VIEWPOINT
WHY THREAT INTELLIGENCE IS VITAL DRAWING PARALLELS TO SUN TZU’S BOOK THE ART OF WAR AND XDR PROCESS, FIRAS GHANEM, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST & PAKISTAN AT THREATQUOTIENT SAYS, THREAT INTELLIGENCE WAS CRITICAL TO SUCCESS ON THE BATTLEFIELD THEN, AND IT IS CRITICAL TO SUCCESS ON THE CYBER BATTLEFIELD TODAY.
M
ilitary general and philosopher Sun Tzu once led the largest armies in the world and authored The Art of War, still considered a masterpiece of tactical warfare and very relevant as we wage our battles against evolving cyberattacks. That’s because even though threat intelligence is a relatively new discipline in our cyber 34
CXO INSIGHT ME
FEBRUARY 2022
defense processes, it has actually been around for more than 2,500 years. Threat intelligence was central to Sun Tzu’s winning strategies and it is foundational to our success today as our security approaches continue to evolve, most recently with Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions. Most cybersecurity professionals are familiar with this widely referenced quote by Sun Tzu:
“If you know others and know yourself, you will not be beaten in one hundred battles. If you do not know others but know yourself, you will win one and lose one. If you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be beaten in every single battle.” According to Sun Tzu, the first step in awareness is information gathering. This includes information about yourself – your assets, priorities,
