IFIN came about during a discussion on mastodon, and it piqued my interest.
With my background in intelligence, and working security roles in the energy sector I frequently saw that 'intelligence ’ was this thing that was frequently behind big pay walls,
obscure, obtuse and inaccessible to people.
Intelligence runs a mile wide and sometimes an inch deep, not all of it is equally relevant
for example if you don’t run a windows shop it’s not likely important to know what’s going on in WindowsLand™, but in some cases it might be worth while to know what is happening in WindowsLand™ because of broader trends can sometimes extend beyond a single platform.
More importantly, there is a growing need to build a community of people who are willing to gather, analyze, and share relevant intelligence. That need is becoming more urgent as cuts to federal programs reduce the resources and coordination that many organizations have traditionally relied on.
There are a variety of security communities in the world, they run the gamut some of them are mechanisms to get someone to buy something or vessels that are run by organizations that want you to give them lots of your money.
Experience is valuable, but it does not always translate into practical components that others can incorporate into their own workflows. Because every organization has different needs and priorities, the value comes from providing flexible mechanisms that support both contribution and consumption of information.
A key point in the discussions of IFIN was ensuring that the mechanisms exist for people to contribute information and for organizations to use that information to make informed, meaningful decisions. The goal is not to prescribe a single approach, but to provide the building blocks that each organization can adapt to its own needs.
Every organization has a different set of threats and tolerance for risk, some orgs will choose to accept certain risks, while others may mitigate those risks through outsourcing, insuring, or eliminating an exposure to a risk all together. Each of those considerations takes time, effort and in some cases capital. The key differentiation is having access to relevant data and intelligence that enables informed, risk-based decisions about which approach to take.
I joined IFIN because I saw not only potential, but experienced people working together and sharing ideas.
There’s opportunities for people to contribute, and in the age where we live in a time that sometimes words on the screen are not written by a human with intent but a machine based on previous and historic patterns I think there is something meaningful in what IFIN is and what it does.
@mttaggart does a great job of putting things in perspective, and offering solutions.