Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA)
All life is the management of risk and threats. An organisation is prone to various external and internal threats due to the ambiguous nature of the business environment. In this ever changing threat landscape, companies look for professionals who can convert these unknown risks into known threats and devise strategies to mitigate their effect. This asks for detailed understanding of the threat intelligence, hands on exposure to modern techniques and certified credential.
Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst exam is the answer. This CTIA exam is a highly valued certification which has been exclusively devised to empower organisations for effectively identifying and mitigating security risks with extensive intelligence and analysis. This certification may turn out to be a stepping stone to a lucrative career option. Before you embark on the journey of preparation we provide you with the overview of this exam
What is CTIA Certification?
The CTIA exam is a specialist level training and certification that provides security professionals with a structured approach for acquiring threat intelligence. This training and credential programme is designed by EC-Council. This course delivers standards-based, practical intensive skills to the professionals, which are essentially required in threat intelligence across information security.
It includes reliable data collection from various sources, context analysis, production of useful intelligence and then distributing the derived results to the relevant stakeholders. Therefore Organisations tend to upgrade their defences and create counter measures by acquiring intelligence related to the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) of potential threats.
Why Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst?
If you’re lucky enough to have found a fulfilling career you enjoy, there still remains a great incentive to keep climbing the professional ladder. One of the common ways to enhance your worth is by earning certifications related to your field. This choice will keep you updated with the current industry trends, technology and other fields that are constantly evolving. These certifications help you remain relevant and provide best chances to advance our career.
A Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst has a great competitive edge over other security analysts. CTIA exam validates your specialised skills and knowledge to completely understand the mind-set of modern attackers and implement effective threat intelligence accordingly.
Enhances Employability
The Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam provides the necessary knowledge to start your career and validate your skills thereby enhancing your employability.
High Demand
Given today’s business environment, the risks and threats have taken a drastic upsurge. This has increased the demand of Certified Threat Intelligence Analysts who can devise strategies to mitigate the effects to such threats.
Built in compliance with JTA
This certification exam is built on the principles of Job Task Analysis (JTA) of the job roles involved in the field of threat intelligence.
Competitive Edge
This exam is designed by subject matter experts and thus provides you with profound knowledge of this field. Also this certification provides you a competitive edge over other no certified professionals.
Improve Organisational Security Posture
The exam equips you with the right practices to detect and defeat threats and increase an organisations security posture.
Who is it for?
The Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam is designed to up skill-
- Ethical Hackers
- SOC Professionals
- Threat Intelligence Analysts, Specialists
- Digital Forensic and Malware Analysts
- Incident Response Team Members
- Threat Hunters
- Individuals from the field of security who aim to enrich their skills and knowledge in the field of cyber threats.
Objectives of CTIA exam
Before starting the preparations you must be clear with the EC-Council Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA) exam objectives. Reviewing each objective becomes essential before putting yourself into the exam.
The Certified Intelligence Threat Analyst training and credential aim to expertly obtain the following objectives-
- Firstly, to enable organisations with the ability to prepare and run threat intelligence programme that provides effective advice about the existing unknown threats.
- Secondly, to ensure the presence of predictive capabilities as well as proactive measures in the organisation
- Also, to provide individuals with the techniques of data analysis including Statistical Data Analysis, Structured Data analysis and Competing Hypotheses
- Then, to provide a platform to share operational, tactical, strategic and technical intelligence.
- Lastly, providing knowledge for creating effective threat intelligence report.
Key Learning’s from the exam
The Market Demand for Certified Threat Analysts
As seen in the report presented by the National Cyber Security Centre the demand for threat analysts has grown over by 3300% in the past 7 years. It is estimated that by 2025 the Threat Intelligence Analyst market worth would be a whopping $12.6 billion. Now you can very well imagine the importance and relevance of the CTIA credential in today’s time.
Exam Details
Basic details of Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam are-
Eligibility for the exam
To become eligible for the exam you must either-
- Attend the official EC-Council C|TIA training through an accredited EC-Council Partner like iWeek, or iLearn. On successful completion of this training programme you become eligible for the Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam.
- Or you need to submit an application showing a minimum of 2 years working experience in information security.
Exam Retake Policy
A candidate is not allowed to take a given exam more than five times in a 12 month (1 year) period. Also, candidates who have cleared the exam are not allowed to attempt the same version of the exam for the second time.
The retake policy is as below-
- If a candidate is not able to clear the exam on the first attempt, no waiting period is required to attempt the exam for the second time.
- If a candidate is not able to pass the second attempt, a waiting period of 14 days is required prior to attempting the exam for the third time.
- For all the subsequent retakes a waiting period of 14 days is required. Also, EC-Council strongly advises candidate who fail the exam for the third time (2nd retake) to attend official hands-on training that covers the certification objectives
Exam FAQs
It’s important to have complete clarity of an exam before embarking on the preparation journey. To clear your doubts visit- Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam FAQs
Course Overview : Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam
The CTIA course is highly interactive and holistic in nature. It provides an intensive 3- day training programme that teaches how to build professional threat intelligence. CTIA comes with integrated labs to emphasize the learning objectives of the exam. This specialist level programme is based on Job Task Analysis. Of all the jobs involved in the field of threat intelligence this Exam differentiates threat intelligence professionals from other information security professionals.
