A Step-by-Step Guide to How Threat Hunting Works

Stay ahead of cybercrime with proactive threat hunting. Learn how threat hunters identify hidden threats, protect critical systems, and prevent data breaches through data analysis, investigation, and real-time action.

Cybercrime is more sophisticated than ever, and organizations must stay one step ahead to protect their sensitive data and critical systems. One essential practice to prevent security and data breaches is threat hunting.

Unlike traditional cybersecurity practices that rely on automated systems to detect known threats, threat hunting is a proactive approach that seeks out hidden and unknown threats lurking within an organization’s network.

This guide breaks down the role of the threat hunter and how they help organizations remain protected.

****Step 1: Define Your Threat Hunting Objectives****

Before diving into the technical aspects, setting clear objectives is essential. Threat hunters should ask questions like, “What threats are we most concerned about?” or “Which parts of our network are most vulnerable?” Defining specific goals ensures that threat hunting efforts are directed where they matter most, and it helps in focusing on specific attack vectors.

****Step 2: Gather and Analyze Data****

The next step in threat hunting involves collecting data from various network sources, such as log files, network traffic, and endpoint activity. The goal here is to get a detailed view of network activity to identify anomalies that may indicate a potential threat. Advanced analytical tools, including security information and event management (SIEM) systems, provide threat hunters with centralized data to examine patterns and detect outliers.

****Step 3: Formulate Hypotheses****

Once data is collected and analyzed, threat hunters move on to creating hypotheses. These hypotheses are based on potential threat scenarios and help to guide the search for suspicious activities. For instance, if recent cybercrime reports indicate a surge in phishing attempts, a hypothesis might be, “Attackers could use phishing emails to gain initial access to the network.”

****Step 4: Investigate and Identify Threats****

Now comes the investigative stage, where threat hunters search the network for indicators of compromise (IoCs) based on the hypotheses they’ve formed. This may include looking for unusual login patterns, detecting irregular data flows, or identifying unauthorized access to sensitive files. Specialized tools and software, such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, can significantly aid this stage by providing real-time insights into network activity.

A crucial part of this step is separating false positives from legitimate threats. Not every anomaly is a cyberattack, so threat hunters must validate findings with caution to avoid unnecessary alarms.

****Step 5: Contain and Eradicate Threats****

If a threat is identified, the next step is containment and eradication. Containment measures prevent the threat from spreading, while eradication eliminates it from the system entirely. These actions might involve isolating infected machines, blocking malicious IPs, or removing compromised accounts.

****Step 6: Review and Improve****

Once the threat has been dealt with, it’s time to conduct a thorough review. This involves analyzing what worked, what didn’t, and how the threat could have been prevented or detected sooner. The insights gained from this review are invaluable, as they help strengthen future threat-hunting efforts and reduce the likelihood of similar incidents.

****The Importance of Proactive Threat Hunting****

Cybercrime is constantly evolving, and organizations cannot rely solely on automated tools to stay protected. By incorporating threat hunting into their cybersecurity strategy, organizations can better protect their data, ensure network security, and maintain a safe digital environment for all stakeholders.

1. What Is Incident Management Software?
2. What is OSINT – Best Paid and Free OSINT Tools for 2024
3. Behavior-based vs IOC-based Threat Detection Approaches
4. Python in Threat Intelligence: Analyzing – Mitigating Cyber Threats
5. Enhancing Security Solutions through AWS Marketplace Integration
6. ANY.RUN Upgrades Threat Intelligence to Identify Emerging Threats