What is STIX ? Difference between STIX v1.2 & v2.1

Hi All,
Here I come after a long time. Hope you like it.

What is STIX ?

• STIX stands for Structured Threat Information eXpression.
• It is a standardized language (XML & JSON) for describing CTIs i.e. Cyber Threat Intelligence.
• It helps organization understand, share and act on the threat data

Conclusion: A structured code block way of representing that what have been attacked on an organization, and by whom, and what all resources been compromised with other details like Attacker ID, Timestamp etc. etc. etc.

Example:

Fig1: STIX v1.2

Fig2: STIX v2.1

One is in XML format, and one is in JSON format. And here the version comes into play.

Purpose of STIX

STIX helps organizations, government agencies, and security professionals to:

1. Understand Threats: By providing a structured format, STIX makes it easier to interpret cyber threat intelligence data, such as Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), malware behaviors, attack campaigns, and the threat actors behind them.
2. Share Threat Data: STIX enables secure sharing and exchange of threat information between organizations and security tools, often used alongside TAXII (Trusted Automated eXchange of Intelligence Information), a protocol for sharing STIX data.
3. Automate Detection and Response: The structured data format allows for automated ingestion by security tools, supporting quicker detection, threat hunting, and response.

Type of STIX:

There are 2 types/version of STIX.

• STIX v1.2
• STIX v2.1

What is STIX v1.2 and v2.1 ?

The purpose of all STIX versions are same, difference comes in features like Interoperability, Performance, Adoption etc.

STIX v1.2: It is XML based. It represents attacks happened in XML format.

STIX v2.1: It is JSON based. It represents attacks happened in JSON format.

Differences Between STIX v1.2 and v2.1

STIX has evolved significantly from version 1.2 to 2.1, with enhancements aimed at improving usability, interoperability, and standardization.

So to conclude, STIX is a code block representation of attack happened so that machines or programs can do further analysis of it.