Threat Intelligence vs Threat Hunting: What is the Perfect Pipeline?

If you work in cyber security it’s likely you’ve come across the terms threat intelligence and threat hunting before, but what is the difference?

These are common terms that seem to be used interchangeably in the world of cyber, however, they are not the same and it is important to understand what they mean and the nuances of both. This understanding will help you navigate the cyber security landscape and take advantage of these domains to elevate your cyber security skills or company’s security posture. We will compare and contrast threat intelligence and threat hunting to gain a better idea of what each covers and how you can create a perfect pipeline.

Let’s start our journey by looking at the key features of threat intelligence.

Cyber Threat Intelligence

Threat Intelligence is the insights gained from analyzing data related to potential and current cyber threats.

It’s the information about current tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by threat actors. It is the Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) seen in recent ransomware campaigns. It is the latest vulnerability that has been disclosed. Threat intelligence is a combination of the latest data and trends related to cyber threats. It is this information that informs defenders about how to best protect themselves by directing them on threats to focus on.

It plays a critical role in helping government agencies, law enforcement, and private sector companies stay ahead of evolving threat landscape. It is all about identifying threats.

Threat intelligence involves collecting and analyzing data
Open-source intelligence (OSINT), social media, dark web forums, and information-sharing platforms all contain threat intelligence that can be digested by cyber threat intelligence analysts. The job of the analysts is to determine if this data is relevant to their organization or not. If it is, they need to decide how to distribute this data as information to the right people.