What is cyber threat hunting? (Definition and how it works)

Cyber ​​threat hunting involves proactively searching for threats on an organization's network that traditional cybersecurity solutions are unaware of (or overlooked). A recent report from Armis found that attempted cyberattacks increased by 104% in 2023, underscoring the need for proactive threat detection to prevent breaches.

What is cyber threat hunting?

Cyber ​​threat hunting is a proactive security strategy that seeks to identify and eliminate cybersecurity threats on the network before they cause obvious signs of a breach. Traditional security methodologies and solutions detect threats reactively, often by comparing threat indicators (such as unknown code execution or an unauthorized registry change) against a database of known threat signatures.

Cyber ​​threat hunting uses advanced detection tools and techniques to look for indicators of compromise (IoC) that have not been seen before or are too subtle for traditional tools to detect. Examples of threat hunting techniques include:

• Search for internal threats, such as employees, contractors or suppliers.
• Proactively identify and patch network vulnerabilities.
• Search for known threats, such as high-profile advanced persistent threats (APTs).
• Establish and execute incident response plans to neutralize cyber threats.

Why threat hunting is necessary

Traditional reactive cybersecurity strategies focus primarily on creating a perimeter of automated threat detection tools, assuming that anything past these defenses is secure. If an attacker slips through this perimeter undetected, perhaps stealing credentials from authorized users through social engineering, they could spend months moving through the network and extracting data. Unless your activity matches a known threat signature, reactive threat detection tools such as antivirus software and firewalls will not detect them.

Proactive threat hunting attempts to identify and patch vulnerabilities before they are exploited by cybercriminals, reducing the number of successful breaches. It also carefully analyzes all data generated by applications, systems, devices and users to detect anomalies that indicate a breach is occurring, limiting the duration of successful attacks and the damage caused by them. Additionally, cyber threat hunting techniques typically involve unifying security monitoring, detection, and response with a centralized platform, providing greater visibility and improving efficiency.

Advantages of threat hunting

• Proactively identify and patch vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
• Limit the duration and impact of successful breaches.
• Provides greater visibility into network security operations.
• Improves the efficiency of security monitoring, detection and response.

Cons of Threat Hunting

• Purchasing the necessary tools and hiring qualified cybersecurity talent requires a large upfront investment.

SEE: Hiring Kit: Cyber ​​Threat Hunter

Types of threat hunting tools and how they work

Below are some of the most commonly used types of tools for proactive threat hunting.

Security monitoring

Security monitoring tools include antivirus scanners, endpoint security software, and firewalls. These solutions monitor users, devices, and network traffic for signs of compromise or breach. Both proactive and reactive cybersecurity strategies use security monitoring tools.

Advanced analytical input and output

Security analytics solutions use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data collected from monitoring tools, devices, and applications on the network. These tools provide a more accurate picture of a company's security posture (its overall cybersecurity status) than traditional security monitoring solutions. AI is also better at detecting abnormal activity on a network and identifying new threats than signature-based detection tools.

Integrated Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

A security information and event management solution collects, monitors and analyzes security data in real time to assist in threat detection, investigation and response. SIEM tools integrate with other security systems, such as firewalls and endpoint security solutions, and aggregate their monitoring data in one place to streamline threat hunting and remediation.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Solutions

XDR extends the capabilities of traditional endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions by integrating other threat detection tools such as identity and access management (IAM), email security, patch management, and cloud application security. XDR also provides enhanced security data analysis and automated security response.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Systems

MDR combines automatic threat detection software with human-managed proactive threat hunting. MDR is a managed service that provides businesses with 24/7 access to a team of threat hunting experts who find, classify and respond to threats using EDR tools, threat intelligence, analytics advanced and human experience.

Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) Systems

SOAR solutions unify security monitoring, detection, and response integrations and automate many of the tasks involved with each. SOAR systems enable teams to orchestrate security management processes and automation workflows from a single platform for efficient, full-coverage threat hunting and remediation capabilities.

Penetration tests

Penetration testing (also known as penetration testing) is essentially a simulated cyber attack. Security experts use specialized software and tools to probe an organization's network, applications, security architecture, and users to identify vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could exploit. Penetration testing proactively finds weaknesses, such as unpatched software or lax password protection practices, in the hopes that companies can fix these security holes before real attackers find them.

Popular Threat Hunting Solutions

There are many different threat hunting solutions available for each type of tool mentioned above, with options aimed at startups, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), larger enterprises, and enterprises.

Strike crowd

CrowdStrike offers a range of threat hunting tools such as SIEM and XDR that can be purchased individually or as a bundle, with packages optimized for SMBs ($4.99/device/month), large enterprises, and corporations. The CrowdStrike Falcon platform unifies these tools and other security integrations for a streamlined experience.

ESET

ESET provides a threat hunting platform that scales its services and capabilities depending on the size of the business and the protection required. For example, startups and SMBs can get advanced EDR and full disk encryption for $275/year for 5 devices; Larger businesses and enterprises can add cloud application protection, email security, and patch management for $338.50 per year for 5 devices. Additionally, businesses can add MDR services to any pricing tier for an additional fee.

Splunk

Splunk is a cyber security and observability platform that offers SIEM and SOAR solutions for enterprise customers. Splunk is a robust platform with over 2,300 integrations, powerful data collection and analytics capabilities, and granular, customizable controls. Pricing is flexible, allowing customers to pay based on workload, data ingestion, number of hosts, or number of monitoring activities.

Cyber ​​threat hunting is a proactive security strategy that identifies and remediates threats that traditional detection methods miss. Investing in threat hunting tools and services helps companies reduce the frequency, duration, and business impact of cyberattacks.