Shawn is a security manager working at Lee Inc Solution.

 In the context of a threat intelligence strategy plan, ‘threat trending’ is a critical component that should be included to make the plan effective. Threat trending involves analyzing data over time to identify patterns and trends in cyber threats. This allows an organization to anticipate potential future attacks and prepare accordingly. It is an essential part of a proactive threat intelligence program, enabling the organization to stay ahead of threats rather than just reacting to them.

The other options, while they may be relevant in certain contexts, are not as central to the development of a threat intelligence strategy plan as ‘threat trending’ is. ‘Threat pivoting’ refers to the process of using one piece of data to uncover more data (e.g., using an IP address to find related domains). ‘Threat buy-in’ is not a standard term in threat intelligence, but it could refer to gaining organizational support for threat intelligence efforts. ‘Threat boosting’ is not a recognized term in the field of cybersecurity.

References: The answer is derived from the components of a threat intelligence strategy as outlined in the EC-Council’s Certified SOC Analyst (CSA) training and certification program, which emphasizes the importance of understanding and implementing a threat intelligence-driven SOC12. The CSA program also covers the use of threat intelligence for enhanced incident detection1. The EC-Council materials highlight the need for SOC analysts to understand various types of cyber threats and the importance of threat intelligence in detecting and responding to these threats2.