The Cyber Threat Intelligence

The Importance of Cyber Threat Intelligence

The internet is becoming more vulnerable in today’s digital environment, offering serious risks to data security, system control, and infrastructure security. Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) is a gathering of data on prospective threats to businesses and using it to take action before the occurrence of the assumed hazard to address the risks associated with interconnected networks. Specialists in threat intelligence assess all internal and external activity on the perimeter that is most susceptible to cyber-hacking and security flaws. According to Gross (2015), in order to secure their networks and safeguard businesses’ intellectual property rights, cyber analysts heavily rely on cyber threat intelligence hubs. Using this mechanism, they are able to develop and understand different tactical and strategic skills in curbing the dangers of the cyber threat. In addition, network defenders will generate threat intelligence that stops advanced persistent threats from sophisticated hackers or more stable viruses from destroying their system. Moreover, CTI helps threat hunting teams to sort out the previous vulnerabilities, misconfiguration, and weaknesses used by cyber hackers and create a solution to the problem.

The Link Between the Internet and Cyber Threat Intelligence

The link between the internet and cyber threat intelligence is the medium of operation of cyber hackers. In an organization, it is common to find interconnected computers that use an intranet to share documents, for communication and other firm activities. Many white-collar crimes use the internet and intranet to hack into the company’s computer systems, steal private property rights, and access unauthorized information that could jeopardize the operations of the business. Therefore, the organization should have a CTI unit that detects all channels of danger that could affect the company using the internet (Averbuch and Siboni, 2012). The internet is the channel where people share information and communicate with others across the globe. The availability of the information via the internet brings many risks to the firm such as data loss, systems control and breach of communication security. The link between the two is that the web is useful in cyber threat intelligence and it also causes the risks solved by the CTI.

The Necessity of Cyber Threat Intelligence

According to “A Flaw in the Design” by Craig Timberg, the author explains how the internet use is vulnerable leading to the necessity of cyber threat intelligence by organizations (Jarvis et al., 2014). First, Craig argues that one of the internet’s flaws started after a computer virus spread through the interlinked connections causing severe damages to companies such as computer crashes, loss of critical data, and other cyber-crimes. The virus used the elements of the internet which are fast, accessible, and frictionless to send malicious codes that crushed many computers and lead to a loss of millions in damages. The use of the web to spread viruses links the internet with cyber threat intelligence that analyzes previous loopholes and arms an organization with programs that block or defeat the malware infections. It is a necessity in many organizations to have cyber analysts that keep track of team use of the internet to avoid insider threats such as employees accessing the machines and causing problems for the company.

The Impacts of Cyber Threat Intelligence

The impacts of cyber threat intelligence on both domestic and international communities are felt through the protection of jobs, prevention of data loss, avoiding costs on auditing, and saving firms’ resources and image. In organizations, it is wise to invest in cyber threat intelligence by hiring qualified computer analysts and investing in expensive and sophisticated systems with the capability to not only detect threats but also fight them accordingly to minimize the possible impact. It is hard to pinpoint the exact breach of safety in the firm since much cyber hacking goes undetected, leading to businesses suffering massive losses, tarnished the brand image, and loss of personal customer information. There are many positive impacts of CTI in the organization both locally and internationally (Jasiul et al., 2014). First, threat intelligence helps a company make a better decision to protect their employees, customer’s information, and intellectual property. Cyber analysts will use the information gathered about impending threats and previous risks to upgrade their internet security and save the company many troubles such as loss and damages.

In addition, another positive impact of cyber threat analysis on the international community, for example, a Multinational Corporation, is its ability to help maintain brand loyalty and avoid loss of job opportunities. According to Paletta and Yadron (2015), many firms have laid off employees due to security breaches that cripple the company’s resources and intellectual property rights. Hackers all over the globe use the internet and the dark web to access such sensitive information that can hinder the operations of institutions. As is stated in ”25 biggest cyber-attacks in history,“ the lack of cyber threat analysis led to severe loss of life when the CIA disrupted the operation of the Siberian gas pipe using a computer-generated code dubbed ”the original logic bomb“ (Barnum, 2012). This scenario compared to other similar events leads to loss of life, property, and negatively affects both the local and international communities. Cyber threat analysis is crucial in mitigating risks faced by organizations and implementing the right decisions to avoid cyber-attacks.

References

Averbuch, A., & Siboni, G. (2013). The Classic Cyber Defense Methods Have Failed–What Comes Next?. Military and Strategic Affairs, 5(1), 45-58.

Barnum, S. (2012). Standardizing cyber threat intelligence information with the Structured Threat Information eXpression (STIX™). MITRE Corporation, 11.

Jarvis, L., Macdonald, S., & Nouri, L. (2014). The cyber terrorism threat: Findings from a survey of researchers. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 37(1), 68-90.

Jasiul, B., Szpyrka, M., & Śliwa, J. (2014). Detection and modeling of cyber-attacks with Petri nets. Entropy, 16(12), 6602-6623.

Paletta, D., & Yadron, D. (2015). White House to create new division to streamline cyber threat intelligence. WSJ.

Gross, J. R. (2015). Hack and Be Hacked: A Framework for the United States to Respond to Non-State Actors in Cyberspace. Cal. W. Int’l LJ, 46, 109.