The frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks continue to grow, posing a significant danger to organizations around the world—and to the customers who interact with them. Ransomware attacks that encrypt critical files, phishing campaigns designed to steal credentials, and zero-day exploits targeting undisclosed vulnerabilities are just a few examples of the evolving threat landscape. And, as businesses rely ever-more heavily on digital infrastructure to conduct day to day operations, protecting sensitive data and maintaining operational continuity require more than just reactive defenses. Organizations must adopt a strategic and informed approach to cybersecurity, leveraging insights to stay ahead of malicious actors.
Threat intelligence plays a pivotal role in helping organizations navigate this complex environment. By analyzing data on cyber threats, it provides clear insight into attackers’ tactics, motives, and potential targets. This intelligence empowers information technology (IT) professionals more effectively anticipate and mitigate cyber risk, enhancing their ability to safeguard vital systems and data.
The lifecycle begins with setting clear requirements. This phase involves collaboration between stakeholders—IT leaders, security teams, executives, and others to identify the organization's most pressing cybersecurity concerns. Addressing any and all questions these stakeholders may have about the company’s IT security posture helps establish goals which can be used to create a roadmap for the intelligence process.
Once the objectives are established, the next step is gathering relevant data from a variety of sources. This should include data from internal systems (such as SIEM logs or endpoint detection platforms) as well as external sources (like threat intelligence feeds and industry information-sharing networks). This phase aims to compile as much pertinent data as possible to help address the concerns defined during the requirements phase.
Raw data collected in the previous stage must be organized and filtered to prepare it for analysis. Processing typically involves sorting, structuring, and correlating data while removing irrelevant or redundant information. This stage may also include decrypting files, translating foreign-language sources, or applying standardized frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to categorize threat behaviors. Many modern tools leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate portions of this process.
The analysis phase is where the processed data is transformed into actionable threat intelligence. Security analysts examine patterns, trends, and anomalies to answer the specific questions posed during the requirements stage. The output of this stage typically includes actionable recommendations, informing IT security teams on how to address identified threats.
Once the analysis is complete, the findings must be shared with the appropriate stakeholders. Dissemination can take many forms—detailed reports, executive summaries, or even automated alerts integrated directly into security tools. This phase ensures that the insights developed during the previous stage are communicated effectively to decision-makers and operators, allowing them to respond quickly to identified threats.
The final stage of the lifecycle involves reflecting on the process to ensure continuous improvement. Stakeholders provide feedback on whether the intelligence met their needs, and any gaps or new concerns that arise are documented for the next cycle. This is a type of continuous improvement, encouraging the threat intelligence process to evolve alongside the organization's cybersecurity challenges, becoming more effective over time.
With so many categories of cyber threat, it shouldn’t be surprising that threat intelligence likewise comes in various forms—each designed to address specific cybersecurity challenges and cater to diverse needs within an organization. These types of intelligence provide varying levels of context, from high-level insights for business leaders to detailed technical information for security teams.
The four main types of threat intelligence are:
This high-level, non-technical intelligence provides a broad view of the threat landscape and the risks it poses to an organization. It often analyzes long-term trends, geopolitical factors, and industry-specific risks, helping executives and decision-makers align their cybersecurity strategies with business objectives.
Tactical intelligence focuses on the specific tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by threat actors. It helps security teams understand how attacks are executed and how they should be defended against. This type of intelligence is useful for making informed decisions about security controls and defenses.
Operational intelligence provides real-time information about active threats, such as the intent, timing, and methods behind a specific attack or campaign. By analyzing threat actor behavior, motivations, tools, and more, operational intelligence empowers security teams to prioritize and respond to incidents.
Technical intelligence offers detailed indicators of compromise (IOCs), such malicious URLs, file hashes, and malware signatures. This type of intelligence is highly specific and very usable, as it focuses on concrete evidence of malicious activity. This makes it possible for security tools and teams to detect and respond to threats as quickly as possible.
