What is the role of CTI in vulnerability management?

CTI (Cyber Threat Intelligence) plays a crucial role in vulnerability management by providing insights into emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and potential risks that could affect an organization’s systems and assets. Threat intelligence can help prioritize vulnerabilities based on potential risk and exploitation by analyzing various factors such as:

1. Severity of the Vulnerability: CTI can help identify vulnerabilities that are actively being targeted by threat actors or are considered critical based on their potential impact on the organization.

2. Exploitability: Threat intelligence can provide information on whether there are known exploits available in the wild for a particular vulnerability, which can help prioritize patching or mitigation efforts.

3. Relevance to the Organization: CTI can help contextualize vulnerabilities by assessing how they align with an organization’s assets, systems, and industry sector, allowing for a more targeted and effective response.

4. Threat Actor Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs): By understanding the tactics used by threat actors, organizations can better assess which vulnerabilities are more likely to be exploited, thereby prioritizing remediation efforts accordingly.

By leveraging threat intelligence in vulnerability management processes, organizations can enhance their ability to proactively identify and address vulnerabilities that pose the greatest risk to their IT infrastructure and overall security posture.