What is Threat Intelligence in Cybersecurity?

In 2025, cyber threats are escalating, with new forms of phishing, ransomware, and other attacks emerging daily. Cyber threat intelligence has become critical for organizations aiming to stay ahead of cybercriminals. Understanding what threat intelligence is and how it operates is the first step toward building a strong cybersecurity posture and ensuring your organization remains resilient.

This blog post explores the importance, types, collection methods, and benefits of threat intelligence, along with implementation challenges and best practices to help your organization stay resilient against evolving cyber threats.

What is Threat Intelligence?

Threat intelligence, also known as cyber threat intelligence (CTI), is the practice of collecting, analyzing, and applying information about potential or existing cyber threats. This intelligence helps organizations identify, assess, and respond to security threats before they cause harm.

Unlike traditional cybersecurity measures that focus on reacting to incidents, threat intelligence is proactive. It provides actionable insights that empower organizations to anticipate attacks, recognize attack vectors, and prepare their defenses accordingly. In today’s world where threats evolve rapidly, leveraging threat intelligence is essential for any business aiming to stay ahead of cybercriminals.

For more insights, watch the Keepnet Security Awareness Podcast episode on Cyber Threat Intelligence.

How Does Threat Intelligence Work?

At its core, threat intelligence involves gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data about current and potential cyber threats. Organizations rely on automated tools to monitor a range of sources—from hacker forums to dark web marketplaces and open data repositories—for real-time information about developing risks. With these insights, security teams can anticipate and proactively defend against potential attacks.

See the table below to learn how threat intelligence work in 2025:

Table 1: How Threat Intelligence Works: An 2025 Framework

Advanced threat intelligence platforms manage this data flow, filtering through massive amounts of information to provide actionable insights. By understanding threat actors’ motives, methods, and targets, organizations can make informed decisions about their defenses.

Benefits of Threat Intelligence

Cyber threat intelligence goes far beyond generic threat alerts—it delivers contextual, real-time insights that enable security teams to make informed, strategic decisions.

Below are specific, actionable benefits of implementing a robust threat intelligence program using modern threat intelligence tools and platforms:

Prioritizing Threats with Context-Rich Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Unlike traditional alerting systems, threat intelligence platforms enrich raw data with context—like threat actor profiles, malware behavior, and attack timelines. This allows organizations to prioritize high-risk threats that are actively targeting their industry, geography, or technology stack, rather than reacting to generic noise.

New Insight: Tools like MISP or Anomali use TTP (Tactics, Techniques, Procedures) modeling and MITRE ATT&CK mapping to assign severity levels and recommend specific defensive actions.

Cybersecurity Budget Optimization Based on Threat Landscape Trends

Cyber threat intelligence empowers CISOs to allocate budgets strategically. By identifying which threats are increasing (e.g., supply chain attacks, QR code phishing, or AI-powered deepfakes), organizations can shift resources from low-impact controls to high-impact countermeasures.

New Insight: Some threat intelligence tools now offer predictive analytics, showing you not only what threats exist—but also what threats are emerging in your vertical.

Accelerated Incident Response Through Automation and Playbooks

With real-time feeds and automated alert triaging, threat intelligence accelerates detection and enhances incident response. Security teams can act within minutes using SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) integrations that trigger predefined playbooks based on threat severity and type.

New Insight: Leading threat intelligence platforms like Keepnet Threat Sharing platform can integrate with EDR, SIEM, and SOAR systems to auto-enrich incidents, reducing mean time to respond (MTTR) by up to 60%.

Types of Threat Intelligence

To effectively use threat intelligence, it’s essential to understand its different types, each serving specific security needs. Here’s a breakdown:

• Strategic Threat Intelligence: Strategic threat intelligence provides high-level insights to guide decision-making at the executive level. It covers broader threats against industries or countries, as well as cyber trends and geopolitical factors that may impact security.
• Tactical Threat Intelligence: Digs into specific tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of threat actors. This detailed information helps security teams understand and defend against particular attack methods.
• Technical threat intelligence: focuses on Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) like IP addresses, URLs, and file hashes. Feeding this data into security tools allows organizations to detect threats automatically and respond promptly.
• Operational threat intelligence: Provides insight into specific attacks, offering a view into threat actors’ motivations and strategies. This intelligence is crucial for understanding the lifecycle of an attack and developing timely responses.