Threat intelligence provides organizations with the insights and tools needed to stay ahead of cybercriminals. More specifically, the main advantages of improved threat intelligence include:
- Enhanced planning and strategy
Threat intelligence helps decision-makers assess risks and anticipate future threats, while also ensuring that cybersecurity initiatives support organizational priorities. This strategic foresight enables better resource allocation and long-term planning to address evolving challenges.
- Optimized threat detection and mitigation
By analyzing attacker behaviors and IOCs, threat intelligence enhances an organization’s ability to detect malicious activity early. This allows security teams to mitigate risks before they escalate into full-blown incidents.
- Improved threat prioritization
With threat intelligence, organizations can focus their efforts on addressing the most critical vulnerabilities and threats. This allows for a more targeted and impactful approach, ensuring that resources are directed toward mitigating those risks that pose the greatest potential for harm.
- More effective threat response
Many threat intelligence platforms leverage automation. This promotes faster responses to detected threats by triggering mitigation and remediation actions—without demanding the attention or approval of human IT teams.
Threat intelligence offers practical applications across various areas of cybersecurity. Below are some common use cases where threat intelligence has the opportunity to provide significant value:
- Incident response
Threat intelligence enhances incident response efforts by providing key context into attacker techniques. This allows for faster detection, containment, and mitigation of threats—ultimately reducing the impact of security incidents.
- Security operations
Within security operations, threat intelligence helps teams more aggressively identify and address potential threats. It supports tasks like threat hunting, alert enrichment, and adapting security controls to match evolving attack methods.
- Vulnerability management
Threat intelligence identifies which vulnerabilities are being actively exploited. This targeted approach gives organizations clearer insight into what needs to be patched and where there might be gaps in the security infrastructure.
- Fraud prevention
By analyzing data from underground and surface sources, threat intelligence uncovers tactics used by attackers to commit fraud. This helps organizations detect and prevent activities targeting their data, brand, or systems.
- Reducing third-party risk
Threat intelligence provides insights into the security posture of third-party vendors and partners, allowing for a better assessment of risks associated with external parties.
Implementing effective threat intelligence involves leveraging various tools and services that enhance an organization’s ability to detect, analyze, and respond to cyber threats. From threat intelligence platforms to advanced AI and machine learning, these tools work together to streamline the process and strengthen security capabilities.
TIPs serve as central hubs that integrate external threat data with internal systems. They provide real-time assessments, prioritized risk evaluations, and intelligent data analysis. These platforms give organizations a comprehensive view of threats, offering tailored insights that help teams quickly adapt to emerging risks and plan appropriate responses.
Threat data feeds supply up-to-date information on malicious activities, including threat actor TTPs, as well as IOCs (such as malicious IP addresses, domains, file hashes, and malware signatures). These feeds allow security teams to enhance their detection capabilities, prioritize vulnerabilities, and deploy defensive measures quickly.
AI and ML are becoming vital in processing the vast amounts of threat data that businesses collect. These technologies enable automated data capture, improve risk assessment, and help generate predictive models to anticipate future threats. By structuring and analyzing data at scale, AI-driven systems can identify patterns and anomalies that might be overlooked by human analysts.
As cyberthreats evolve, businesses must likewise adapt. Simply collecting data is no longer enough—organizations need a solution that can integrate, analyze, and operationalize this data effectively. ServiceNow Threat Intelligence Security Center (TISC) is that solution, offering a centralized application to help organizations manage the full lifecycle of threat intelligence while enhancing their overall security posture. Part of the larger ServiceNow SecOps suite, and built on the powerful and scalable Now Platform®, ServiceNow TISC delivers advanced threat hunting, modeling, analysis, and real-time monitoring.
Seamless integration with major security tools ensures that internal and external threat data can be aggregated and correlated for deep insights into threats and how to counter them. Threat Analyst Workspace and customizable threat scoring allow security teams to prioritize risks, automate repetitive tasks, and focus on high-impact threats. Persona-based dashboards and reporting provide visibility into key metrics, helping analysts and leaders monitor and refine their security operations. And this is only scratching the surface. With ServiceNow TISC, organizations gain the tools they need to stay ahead of threats—no matter what form those threats might take.
Threat Intelligence Security Center is the digital protection your business needs to operate safely and securely. Request a demo today!