A Complete Guide to Threat Hunting: Tools and Techniques

Today, threat hunting has emerged as a proactive defense strategy. No longer is it sufficient to rely solely on reactive measures; identifying and mitigating potential threats before they cause damage is now the name of the game. And the key to effective threat hunting? The right tools.

This blog takes you through all about threat-hunting, the right tools, their capabilities, and why they’re indispensable in cybersecurity.

What Is Threat Hunting, and Why Does It Matter?

Threat hunting is the proactive process of searching through networks, endpoints, and datasets to identify and mitigate cyber threats that evade traditional security measures. Unlike automated threat detection systems, threat hunting relies heavily on human intuition, complemented by sophisticated tools.

The stakes are high: A successful cyberattack can lead to data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage. Threat-hunting tools provide security teams with the insights and capabilities needed to stay one step ahead of attackers.

Characteristics of Effective Threat-Hunting Tools

Not all tools are created equal. Here are the hallmarks of effective threat-hunting tools:

• Real-Time Visibility: Continuous monitoring of network traffic, endpoints, and logs.
• Advanced Analytics: Capabilities like machine learning and behavioral analysis to identify anomalies.
• Integration: Seamless compatibility with existing security infrastructure.
• Automation: Automating repetitive tasks to free up human analysts for critical thinking.
• Scalability: Adapting to the needs of growing organizations.

Top 5 Threat Hunting Tools to Consider

1. Elastic Security

Elastic Security uses the powerful Elastic Stack to deliver real-time analytics and threat-hunting capabilities.

It excels in providing visibility into security events, making it easy for security teams to detect and respond to threats quickly.

Key Features:

• Interactive threat detection and response: Elastic Security allows users to easily investigate and act on security incidents through an intuitive interface.
• Open-source flexibility: Being open-source, it offers great customization options, giving teams the freedom to tailor the platform to their specific needs.
• Prebuilt detection rules: Preconfigured rules help accelerate threat detection, reducing the time it takes to spot potential risks.

User Perspective: You’ll appreciate the flexibility and control that Elastic Security offers. You can adapt it to your environment, scale it as needed, and get real-time alerts and responses with minimal hassle.

The open-source nature also means you have full control over your data and deployment options.

2. CrowdStrike Falcon

CrowdStrike Falcon combines endpoint detection and response (EDR) with powerful threat intelligence to offer a comprehensive solution for threat hunting. It’s known for its fast detection and prevention capabilities, powered by AI-driven analytics.

Key Features:

• AI-powered analytics: The platform uses machine learning to detect and respond to threats quickly, even those that are sophisticated or zero-day.
• Cloud-native platform: CrowdStrike Falcon is designed to work seamlessly in the cloud, providing quick and scalable deployment.
• Rich threat intelligence database: The system pulls from an extensive threat intelligence database, giving users access to the latest insights and trends in cybersecurity.

User Perspective: From a user’s standpoint, CrowdStrike Falcon is a solid choice if you're looking for a cloud-based platform that offers advanced AI analytics for quick threat detection.

The platform’s rich threat intelligence helps keep your defenses updated in real-time, making it easier for your team to stay ahead of emerging threats.

3. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect enterprise environments, particularly Windows devices.

It integrates easily with other Microsoft services, offering advanced capabilities for detecting and investigating potential threats.

Key Features:

• Automated threat detection: Defender uses automated capabilities to flag potential threats and incidents, reducing the need for manual monitoring.
• Behavioral analytics: By analyzing patterns and behaviors, Defender can detect advanced threats that might not be identified through traditional signature-based methods.
• Integration with Azure Security Center: As part of the Azure ecosystem, Defender for Endpoint integrates with Azure Security Center, offering unified security management for cloud and on-premises environments.

User Perspective: For organizations already using Microsoft products, Defender for Endpoint is a natural choice. Its tight integration with Azure Security Center makes managing and securing endpoints easier.

Behavioral analytics ensure your devices are protected from emerging threats, with automated responses that reduce the need for constant oversight.

4. Carbon Black (VMware)

VMware’s Carbon Black offers a next-generation endpoint security platform that focuses on detecting and responding to advanced threats. It combines behavioral analysis with threat intelligence to proactively protect systems.

Key Features:

• Behavioral threat analysis: Carbon Black focuses on detecting threats based on behavior rather than relying on known signatures, making it effective at spotting new and sophisticated attacks.
• Live response capabilities: The platform provides live-response tools, enabling security teams to investigate and respond to threats in real-time.
• Threat intelligence integration: Carbon Black integrates with external threat intelligence sources, enhancing its ability to identify and respond to emerging threats.

