Introducing Picus CTI: Transforming Cyber Threat Intelligence into Actionable Defense using genAI

The game of cybersecurity defense has drastically changed.  Cyber threats are more complex, tech environments are expanding faster than you can blink, and a comprehensive defense strategy has shifted from a luxury to a bare necessity.

We're faced with thin resources, growing threats, tight budgets, and a shortage of time and skilled professionals, presenting a tough challenge.  However, we can beat the odds with the right strategy. This changing cyberspace scenario calls for a different ballgame - the age-old "patch it all" method needs to step aside for the “threat profiling” approach.

In this blog, we'll explore the transformative potential of AI-driven threat profiling with Picus CTI, which heralds a modern approach to cyber threat intelligence  – one that prioritizes relevance and context in a sea of potential risks.

The Dilemma of Conventional Threat Management

Traditional methods for managing threats and vulnerabilities chase their tails in dealing with the rising complexity and sophistication of cyber threats. These old-school tactics focus more on spotting and patching vulnerabilities rooted in known weaknesses and common attack strategies. The problem, however, is that they often leave organizations blind about which vulnerabilities are most at risk of being exploited by attackers.

So, what's the more sensible route? A tailored mindset!

To effectively mitigate threats, we need to get really familiar with our specific organization's threats. Keep tabs on the tactics and techniques employed by malicious entities targeting our industry, location, and any uniquely vulnerable assets. Having clear insight into my threat profile offers a structured, quantifiable, and repeatable process for determining relevant and prioritized cyber threats.

Attempting to track and adequately address every single threat in the pervasive IT landscape often results in mayhem.  Leveraging my own, specifically curated threat profile and focusing the energy on these threats will allow me to have much more impact with less effort.

Simply put, one doesn't need to run after all threats but primarily those that matter most!

Championing Threat Profiling with Picus CTI 

Picus CTI stands in the gap to champion the cause of threat profiling. The platform is finely tuned to determine the threats that matter the most, ensuring that security teams are addressing issues that are significant and highly likely to affect their organization. 

The threat profiling approach of Picus CTI provides much-needed context based on industry, region, and threat actors, addressing a critical gap that no enterprise-centric solution has filled thus far – quantifying and prioritizing adversaries. This context-driven threat profiling approach allows organizations to perceive which threats pose the highest risk, allowing them to respond and allocate their resources accordingly.

Unlike conventional threat intelligence solutions, Picus CTI is a powerful approach leveraging generative AI technology. It transforms raw data gathered from hundreds of diverse and reliable threat intelligence sources into actionable insights through seamless integration with the Picus Security Validation Platform. Picus CTI employs a transformative five-stage process to turn raw threat data into valuable and actionable cyber threat intelligence insights:

1. Data Aggregation: A Wide Net for Comprehensive Coverage

A good outcome starts with good input! The strength of any threat intelligence platform lies in the diversity and quality of its data sources. Picus CTI deploys a broad network of sources, from proprietary Picus CTI connectors, cybersecurity vendors, malware repositories, and research teams to ISACs, CERTs, and government advisories like US CISA and UK NCSC.

2. Data Refinement: Cutting Through the Noise

Once all the data comes in, there's no chill! Rigorous cleaning begins, removing irrelevancies, duplicates, and noise while making sure everything ends up consistent. This preprocessing phase prepares the data for subsequent AI-driven analysis and is essential for the process.

3. Generative AI Analysis: The Power of Machine Learning

Our next game-changer utilizes honed-in-house generative AI technology developed by our data science team, Picus CTI extracts and identifies entities like threat actors, malware, vulnerabilities, attack campaigns, industries, regions, and relationships between them. This uncovers hidden patterns, identifies emerging threats, and provides valuable insights to security teams.

4. Post-Processing: Fine-Tuning for Actionable Insights

AI analysis alone won't cut it. Picus CTI has a robust post-process stage that further refines the extracted data. Methods like contextual analysis, entity linking, filtering, allowlisting verification, similarity algorithms, standardizing, feedback loops, and analyst validation (when necessary) are employed to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the extracted information.

5. Integration: Building a Knowledge Graph for Connecting Dots

After ensuring its usefulness and accuracy, the content is integrated into Picus CTI's knowledge graph database. The knowledge graph models complex relationships among threat actors, malware, CVEs, TTPs, attack campaigns, and other threat intelligence entities to provide a holistic view of the threat landscape.

Picus CTI + Picus Security Validation Platform = Minimize Threat Exposure

By harnessing collective intelligence from various sources and leveraging the power of AI-driven analysis, Picus CTI delivers actionable threat intelligence insight conducive to both proactive defense measures and effective incident response.

With the potent combination of Picus CTI and the threat profiling approach, organizations now have the upper hand in the battle against cyber threats. This alliance, armed with real-time, quality threat intelligence, and actionable recommendations, equips organizations to bolster their defenses and allocate resources appropriately.

Conclusively, threat profiling using Picus CTI is not about doing more, but about doing what's essential. As resources run thin and danger levels continue to peak, this targeted approach makes all the difference in the high-paced world of cybersecurity. Learn here how the newly available Picus Attack Surface Validation will provide even more visibility and context about the hidden risks relevant to you.