Crafting an effective Cyber Threat Intelligence Framework

Unveil the blueprint for crafting a comprehensive CTI strategy that blends external insights with custom-generated intelligence, fortifying your security posture.

Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is critical for organizations to have proactive security, but security teams should know how to build unique threat intelligence that fits perfectly to their specific needs and challenges

In the intricate realm of cybersecurity, the effectiveness of a Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) program hinges upon its alignment with the organization’s unique landscape. Simply accumulating data isn’t enough; relevance is key. 

The true power of CTI emerges when it empowers an organization to fortify its security operations and manage cyber risks more confidently. This chapter delves into a strategic guidance framework that facilitates the creation of impactful CTI programs.

Maximizing the relevance of Threat Intelligence

To effectively defend against the ever-evolving threat landscape, a CTI program must transcend generic approaches. The value of CTI to an organization lies not just in the accumulation of information, but in its precise applicability. Threat actors are forming professionalized groups, harnessing greater resources to craft novel and increasingly targeted attacks, specific to industries, organizations, or even certain users. The emergence of technologies like generative AI further amplifies this threat landscape, emphasizing that generic threat intelligence falls short in providing comprehensive coverage.

By tailoring threat intelligence to the organization’s specific needs, you can get a more comprehensive and relevant view of the threat landscape emerges. This approach, fusing externally sourced intelligence with self-generated insights, creates a powerful synergy—the “best-of-both-worlds” strategy.

The power of internal threat intelligence generation: How to select the right solution

As advanced malware plays a pivotal role in cyber attacks, organizations possess an invaluable resource—the stream of malware and phishing alerts from internal security controls. However, the challenge lies in effectively harnessing this deluge of alerts. Manual analysis by expert researchers can provide valuable insights, but it’s impractical for the sheer volume of samples involved. Here, the integration of automated malware analysis takes center stage, enabled by a technology that blends various analysis methods.

Compatibility and compliance

Selecting the right technology to facilitate the creation of threat intelligence from malware and phishing alerts is paramount. A holistic approach considers several key factors. Scalability demands automation—seamless integration with the security environment to ingest alerts and extract reliable, actionable Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) and behavioral insights. The tool’s compatibility with existing security frameworks, formats, and tools is equally pivotal. Compliance with confidentiality requirements ensures the security of sensitive data, offering deployment options that meet rigorous standards.

Detecting and analyzing the highly evasive malware

The persistence of advanced malware highlights the criticality of a tool’s resistance to evasion techniques. Malicious actors design malware to thwart analysis; hence, the chosen tool must withstand evasion and avoidance attempts. Overlooking even a single evasive behavior compromises the reliability of generated CTI. By embracing cutting-edge sandboxing technology, organizations can effectively expose and analyze advanced malware, fortifying their defense strategy.

Crafting a Future-Ready CTI Framework

As the cyber threat landscape continues to evolve, the relevance of CTI becomes ever more vital. By combining the strengths of external threat intelligence consumption and internal intelligence generation, organizations can forge a resilient CTI strategy. 

From scalability to compliance, from technology selection to evasion resistance, every facet is meticulously woven into a seamless fabric of proactive defense.

Course home page: 
Building Cyber Threat Intelligence that fits to your unique challenges

Chapter 5: 
Unlocking the Essence of Threats: How VMRay can help

Table of Contents

See VMRay in action.
Start extracting threat intelligence that fits to your specific challenges

Further resources

PRODUCT

Build the most reliable and actionable Threat Intelligence:

SOLUTION

Explore how you can benefit from VMRay’s capabilities for Threat Hunting

SANS WEBINAR

Watch the full recording of our webinar delivered at SANS Solutions Forum

Welcome to the playground.

Explore what you can do with VMRay.

Click on the yellow dots to check the report formats, see the overview, explore the network connections of the sample, malicious behavior, and relevant files, map the threat on MITRE ATT&CK Framework, analyze and download IOCs and artifacts.

The analysis report tabs are available both for VMRayDeepResponse and VMRayTotalInsight. The bundle of VMRay FinalVerdict and VMRayDeepResponse also offers access to the analysis report tabs.

We’re sorry. 

The interactive tour is not available on mobile devices.

Unveiling the power:
See our experts showcasing VMRay’s capabilities.

Analysis of a malicious file

Join Fatih Akar from the VMRay team as he provides a detailed walkthrough of a malicious LNK file, a prevalent attack vector since Microsoft’s Office macros block.

Gain valuable insights into each tab of our comprehensive analysis report and get a sneak peek into what you’ll be exploring.

Analysis of a malicious URL

Join Andrey Voitenko, an expert in advanced malware and phishing analysis from the VMRay team, as he demonstrates how to submit emails and URLs to the VMRay platform using built-in connectors.

Discover the capabilities of our new Automation Dashboard, enabling one-click automation with your existing EDR, SOAR, SIEM, and TIP tools. Monitor analysis data seamlessly from your VMRay dashboard and unlock new levels of efficiency in your security operations.

Integrating with existing tools

Watch Michael Bourton showcasing the seamless integration of VMRay platform with your existing security stacks.

Discover how effortlessly you can leverage unparalleled detection and analysis capabilities by utilizing dedicated connectors or our Rest API.

Experience VMRay in Action:
Explore Real-world Malware Analysis Reports

Get a firsthand look at the power and capabilities of the VMRay platform by delving into our sample malware and phishing analysis reports.

Immerse yourself in a range of report formats, providing comprehensive insights.

Dive into the overview, explore intricate network connections, analyze malicious behavior in detail, and map threats using the MITRE ATT&CK Framework. See the possibilities to download clear IOCs.

Uncover the capabilities that await you.

Calculate how much malware false positives are costing your organization:
Malware False Positive Cost Calculator