How Is Threat Intelligence Collected and Analyzed?

Threat intelligence collection is a multi-layered process that combines both automated technologies and human expertise to gather and interpret data about potential cyber threats. Effective cyber threat intelligence programs rely on diverse intelligence disciplines and cutting-edge tools to deliver precise, timely insights.

Step 1: Gathering Threat Data from Multiple Intelligence Streams

Modern threat intelligence tools collect raw data from a wide array of sources, which typically include:

• Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT): Publicly available data such as blogs, code repositories, exploit databases, and government advisories.
• Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT): Insights from social platforms and underground forums where cybercriminals often share tactics or coordinate attacks.
• Human Intelligence (HUMINT): Intelligence gathered through direct human interaction, such as trusted informants, law enforcement collaboration, or industry ISACs.
• Technical Intelligence (TECHINT): Machine-readable indicators of compromise (IOCs) like malicious IPs, file hashes, URLs, and DNS changes.

Most of this data is ingested through threat intelligence platforms (TIPs) that automatically pull, normalize, and tag data from threat feeds, honeypots, dark web monitoring tools, and internal logs.

Pro Tip: Leading TIPs integrate with SIEM systems to correlate threat intelligence with live events in your environment, providing context for detection rules and alerts.

Step 2: Analyzing and Enriching the Raw Data

Once collected, threat data is processed and analyzed using a combination of automation and human review. This step transforms fragmented data points into actionable cyber threat intelligence.

• Machine Learning Algorithms detect patterns, cluster similar threats, and flag anomalies based on historical data.
• Threat Scoring Models assign severity ratings, so analysts can prioritize critical threats over low-risk noise.
• Correlation Engines connect the dots between different attack vectors, campaigns, or actors using behavioral analysis and TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, Procedures) aligned with frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK.

Example: If several malicious IPs are tied to a phishing campaign using QR codes, the system can tag them as part of a coordinated QR phishing operation and suggest countermeasures.

Step 3: Producing Actionable Threat Intelligence

The final output of this process is enriched, contextual intelligence that supports:

• Threat hunting operations
• Incident response workflows
• Security policy updates
• Vulnerability prioritization

Threat intelligence platforms then distribute this intelligence to stakeholders via dashboards, automated alerts, or integration with security tools—ensuring the right information reaches the right team at the right time.

How Does Threat Intelligence Enhance Cybersecurity?

Integrating cyber threat intelligence into your cybersecurity ecosystem transforms your defense strategy from reactive to proactive. Rather than relying solely on firewalls and antivirus software, threat intelligence adds a strategic layer—providing visibility into current, emerging, and even future cyber threats.

Here’s how organizations benefit from embedding threat intelligence tools and platforms into their operations:

Faster Threat Detection and Response with Real-Time Intelligence

With access to up-to-date threat indicators—such as malicious IPs, phishing domains, or malware signatures—security teams can detect and respond to cyber threats faster than ever. Threat intelligence platforms automate the enrichment of alerts, prioritize incidents based on risk, and support rapid containment strategies.

Did you know? Organizations using automated threat intelligence reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) by over 40%, according to multiple SOC benchmarking reports.

Smarter Security Awareness Training Based on Real Threat Data

Generic training is no longer effective. Modern security awareness training programs now integrate threat intelligence to deliver highly relevant, scenario-based learning. For example:

• If a company is being targeted by MFA fatigue attacks, the training content reflects this.
• If QR phishing is trending in the retail sector, employees are taught to spot and avoid malicious QR codes.

By tailoring education to current threats, businesses build a resilient human firewall that can recognize and respond to evolving attack vectors.

