Which approach uses threat intelligence in a practical and actionable way?

The approach that effectively uses threat intelligence in a practical and actionable way is the emulation approach. Emulation typically involves simulating potential attack scenarios based on threat intelligence gathered from various sources. This method allows organizations to understand how adversaries might operate and to anticipate their moves, leading to proactive defense tactics.

By modeling adversary behavior, security teams can create and implement specific countermeasures to mitigate identified threats. This hands-on strategy provides practical insights and outcomes by translating abstract threat intelligence into concrete actions, enabling organizations to enhance their security posture in real-time.

In contrast to this approach, the tactical, operational, and strategic approaches to threat intelligence focus on different aspects. Tactical intelligence often deals with short-term threat identification and is more reactive in nature. Operational intelligence provides information on how current threats can affect operations but may not translate directly into actionable steps. Strategic intelligence usually encompasses long-term trends and overarching security strategies, which, while essential for planning, do not typically offer immediate actionable insights like emulation does. Thus, emulation stands out as the most direct and practical method for utilizing threat intelligence effectively.