Threats - Detecting and Hunting

We live in a truly digital world! All of these technological advancements have given both enterprises and individuals the capabilities to conduct business anywhere and at anytime. With this freedom, comes new threats requiring all of us to stay one step ahead of attackers if we desire to keep our data, networks, and applications safe. Threat detection and threat hunting are two major prevention strategies your organization can use today to identify and deal with potential threats. This week. let's discuss how to add these capabilities to your security strategy.

What Is Threat Detection?

Threat detection involves identifying threats that are trying to attack the endpoints, networks, devices, and systems. Threat detection is often a reactive approach based on alerts received on network and system monitoring tools. These tools may include intrusion detection systems (IDS), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), endpoint detection and response systems (EDR), automated security scans from antivirus software, and more. Once a threat is detected, security teams can analyze the threat and take security measures to remove the threats.

What Is Threat Hunting?

Threat hunting is a slightly different approach as it involves taking proactive steps towards discovering and mitigating unknown or emerging threats. It requires an in-depth understanding of attack tactics, tools, and motivations, as well as the ability to think outside the box and develop creative strategies for detection and response. Typically, threat hunters work to identify unknown or unexplained activities that might suggest malicious intent or the presence of an advanced threat.

Threat hunting is a critical component of your organization's security strategy, as it helps to identify and respond to threats before they can cause significant damage. It also helps to reduce the risk of false positives, as threat hunters are able to use their expertise to accurately identify malicious activity. Additionally, threat hunting can help to identify gaps in your organization's security posture and allow you to take steps to improve your defenses.

The Benefits of Threat Hunting

Since threat hunting involves more proactive exploration than traditional methods of threat detection, your organization can identify threats more quickly and accurately. Additionally, it helps to identify more sophisticated threats that would otherwise go undetected, reducing the chances of a successful attack. Threat hunting can also provide insight into which security measures are most effective at mitigating threats, allowing your organization to focus their efforts on protecting the most vulnerable aspects of their infrastructure.

Common Techniques

The techniques used for threat detection and threat hunting vary depending on the security requirements of your organization. Yet, some of the most common techniques used include log reviews, malware analysis, network traffic analysis, and advanced deception technologies. Log review involves combing through system logs to look for any suspicious activities, while malware analysis involves looking at files that have been identified as malicious. Network traffic analysis looks for anomalous activity on a network, while deception technologies include setting up decoy systems or services in order to lure attackers.

Identifying and Minimizing False Positives

False positives are a common concern when using any type of security tool or process. While it is important to detect potential threats accurately and quickly, organizations must also take steps to ensure that false positives are minimized. This is especially important in threat detection and threat hunting as incorrect detection could lead to a false sense of security or cause resources to be diverted away from responding to real threats. To this end, your organization should review their security processes regularly and make use of machine-learning algorithms to help improve accuracy.

Establishing an Effective Security Program

If your organization desires to build an effective security program, then integrating threat detection and threat hunting capabilities should be something to consider. This will require some effort up-front in terms of establishing effective processes for collecting security data sources across the organization, having personnel trained in threat hunting practices, as well as implementing tools for storing and analyzing data. However, over time, these efforts should result in a boost in your organizational security posture.

Indicators of Compromise in Network Traffic

Network traffic analysis is an important aspect of threat detection and threat hunting. By monitoring network traffic, your organization can look for indicators of compromise (IOCs). These are potentially malicious activities that occur on a network which could indicate that an attacker has successfully gained access or is trying to gain access to a system. Common IOCs include instances of unusual ports being used or connections being established between an external IP address and an internal one.

Automated Solutions

You can save time and resources by implementing automated solutions for threat detection and threat hunting. Automation can streamline the process of collecting data from multiple sources and analyzing it for potential indicators of compromise. It also helps ensure consistent results across multiple platforms. Additionally, automation can help reduce the chances of false positives occurring as it can detect potential threats more accurately than humans alone.

Effective Strategy

When developing an effective strategy for threat detection and threat hunting, your organization should focus on identifying data sources that can provide the most relevant information about potential threats. Consider integrating automated solutions wherever possible in order to save time and resources and make sure to include training. Security personnel need proper training to effectively utilize the security tools or processes that are enabled.

Security Program Review and Updates

Finally, it is critical to review your overall security program and ensure that processes are up-to-date and working properly. This could include regular reviews of security logs, automated scans with up-to-date antivirus solutions, or manual assessment of access controls or vulnerable points within the system. You should ensure that security software is updated regularly to leverage new features as they become available.

By understanding the core concepts of threat detection and threat hunting and implementing modern solutions where appropriate, you can enhance your organization's security posture significantly. Maintain an ongoing commitment to security and protect your networks and systems from destructive forces.