Most security teams are built to respond. Until very recently, the process was: detect, contain, and then recover. In other words, teams were usually acting after the fact by design — responding as soon as they notice that something has occurred.
Incident response is vital work, but relying exclusively on responsive strategies keeps security professionals in a defensive posture. Many chief information security officers (CISOs) now recognise that incidents can often be avoided entirely by anticipating them and acting early.
As the scale of attacks increases, organisations are seeking to apply threat intelligence and work more proactively — understanding that pre-empting attacks and closing gaps in defences early is cheaper and less disruptive than responding after the fact.
Join CSIS at a special briefing on how leading Danish organisations are now using threat intelligence to anticipate cyberattacks.
📅 Date: 26 August 2026
🕘 Time: 08:30–11:00
📍 Location: CSIS Security Group, Lindevangs Allé 12, 3rd floor, 2000 Frederiksberg
The briefing will include a case study presentation from Jørgen Metzdorff, Head of Security Operations, Region Midtjylland, on how threat intelligence works in practice, with further sessions from Daniel Shepherd, CEO, CSIS Security Group, and Stefan Tanase, Principal Security Researcher, CSIS. You will also get early access to the latest edition of CSIS’ Threat Matrix Report.
Places are limited for this in-person event.
Often an attack can be spotted and shut down before anything happens. In some ransomware cases, a victim's credentials are seen circulating on criminal marketplaces beforehand. In brand impersonation attacks, a lookalike domain is registered days before the phishing campaign runs — and can be taken down first.
That gap, between when a threat starts forming and when your defences first notice it, is what threat intelligence exists to close.
Threat intelligence should not just be another feed to watch. Done well, it applies analyst judgement to surface the threats that are still taking shape and that actually concern your organisation, so they can be dealt with before they become an incident. Intelligence moves the point of contact earlier, letting you meet the threat on your terms rather than the attacker's.
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Reactive defence |
Pre-emptive intelligence |
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When it applies |
After the attacker makes contact |
Before the attacker makes contact |
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What it answers |
"Have we been breached?" |
"What is being prepared against us?" |
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Where it looks |
Inside your own systems and perimeter |
Outside it — the open, deep and dark web |
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What triggers it |
An alert once activity reaches you |
An early signal while the threat is still forming |
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The result |
Contain and recover |
Prevent or disrupt |
Traditional approaches to cybersecurity remain essential but, in addition to monitoring your own systems, it pays to look at what’s happening in your wider environment. That includes paying attention to:
With those kinds of attacks, there are usually warning signs that can be detected — if you are looking for them.
Threat intelligence is best understood as complementary to existing defences. Effective detection and response still matter. Intelligence adds the part they cannot provide on their own: visibility of what is being prepared against you, beyond your own perimeter.
The wider industry is moving the same way. Gartner named preemptive cybersecurity one of its top strategic technology trends for 2026, and forecasts that by 2030 preemptive solutions will account for half of all security spending — a substantial reallocation from the reactive tooling that dominates budgets today. Gartner's definition is broader than threat intelligence alone, spanning AI-driven security operations and deception as well, but the direction is consistent: earlier action, before the attacker makes contact.
Seeing a threat early changes the question leadership is asking: from "have we been breached?" to "what is being prepared against us, and what can we do about it now?"
In practice that means fewer surprises, earlier decisions, and effort directed at the threats that are forming rather than the ones that have already landed.
Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) is the collection and analysis of information about threats forming outside an organisation's own systems — criminal marketplaces, forums, infrastructure being registered, credentials being traded — turned into findings a security team can act on. It answers what is being prepared against you, rather than what has already reached you.
A threat feed is a stream of indicators: IP addresses, domains, file hashes. It tells you what is known to be malicious generally. Threat intelligence involves analysts assessing which of those signals matter to your organisation specifically, and what to do about them. The difference is judgement — a feed reports, intelligence advises.
Reactive security detects and contains activity once it reaches your environment. Pre-emptive security identifies threats while they are still being prepared, outside your perimeter, so they can be disrupted before contact.
Common ones include employee credentials appearing on criminal marketplaces, lookalike domains being registered to impersonate a brand, an organisation being named in a ransomware group's chatter, leaked data from a supplier, and infrastructure being staged for a campaign. Each typically appears days or weeks before an attack.
The open web is anything a search engine can index. The deep web is content behind logins or paywalls — most of the internet, and mostly ordinary. The dark web requires specific software to reach and is where criminal marketplaces and forums operate. Threat intelligence work spans all three.
No. Detection and response handle what has already reached your systems, and that requirement does not go away. Intelligence adds visibility of what is being prepared beyond your perimeter, so fewer threats arrive unexpectedly.
No. Credential theft, brand impersonation and supplier compromise affect organisations of any size, and attackers frequently select targets opportunistically rather than by revenue. What varies is how intelligence is consumed — larger organisations often run their own analyst teams, while others use a managed service.
Our 26 August briefing looks at how Danish organisations are applying threat intelligence today. Places are limited.
CSIS Security Group provides threat intelligence through our SecAlliance brand. We employ more CREST-accredited intelligence analysts than any provider in the world.
Read about CSIS threat intelligence services or take a deep-dive into our full capabilities on the SecAlliance website.
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CSIS Security Group A/S is a leading European pure-play provider of tech-enabled cybersecurity and intelligence services. Operating 24/7, we deliver Managed Detection & Response, Incident Response, Security Consulting across all sectors, and provide a world-class threat intelligence capability through our SecAlliance brand. Accredited by organisations including CREST, we actively support global security initiatives to positively impact the cyber community.