiple threat intelligence sources, saving the team valuable time and ensuring that new intelligence is immediately available for analysis.
- Conduct Advanced Analysis: The platform’s analytical capabilities allow the CTI team to correlate disparate pieces of data, identifying patterns, trends, and potential IOCs. This advanced analysis helps the team predict the TTPs adversaries may use in future attacks, enabling proactive defense measures.
- Generate Actionable Intelligence: Beyond raw data, OpenCTI helps transform intelligence into actionable insights. By correlating threat data with the organization’s technological footprint (as maintained in the ITSM platform), the CTI team can prioritize vulnerabilities, identify high-risk assets, and recommend specific actions to mitigate threats.
- Facilitate Collaboration and Sharing: Cyber threats and threat intelligence are not confined to a single organization. OpenCTI supports sharing intelligence within trusted communities, enabling collaboration with other organizations, sectors, and government entities. This collaborative approach enhances the overall effectiveness of the CTI program by leveraging shared knowledge and insights.
However, even with a powerful platform like OpenCTI, the success of a CTI program depends on more than just technology. The data fed into the platform must be accurate, timely, and relevant. Continuous updates to the ITSM platform, as well as other data sources, are essential to ensure that the intelligence generated is based on the most current and comprehensive information available.
Furthermore, the CTI team must possess the expertise to interpret the data and translate it into actionable strategies. The combination of human expertise, advanced CTI platforms like OpenCTI, and a well-maintained ITSM system creates a synergistic effect, greatly enhancing the organization’s ability to anticipate, detect, and respond to cyber threats.
Integrating a Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platform within a SOC significantly enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of a CTI program. SOAR platforms are designed to automate and streamline various security processes, reducing the manual effort required for repetitive tasks and allowing the SOC team to focus on more complex and strategic initiatives. When a SOAR platform is leveraged alongside CTI efforts, it can significantly amplify the capabilities of the SOC, leading to faster response times, improved accuracy, and more informed decision-making.
One of the primary benefits of integrating a SOAR platform is its ability to automate a wide range of CTI tasks. For example, SOAR can be programmed to automatically collect and aggregate threat intelligence from various sources, such as threat feeds, internal logs, and external databases. This automation accelerates the data-gathering process and continuously updates the intelligence, providing the CTI team with the most current information.
Moreover, SOAR platforms can automate the correlation and analysis of threat data. The platform can quickly identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate potential threats by applying predefined rules and machine learning algorithms. For instance, when a new vulnerability is disclosed, the SOAR platform can automatically cross-reference it with the organization’s asset inventory, assess its relevance, and initiate the appropriate remediation process without requiring manual intervention.
Despite the high level of automation, not all tasks may execute flawlessly. When a task fails—such as a data collection process, an integration, or an automated response—the SOAR platform is equipped to detect these failures and promptly notify the relevant stakeholders. This proactive notification system ensures that issues are addressed promptly, minimizing potential security workflow gaps. The SOC team can then investigate the cause of the failure, rectify the issue, and ensure that operations resume smoothly.
Another critical function of a SOAR platform is its ability to contextualize threat data. By enriching raw intelligence with additional context—such as information about the affected assets, their criticality to business operations, and their exposure to external threats—the SOAR platform helps the CTI team assess the severity and importance of each threat.
For example, if a vulnerability is detected on a system exposed to the Internet and is crucial to core business functions, the SOAR platform can automatically elevate its severity rating. Conversely, if a similar vulnerability is found on an internal system with limited exposure and impact, the platform may classify it as a lower priority. This automated contextualization allows the SOC to prioritize threats more effectively, ensuring that the most critical risks are addressed first.
A SOAR platform accelerates the CTI workflow and enhances the quality of decision-making within the SOC by integrating automation, contextualization, and prioritization. The platform gives analysts a clear, prioritized view of threats supported by detailed context and actionable insights. This enables the SOC team to respond more quickly and confidently, reducing the time to detect and remediate threats.
Furthermore, using SOAR in conjunction with CTI platforms like OpenCTI creates a powerful synergy. While the CTI platform focuses on gathering and analyzing intelligence, the SOAR platform ensures that the resulting insights are operationalized effectively. For instance, once a threat is identified and prioritized, the SOAR platform can automatically trigger incident response actions, such as isolating affected systems, applying patches, or updating firewall rules. This closed-loop process streamlines the response and reduces the likelihood of human error.