User Perspective: Carbon Black’s strength lies in its real-time response capabilities and behavioral analysis. You can trust it to spot suspicious activity and act on it quickly, even when dealing with zero-day attacks. It’s particularly useful for teams looking for a platform that combines detection with quick incident response.

5. QRadar

IBM’s QRadar is a security information and event management (SIEM) tool that excels at threat detection and analysis. It aggregates and analyzes data from across the network, providing comprehensive security visibility.

Key Features:

• Centralized visibility: QRadar offers a centralized view of all security events, making it easier to monitor and analyze potential threats.
• AI-driven threat hunting: The platform uses artificial intelligence to help security teams identify and investigate suspicious activity more efficiently.
• Scalable for large enterprises: QRadar is designed to handle the needs of large organizations, offering scalability and flexibility to accommodate a variety of environments.

User Perspective: For security teams in large enterprises, QRadar offers an impressive SIEM solution that consolidates security data into a single platform. The AI-driven threat-hunting capabilities help you stay ahead of cyber threats, while its scalability ensures it can grow with your organization’s needs.

It’s an ideal tool for those looking for a comprehensive and centralized security management platform.

How to Choose the Right Threat-Hunting Tool for Your Organization

1. Environment:

• Cloud-based, on-premises, or hybrid setup?
• Choose a tool optimized for your environment for better compatibility and protection.

2. Budget:

• What can you allocate for security tools and personnel?
• Consider both the cost of the tool and any additional expenses like training or hiring experts.

3. Integration Needs:

• How easily does the tool integrate with existing systems?
• Look for seamless integration with your current security infrastructure to avoid disruption.

4. Team Expertise:

• Does your team have the skills to use the tool effectively?
• Consider how user-friendly the tool is, and ensure your team is equipped to fully utilize it.

Selecting the right tool comes down to understanding your organization’s specific needs and making sure the tool fits your environment, budget, expertise, and integration requirements.

Top 4 Threat Hunting Methodologies

1. Intelligence-Based Hunting

This approach uses both internal and external threat intelligence to guide threat-hunting efforts. By focusing on Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) such as malicious IP addresses, domains, or file hashes, this method aims to detect known threats in your environment.

Strengths:

• Quick identification of known threats: It’s efficient for catching threats that have already been identified by threat intelligence sources.
• Relies on established data: You can use trusted sources of data to stay ahead of adversaries targeting your industry.

Challenges:

• Limited to known threats: It can miss new or novel attacks that haven’t been documented yet.
• Requires robust intelligence feeds: To stay effective, this method relies on constantly updated, high-quality threat intelligence.

2. Hypotheses-Based Hunting

In this approach, threat hunters begin with a hypothesis about potential adversary behaviors or vulnerabilities. These hypotheses might stem from unusual patterns in network traffic or reports of new attack methods. The goal is to test these assumptions through investigation and data analysis.

Strengths:

• Encourages creative problem-solving: It allows hunters to think outside the box and explore unexpected threats.
• Can uncover unknown threats: This method is useful for spotting threats that haven’t been identified by traditional detection methods.

Challenges:

• Requires skilled analysts: Deep knowledge of your environment and advanced investigative skills are crucial for success.
• Time and resource-intensive: It can take significant time and resources to test and validate hypotheses.

3. Hybrid Hunting

The hybrid method combines both intelligence-based and hypotheses-based hunting. Starting with threat intelligence, hunters then expand their investigations by testing hypotheses about possible threats, providing a balanced approach to threat hunting.

Strengths:

• Balances speed and thoroughness: You get the efficiency of intelligence-based hunting and the thoroughness of hypotheses-based hunting.
• Addresses both immediate and long-term threats: It’s great for both known risks and emerging attack patterns.

Challenges:

• Coordination complexity: It can be tricky to manage both approaches simultaneously, requiring smooth coordination between teams.
• Needs skilled professionals: Both high-quality intelligence and experienced hunters are necessary to make this approach work.

4. Custom Methodologies

Some organizations choose to develop custom methodologies tailored to their unique needs. These methodologies blend different aspects of existing approaches to address industry-specific threats or meet regulatory requirements.

Strengths:

• Highly flexible: Custom approaches are tailored to address the specific needs of your organization.
• Better alignment with unique threats: It can be adjusted to address the particular risks or challenges your organization faces.

Challenges:

• Complex to develop: Building a custom methodology requires time, expertise, and ongoing adjustments.
• Resource-heavy: It can demand significant resources to maintain and refine over time.

How to Conduct Threat Hunting

1. Identify a Trigger

Every successful hunt begins with a trigger—something that sparks the need for investigation. Triggers can come from:

• Security alerts: Tools like SIEM or IDS may flag suspicious activity.
• Suspicious patterns: Anomalies in network traffic or unusual user behavior raise red flags.
• External threat intelligence: New risks identified in the broader cybersecurity landscape.
• Proactive hypotheses: A hunch about potential vulnerabilities or adversary tactics.