The course covers 6 modules-
Modules Covered
Introduction to Threat Intelligence
- Overview of Cyber Threat Intelligence (EC-Council Reference: Threat Intelligence in Cybersecurity)
- Understanding Threat Intelligence lifecycle and framework (EC-Council Reference: Step Process to Power your CYBER DEFENSE with CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE)
Cyber Threats and Kill Chain Methodology
- Understanding cyber threats and advanced persistent threats (APTs) (EC-Council Reference: CYBER THREAT SCORES)
- Overview of Cyber Kill Chain and Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) (EC-Council Reference: The role of IOCS in Threat Intelligence Data Collection)
Requirements, Planning, Direction and Review
- Understanding the Organization’s current threat landscape (EC-Council Reference: What you need to know about Cyber Threat Intelligence)
- Understanding Requirements Analysis
- Planning the Threat intelligence program (EC-Council Reference: Building Robust Cyber Threat Intelligence Program)
- Establishing Management Support
- Building a Threat Intelligence Team (EC-Council Reference: Threat Intelligence in Cybersecurity)
- Overview of Threat Intelligence Sharing (EC-Council Reference: Why Cyber Threat Intelligence Matters)
- Reviewing the Threat Intelligence Program (EC-Council Reference: Threat Intelligence in Cybersecurity)
Data Collection and Processing
- Overview of Threat Intelligence Data Collection (EC-Council Reference: Cyber Threat Intelligence Data Collection and Acquisition)
- Overview of Threat Intelligence Collection Management
- Threat Intelligence Feeds and Sources (EC-Council Reference: Cyber threat intelligence feeds and sources)
- Understanding Threat Intelligence Data Collection and Acquisition (EC-Council Reference: Cyber Threat Intelligence Data Collection and Acquisition)
- Bulk Data Collection
- Understanding Data Processing and Exploitation
Data Analysis
- Overview of Data Analysis
- Understanding Data Analysis Techniques (EC-Council Reference: Cyber Threat Intelligence Data Collection and Acquisition)
- Overview of Threat Analysis (EC-Council Reference: Cyber Threat Analysis Process and Components)
- Understanding Threat Analysis Process
- Overview of Fine-Tuning Threat Analysis
- Understanding Threat Intelligence Evaluation
- Creating Runbooks and Knowledge Base
- Overview of Threat Intelligence Tools
Dissemination and Reporting of Intelligence
- Overview of Threat Intelligence Reports
- Introduction to Dissemination
- Participating in Sharing Relationships
- Overview of Sharing Threat Intelligence (EC-Council Reference: Why Cyber Threat Intelligence Matters)
- Overview of Delivery Mechanisms
- Understanding Threat Intelligence Sharing Platforms
- Overview of Intelligence Sharing Acts and Regulations
- Overview of Threat Intelligence Integration
Preparatory Guide for EC-Council Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA) Exam
The CTIA exam is necessary for those who deal with threats on a daily basis. Hence the preparation for the exam should be at par, to excel. Here we provide with our step by step preparatory guide to crack the exam.
Step 1: Clarity of Concepts
The first step is to have clarity of the exam course. You should be clear with the modules and concepts. Refer the official guide available at the website of EC-Council for the detailed understanding of the exam.
Step 2: Schedule your Time
Fix a routine for your preparation. Daily activities and work can be a distraction, therefore devising a study plan and following it is what we recommend.
CTIA exam has 50 questions covering various topics. Creating a list of all the topics and striking them off as you prepare is very efficient. This helps you track your preparations. Also start by strengthening your weaker areas and polishing them. Remember that time is of great essence, so prepare early and set your foot in the Threat Intelligence Industry.
Step 3: Refer Books and other Learning Resources
Books have always been an ultimate best friend while preparing for an exam. Make sure you refer the authentic books from genuine sources for content clarity and in depth understanding. The book can be available as EC-Council Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst book pdf format.
We recommend you the official book by EC-COUNCIL: CTIA v1 e-Courseware
Also, you should look online for the learning resources. There are abundant resources available online. Choose the ones that best suit you from the plethora of options. Additionally you can also refer to EC-Council Blogs for further insights about the concepts
Step 4: Training Course
Training is an important part of your preparations. EC-Council Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA) training courses provide you profound knowledge about the exam. EC-Council offers its own training course for the Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst Exam. This three-day training provides you with all the skills that are essential for our exam. Additionally, it will help you gain hands on practice and real time interaction with subject matter experts. The training programme can be taken up in the following ways-
iLearn (Self-Study)
The iLearn programme is based on the concept of self-study. EC-Council delivers its training course in a streaming video format to aid the preparations for this exam.
iWeek (Live Online)
The iWeek Programme is a live, online, instructor-led training course which you can attend from anywhere. All you need is a stable internet connection.
Master Class
Under the Master Class programme you are offered an opportunity to learn form world -class instructors and top Info security professionals.
Training Partner (In Person)
The Training Partner programme offers training in the real world. You can collaborate with your peers and gain real-world skills.
Step 5: Join a study group
Online forums and study groups are an essential ingredient of your preparations. They promote healthy discussions and help you stay updated with the updates from around the worlds. Also you get an opportunity to connect with your peers who are on the same road to this exam. Moreover, such groups help you clarify your doubts that may arise while preparing and in the CTIA certification review. It’s advisable that you join the EC-Council Community
Step 6: Attempt Practice Tests
The final step is to check your preparations. This can be done by attempting practice tests. Such tests will help you analyse your hard work and also identify your weaker areas. Working on them helps you prepare well. Moreover, attempting multiple practice tests will equip you with time management skills which will come handy during the real exam. Therefore, Attempt multiple practice tests and boost your confidence.