Use Cases

BY ROLE

CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers)

Strategic Decision Making: CISOs use CTI to understand the evolving threat landscape and prioritize cybersecurity investments. This knowledge helps them develop and prioritize security strategies that address the most significant risks to the organization.

Resource Allocation: By understanding which threats are most relevant to their industry and business context, CISOs can allocate resources effectively to mitigate those risks. This might involve staffing decisions or budget allocation for specific security tools.

Security ROI Measurement: CTI enables CISOs to track the effectiveness of existing cybersecurity controls. They can measure how well these controls are stopping the types of attacks currently targeting their organization. This helps them justify security spending and demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) for security initiatives.

Threat Intelligence Analysts

Threat Research and Identification: These analysts are the frontline researchers who identify new and emerging threats and vulnerabilities. They use CTI feeds, threat actor reports, and open-source intelligence (OSINT) to stay on top of the latest threats.

Threat Actor Analysis: CTI analysts delve into the motivations, tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by different threat actors. This helps them understand how these actors operate and predict their future attacks.

Threat Profile Development: Analysts use their research to build detailed profiles of threat actors. These profiles include information about the actor's targets, capabilities, and historical activities. This information informs defensive strategies for security teams.

CTI Enrichment: Analysts often enrich threat intelligence feeds with internal data and context specific to their organization. This customization makes the threat intelligence more actionable for security teams.

Security Practitioners/Analysts

Incident Response Prioritization: Security practitioners use CTI to prioritize incident response activities. By understanding the latest threats and TTPs, they can focus their efforts on the incidents most likely to be real attacks.

Threat Hunting: CTI informs threat hunting activities. Security analysts use indicators of compromise (IOCs) and TTPs gleaned from CTI to proactively search for threats within the organization's network.

Security Control Configuration: CTI helps security professionals configure security controls to detect and block known threats. For example, they can update firewall rules to block malicious IP addresses or URLs identified in threat intelligence reports.

Staying Informed: Security professionals at all levels benefit from staying informed about the latest threats. CTI helps them understand the current threat landscape and perform their jobs more effectively.

By industry

Manufacturing

BENEFITS

Mitigate attacks on Industrial Control Systems (ICS) that could disrupt operations and cause physical damage.

Protect intellectual property (IP) related to manufacturing processes and designs.

Prevent data breaches that could expose sensitive information about customers, suppliers, and employees.

Finance

BENEFITS

Safeguard financial data such as account information, transaction history, and credit card numbers.

Reduce the risk of fraudulent activity and financial crimes.

Comply with industry regulations related to data security.

Healthcare

BENEFITS

Protect patient privacy and confidentiality of medical records.

Ensure the availability of critical healthcare systems in case of a cyberattack.

Improve patient safety by preventing disruptions to medical devices and healthcare IT systems.

Retail

BENEFITS

Protect customer payment card data and other sensitive information.

Prevent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that could disrupt online sales.

Mitigate the risk of supply chain attacks that could compromise retail operations.

Energy

BENEFITS

Safeguard critical infrastructure from cyberattacks that could disrupt power grids and other energy systems.

Protect sensitive operational data related to energy production and distribution.

Comply with industry regulations related to cybersecurity.

Government

BENEFITS

Protect sensitive government data and classified information.

Ensure the continuity of government operations in case of a cyberattack.

Maintain public trust by demonstrating a commitment to cybersecurity.