Identifying a trigger helps give direction to your hunt and sets the stage for further investigation.

2. Formulate a Hypothesis

Once a trigger is identified, hunters develop a hypothesis about what might be happening. For example, "A sudden increase in outbound traffic could point to an insider stealing data." This hypothesis narrows down what to look for and guides the investigation process.

Having a clear hypothesis provides a focus, which searches for threats more efficiently and targeted.

3. Collect Relevant Data

To test the hypothesis, hunters need data. This can come from various sources, including:

• Network logs and endpoint telemetry: These show what’s happening in the network and on individual devices.
• Application logs: To spot any abnormal behaviors or activity.
• Behavioral analytics: Analyzing patterns over time to detect unusual actions.
• Threat intelligence feeds: External data on known threats that may help confirm or refute suspicions.

Collecting the right data is crucial to understanding whether the hypothesis holds up.

4. Analyze and Hunt

This is where the real detective work happens. Hunters dive into the data to test the hypothesis and look for anomalies. Common techniques include:

• Search queries and filtering: To find patterns and deviations.
• Behavioral baselines: Comparing current activity to what’s normal.
• MITRE ATT&CK frameworks: Correlating findings with known adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

The goal is to analyze the data thoroughly to either confirm or dismiss the hypothesis.

5. Investigate Findings

If suspicious activity is detected, it's time for deeper investigation. This involves:

• Validating findings against known Indicators of Compromise (IoCs).
• Cross-referencing the activity with known attack patterns (TTPs).
• Identifying affected assets: What systems, users, or data are at risk?

A thorough investigation helps determine if what you’re seeing is a true threat or just a false alarm.

6. Document and Communicate Results

Even if a threat isn’t confirmed, documentation is key. Keep track of:

• Actions taken and tools used during the hunt.
• Evidence and observations from your investigation.
• Conclusions: Was the hypothesis proven correct? What were the results?
• Recommendations: If needed, suggest next steps for remediation or further investigation.

Clear documentation helps others understand the process and outcome, contributing to continuous learning.

7. Take Action

When a threat is confirmed, immediate action is necessary to contain and remediate it. Common steps include:

• Isolating affected systems to prevent the spread of the threat.
• Blocking malicious IPs, domains, or file hashes.
• Applying patches or updates to address vulnerabilities.

The goal is to minimize damage and stop the threat before it causes harm.

8. Review and Refine

Once the hunt is complete, conduct a review to evaluate the process. Consider:

• Effectiveness of the hypothesis: Did it lead you in the right direction?
• Tool and data effectiveness: Did they provide sufficient insights?
• Areas for improvement: Were there any gaps or inefficiencies?

This feedback loop ensures continuous improvement, making your threat-hunting more effective over time.

Threat Hunting vs. Threat Intelligence

While both threat hunting and threat intelligence play key roles in cybersecurity, they serve different purposes and complement each other.

Here's how they differ:

1. Definition and Focus

• Threat Hunting: A proactive, human-driven process where security teams actively search for threats within an organization. It focuses on uncovering hidden threats that might have bypassed automated defenses or are in early attack stages.
• Threat Intelligence: The collection, analysis, and sharing of information about potential threats. It helps organizations understand attacker tactics and techniques, anticipating and defending against future risks.

2. Goal

• Threat Hunting: Find and mitigate threats already present in the system, especially those that haven't triggered alerts discovering "unknown unknowns."
• Threat Intelligence: Provide actionable insights to prepare for and prevent future attacks, helping organizations respond more effectively to known risks.

3. Approach

• Threat Hunting: Guided by hypotheses or unusual behavior patterns. Hunters actively search through logs, networks, and endpoints, seeking signs of potential threats.
• Threat Intelligence: Focuses on gathering and analyzing data from various external and internal sources to build a picture of the threat landscape. It's more reactive but provides crucial context for future preparedness.

4. Scope

• Threat Hunting: Primarily internal, focusing on the organization’s network, systems, and data to find threats that may have evaded detection.
• Threat Intelligence: Broader in scope, incorporating external data to help predict and prepare for external and internal threats.

5. Tools and Techniques

• Threat Hunting: Utilizes tools like SIEM, EDR platforms, and manual analysis to comb through data and spot suspicious activity.
• Threat Intelligence: Relies on intelligence platforms, feeds, and research to track known threats and identify emerging risks.

6. Timing

• Threat Hunting: Real-time or near-real-time, focusing on proactive threat identification before they can cause damage.
• Threat Intelligence: Involves both long-term trends and real-time data, offering insights for ongoing defense strategies and incident response.

