How do you prioritize threats identified by a CTI program?

Prioritizing threats identified by a Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) program involves assessing their severity and potential impact to determine which ones pose the greatest risk to the organization. Some criteria organizations can use to assess threat severity and impact include:

1. Likelihood of Exploitation: Assess how likely a threat is to be used against the organization based on factors such as known vulnerabilities, threat actor capabilities, and historical attack patterns.

2. Potential Impact: Evaluate the potential consequences of a successful attack, including financial losses, data breaches, operational disruptions, and reputational damage.

3. Relevance to Business Objectives: Prioritize threats that directly target critical assets, systems, or processes that are essential to the organization’s core operations and strategic goals.

4. Existing Controls: Consider the effectiveness of current security controls in mitigating specific threats and prioritize those that may bypass or circumvent existing defenses.

5. Timeliness: Evaluate the urgency of addressing a threat based on factors such as the speed at which it is evolving, the likelihood of imminent attacks, and potential short-term consequences.

6. External Factors: Take into account external factors like regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and threat intelligence reports to gauge the significance of specific threats.

By applying these criteria, organizations can effectively prioritize and respond to threats identified by their CTI program based on their severity and potential impact on the organization.