NLP-based techniques for Cyber Threat Intelligence

In the digital era, threat actors employ sophisticated techniques for which, often, digital traces in the form of textual data are available. Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is related to all the solutions inherent to data collection, processing, and analysis useful to understand a threat actor’s targets and attack behavior. Currently, CTI is assuming an always more crucial role in identifying and mitigating threats and enabling proactive defense strategies. In this context, NLP, an artificial intelligence branch, has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing threat intelligence capabilities. This survey paper provides a comprehensive overview of NLP-based techniques applied in the context of threat intelligence. It begins by describing the foundational definitions and principles of CTI as a major tool for safeguarding digital assets. It then undertakes a thorough examination of NLP-based techniques for CTI data crawling from Web sources, CTI data analysis, Relation Extraction from cybersecurity data, CTI sharing and collaboration, security threats of CTI, and role of LLM in this domain. Finally, the challenges and limitations of NLP in threat intelligence are exhaustively examined, including data quality issues and ethical considerations. This survey draws a complete framework and serves as a valuable resource for security professionals and researchers seeking to understand the state-of-the-art NLP-based threat intelligence techniques and their potential impact on cybersecurity.