How Threat Hunting and Threat Intelligence Work Together

Threat hunting and threat intelligence aren't separate efforts—they work hand in hand to strengthen cybersecurity.

Here's how:

• Threat Intelligence: Provides valuable information about current threats, attack patterns, and tactics. This knowledge helps guide hunting efforts, allowing hunters to focus on the most relevant threats or areas of concern.
• Threat Hunting: As hunters dig through data and identify potential threats, they can uncover new indicators or tactics that were previously unknown. These findings can then be fed back into threat intelligence, enriching the database and improving future threat detection.

What Are the Different Types of Threat Hunting?

Threat hunting isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on the focus, environment, and available data, hunters may use different techniques.

Here are the main types:

1. Structured Threat Hunting

This type follows a defined, systematic methodology. It’s based on established frameworks and known attack patterns, helping to identify potential threats with precision.

• Characteristics:
  • Driven by specific hypotheses, use cases, or threat intelligence feeds.
  • Uses frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK or the Diamond Model.
  • Follows well-documented processes focusing on adversary techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs).
• When to Use:
  • When looking for specific, known attack patterns or behaviors.
  • When you have a clear idea of what you’re hunting for (e.g., IoCs, known techniques).

2. Unstructured Threat Hunting

Unstructured hunting is more exploratory. There’s no set hypothesis or predefined methods—hunters follow anomalies or unusual behaviors and trust their instincts.

• Characteristics:
  • Flexible, without reliance on frameworks.
  • Searches for anything that seems out of place—whether it’s a new attack or an internal misconfiguration.
  • Uses raw data (logs, network traffic) to spot issues.
• When to Use:
  • When trying to uncover new or unknown threats.
  • When dealing with unfamiliar attacks or little information about the threat.

3. Situational or Entity-Driven Threat Hunting

This approach is context-based, and driven by specific incidents, changes, or unusual activities. Hunters focus on individual entities—like users, endpoints, or applications—and track malicious activity related to them.

• Characteristics:
  • Focuses on specific behaviors of entities (e.g., user accounts, devices).
  • Often reactive, based on recent events like new vulnerabilities or suspicious behavior.
  • Requires monitoring entities over time to detect attack patterns.
• When to Use:
  • When there’s a change in behavior or new threats affecting specific entities.
  • In response to incidents, anomalies, or new threat intelligence.

4. Intelligence-Driven Threat Hunting

This method relies on external threat intelligence feeds and reports. Hunters use this data to track known attacker TTPs or search for indicators linked to recent attacks.

• Characteristics:
  • Relies heavily on external threat intelligence.
  • Focuses on specific threat actors, their tools, and tactics.
  • Can be proactive, hunting for attackers known to target your sector.
• When to Use:
  • When you have solid external intelligence or know of a specific adversary targeting your organization.
  • When you want to prioritize based on recent attack trends.

How They Work Together

These types aren’t mutually exclusive—they complement each other.

For example, structured hunting might identify specific behaviors that trigger unstructured hunts, or situational hunting could provide real-time context for intelligence-driven efforts.

Combining them builds a comprehensive strategy, covering everything from known threats to emerging risks.

Threat Hunting Best Practices

To stay ahead of cyber threats, effective threat hunting requires preparation, expertise, and continuous improvement.

Here are some best practices to guide you:

1. Know Your Organization’s Normal
   Establish a baseline for typical user behavior, network traffic, and system activities. This helps you quickly spot anomalies that may indicate a threat.
2. Equip Your Team
   Threat hunting is a team effort. Make sure your hunters have the right skills, tools, and time to focus on hunting rather than routine incident response.
3. Set Clear Objectives
   Define what you’re hunting for from the start—whether it's a specific malware or signs of lateral movement. This helps focus your efforts and measure success.
4. Use Threat Intelligence
   Use external threat intel to guide your hunt. Insights into attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) can help you anticipate threats before they strike.
5. Utilize the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
   The MITRE ATT&CK framework is invaluable for mapping adversary behaviors. Use it to guide your investigation and focus on high-priority areas.
6. Automate Repetitive Tasks
   Automate routine tasks like log collection and correlation, so your team can focus on deeper analysis and responding to potential threats.
7. Stay Adaptable and Keep Learning
   Cyber threats evolve, so your methods should too. Regular training, collaboration, and post-hunt reviews will keep your team sharp.
8. Document and Share Findings
   Keep detailed records of your hunts, regardless of whether a threat is found. This helps refine your process and demonstrates the value of your efforts.

Final Thoughts

Threat hunting isn’t just a buzzword—it’s essential in today’s cybersecurity world. Equipping your team with the right tools and skills can make all the difference between stopping an attack in its tracks and dealing with the fallout afterward.

It’s all about combining technology and human expertise—so don’t skimp on either.