Applied Cyber Threat Intelligence

Ask 5 people to define threat intelligence and you'll get 5 different answers, and that's exactly where this episode starts. Will Elchert (Senior CTI Analyst, Hunter Strategy) and Jake Williams (VP of R&D, Hunter Strategy) join host Matt Triner alongside two clients living this from the buyer's side: Keith McCartney, SVP of Security and IT at DNA Nexus, and Billy Martin, CTSO at Vigor. Together, they break down what separates a threat intel program that actually drives decisions from one that's just, as Jake puts it, "cyber story time with the CTI team." The conversation covers where AI genuinely helps in CTI workflows and where it falls flat, how red and blue teams each get value out of the same intelligence, and what metrics actually prove a security program's worth to leadership. Episode Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Cyber Threat Intelligence 02:51 Defining Threat Intelligence 05:41 Stakeholder Engagement in Cybersecurity 08:34 Risk Management and Cyber Threat Intelligence 11:36 Industry-Specific Approaches to Threat Intelligence 14:25 The Importance of Context in Threat Intelligence 17:07 Integrating Cybersecurity Functions 19:51 Actionability of Threat Intelligence 25:24 The Evolution of Cyber Threat Intelligence 28:58 AI's Role in Cybersecurity 32:19 Data Analysis and AI Integration 37:14 Challenges and Opportunities with AI 41:27 Human Element in Cyber Threat Intelligence 49:57 Red Team vs Blue Team Dynamics 52:28 Red Team vs Blue Team: Who Leverages CTI Better? 55:02 Funding and Capability Development in Cybersecurity 58:11 The Importance of Communication and Collaboration 01:01:14 Metrics for Measuring Threat Intelligence Effectiveness 01:09:45 Building a Cybersecurity Program from Scratch