When multiple data feeds are integrated into a CTI platform, the likelihood of encountering conflicting data increases. This is essential for any organization leveraging CTI, particularly when deploying automated security use cases that rely heavily on accurate and consistent threat intelligence. Managing these conflicts is essential to ensuring that security operations are effective and accurate in their response to potential threats.
CTI platforms often aggregate data from various sources, including commercial threat intelligence providers, OSINT, internal security logs, and community-driven feeds. Each source may present differing information about the same threat, such as varying IOCs, risk scores, or even conflicting details about TTPs used by adversaries. These discrepancies can arise due to differences in data collection methods, analysis techniques, or the timeliness of the information.
For example, one threat feed may identify a specific IP address as part of a botnet, while another may classify it as a legitimate service that was temporarily compromised. When such conflicting information is ingested into the CTI platform, it can create ambiguity and lead to challenges in decision-making, especially when automated processes are in place.
The impact of conflicting data becomes particularly pronounced when use cases that rely on CTI data are enabled. Take, for example, a use case designed to detect and block traffic originating from TOR-exit nodes. Threat actors commonly use TOR-exit nodes to anonymize their activities, making them a critical indicator for security monitoring. However, suppose one data feed inaccurately labels an IP address as a TOR-exit node while another does not. In that case, the use case may either trigger false positives—blocking legitimate traffic—or fail to detect a real threat.
This inconsistency can have significant operational consequences, such as unnecessary disruptions to legitimate business activities or missed detection of malicious activities. Therefore, ensuring the accuracy and consistency of the CTI data is crucial for the reliability of these automated security use cases.
To address the issue of conflicting data, several strategies can be employed within the CTI and SOC workflow:
- Data Normalization and Enrichment: One of the first steps in managing conflicting data is to normalize and enrich the information as it enters the CTI platform. Normalization involves converting data into a consistent format, making it easier to compare and correlate. Enrichment adds additional context to the data, helping to clarify ambiguities. For instance, the platform can provide a more accurate classification by cross-referencing conflicting IP addresses with additional intelligence sources or historical data.
- Customizing Data Feeds: In some cases, it may be necessary to alter the data before it is passed to specific use cases. This could involve filtering out certain data feeds that are known to produce a high volume of false positives or adjusting the weight or priority given to specific feeds based on their historical accuracy and relevance to the organization’s environment. The CTI platform can reduce the likelihood of conflicts affecting critical security operations by customizing how data is ingested and processed.
- Triage During Use Case Execution: Despite the best efforts to manage data conflicts upfront, there will be situations where discrepancies only become apparent during the execution of a use case. In these instances, it is crucial to have a robust triage process in place. When a use case, such as TOR-exit node detection, is triggered by conflicting data, the SOC team must quickly assess the credibility of the alert. This triage process should include verifying the data against additional sources, consulting with CTI analysts, and considering the broader context of the threat landscape. This step ensures that any actions, whether blocking traffic or investigating further, are based on the most accurate and reliable intelligence.
- Implementing Confidence Scoring: Many advanced CTI platforms allow for the implementation of confidence scoring, where each piece of intelligence is assigned a score based on its reliability and source credibility. Using these scores, the platform can prioritize specific data over others, reducing the impact of conflicting information. For example, suppose two feeds provide different information about an IP address. In that case, the platform can use the confidence scores to determine which feed’s data should precede the decision-making process.
Conclusion
In conclusion, establishing an effective CTI team is vital for enhancing a SOC’s overall efficiency and effectiveness. The CTI team is crucial in proactively gathering, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence on adversary TTPs. This enables the SOC to anticipate and mitigate potential threats before they can exploit vulnerabilities.
To ensure success, the CTI team must manage vast amounts of data, maintain an up-to-date ITSM platform, and utilize an advanced CTI platform. This platform helps centralize threat data, automate its ingestion, and perform in-depth analysis, ensuring the intelligence generated is actionable and relevant. Integrating a SOAR platform further enhances the CTI team’s capabilities by automating tasks, contextualizing threat data, and ensuring swift, accurate responses to threats.
However, the risk of conflicting information increases as multiple data feeds are integrated into CTI platforms. This can impact the reliability of automated use cases. Therefore, organizations must implement strategies like data normalization, feed customization, robust triage processes, and confidence scoring to manage these conflicts effectively.
By combining accurate data management, advanced technological tools, and expert analysis, a CTI team can significantly strengthen an organization’s cybersecurity posture, enabling it to respond to emerging threats with incredible speed, precision, and confidence.
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