Threat Sharing for Collective Defense Across Industries

One of the most powerful yet underutilized aspects of cyber threat intelligence is collaboration. Platforms like Keepnet Threat Sharing allow organizations to:

• Share anonymized attack indicators (e.g., suspicious domains, email templates)
• Benchmark threat trends within their industry
• Participate in threat-sharing communities and ISACs

This collective intelligence creates a network effect, where an attack seen by one organization becomes a warning signal for all others.

Real-world example: A Keepnet retail customer detected a coordinated voice phishing (vishing) campaign and shared the caller details through the platform—preventing similar attacks across four other businesses in the same region.

Challenges in Implementing Threat Intelligence

While threat intelligence is essential in defending against cyber attacks, implementing it effectively presents several challenges. Security professionals must navigate vast amounts of collected data to identify relevant insights without being overwhelmed by false positives.

While valuable, implementing cyber-threat intelligence comes with challenges:

• Data Overload: The sheer volume of information can make it difficult to identify the most relevant insights.
• Integration Complexities: Incorporating threat intelligence into existing infrastructure requires investment in new tools and training.
• Rapidly Evolving Threat Landscape: As threat actors constantly adapt, organizations must continually update their intelligence strategies.

Addressing these challenges is essential to building an effective and sustainable threat intelligence program.

Best Practices for Using Threat Intelligence

To maximize your threat intelligence program’s effectiveness, consider these best practices:

• Keep Threat Feeds Updated: Regularly update intelligence sources to stay informed about new threats.
• Establish Clear Communication Channels: Promote collaboration between security teams and other departments to share intelligence effectively.
• Integrate Intelligence Across Teams: Leverage intelligence at all organizational levels to create a comprehensive defense.

Additionally, tools like Phishing Simulators and the Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform can strengthen your organization’s resilience by preparing employees to recognize and counteract cyber threats.

Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform: A Comprehensive Approach to Security

Investing in a robust threat intelligence program is essential for any organization aiming to safeguard its data and assets from evolving cyber threats. The Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform integrates Security Awareness Training and Phishing Simulators to equip your team with the skills necessary for proactive defense.

Organizations that leverage Keepnet’s comprehensive approach have seen up to a 90% reduction in high-risk security behavior, enabling teams to minimize risks and effectively protect their digital environments by addressing security vulnerabilities before they are exploited.

Additionally, Keepnet Human Risk Management Platform provides two different cyber threat intelligence tools to help defending organizations:

Keepnet Threat Intelligence

Keepnet’s Threat Intelligence is a cybersecurity tool that checks if your organization’s data has been exposed in known breaches involving your employees . It provides key details about each breach – for example, when it happened, which employee email was affected, what type of data was compromised, and how many employees were involved .

By quickly uncovering these compromised accounts, businesses can take immediate action (like forcing password resets or enabling MFA) to prevent attackers from exploiting leaked credentials.

This early detection is crucial because accounts with breached logins are 87% more likely to be targeted in phishing attacks .

Proactively finding and securing these vulnerabilities not only strengthens your security posture but also helps avoid costly incidents – organizations can save on average $1.2 million in breach-related costs by using threat intelligence to prevent incident.

Check out Keepnet Threat Intelligence for more insights.

Keepnet Threat Sharing Platform

Keepnet’s Threat Sharing Platform is a collaborative solution that lets organizations join trusted communities to share, enrich, and act on threat intelligence data together.

It’s essentially a peer-to-peer cyber threat exchange: security teams can report and exchange information on new email attacks, phishing campaigns, emerging vulnerabilities, or threat actor indicators within a secure network of partners .

This collective defense approach helps everyone in the community stay ahead of attacks. Since roughly 90% of security breaches originate from known threats, sharing such intelligence can dramatically cut down detection and response times for each member.

In fact, by pooling knowledge, companies can significantly shorten the typical 280-day breach discovery cycle and respond to incidents much faster . The platform essentially gives you access to a vast crowd-sourced threat database (over 1 million active threat hunters’ input), which makes preventing attacks up to 50% more efficient and can save organizations millions in potential losses.

Check out Keepnet Threat Intelligence Sharing for more details.

By embracing advanced threat intelligence and training solutions, your organization can stay resilient in the face of ever-evolving threats.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on June 19, 2025.