Threat Intelligence: Planning and Direction

Not understood well by most organizations outside the military and government is Cyber Threat Intelligence – one of the latest areas of information security. Many practitioners ofCyber Threat Intelligence are technologists by trade and are unfamiliar with the Intelligence Cycle. Often overlooked by business leaders and private sector Cyber Threat Intelligence Teams is planning and direction, one of the steps in the Intelligence Cycle. Intelligence teams must be requirements focused in order to generate results that lead to reductions in risk. Those Priority Intelligence Requirements – approved and resourced by management – focus tactical/technical, operational, and strategic collection and analysis of intelligence information. This paper will discuss how to plan and direct a cyber threat intelligence team's operations towards reducing an organization's risk with the Intelligence Preparation of the Cyber Operational Environment process and the difference between Intelligence and Counterintelligence.