Digital Evidence: One Word But Different Objectives between CTI and DFIR

Hello Analysts around the world!

Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) and Digital Forensics. While both involve evidence and data, their goals, methods, and outcomes differ significantly. This article explores how CTI and Digital Forensics complement each other and their distinct roles in cybersecurity.

CTI: Transforming Data into Actionable Intelligence

CTI focuses on gathering and analyzing data to produce intelligence that helps organizations understand and mitigate cyber threats. Evidence in CTI, such as IP addresses, domain names, or malware hashes, requires analysis and context to become actionable.

For example:

• Raw Evidence: An IP address flagged for suspicious activity.
• Actionable Intelligence: After analysis, the IP address is linked to a known threat actor targeting financial systems, enabling the organization to anticipate potential attacks and adjust defenses accordingly.

CTI provides strategic insights, allowing teams to proactively address threats rather than merely reacting to incidents. Without analysis, raw data remains isolated and less impactful.

Digital Forensics: Uncovering and Preserving Evidence

Digital Forensics focuses on collecting, preserving, and presenting evidence in a manner that withstands scrutiny in investigative or legal contexts. The objective is to maintain the integrity of evidence and provide factual information about events.

For example:

• Raw Evidence: A malicious file found on a compromised system.
• Forensic Objective: Extract the file without altering its contents, documenting its metadata and origin for use in legal proceedings.

Forensic investigators avoid assumptions, ensuring that the evidence remains unbiased and reliable. This discipline prioritizes clarity and precision to uncover what happened and support accountability.

Comparing CTI and Digital Forensics

Aspect	CTI: Focused on Intelligence	Digital Forensics: Focused on Evidence
Objective	Provide actionable insights to prevent attacks	Preserve and document evidence for investigations
Approach	Analytical and contextual	Factual and methodical
Use of Evidence	Correlates and analyzes data for insights	Maintains evidence integrity for legal use
Outcome	Threat reports, strategic defense recommendations	Admissible evidence, detailed forensic reports

CTI and Forensics in Action

When a cybersecurity incident occurs, both CTI and Digital Forensics play essential roles. For instance:

• CTI in Action: Analysts identify patterns in network activity, linking them to an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group known for targeting healthcare organizations. Their analysis informs the organization’s response strategy.
• Forensics in Action: Investigators retrieve artifacts from the affected systems, such as malware samples and logs, to trace the attack’s origin and gather evidence for potential prosecution.

Together, CTI and Digital Forensics provide a comprehensive approach to addressing cyber threats, combining proactive defense with investigative rigor.

Happy Reading!