Seven methods for proactive threat hunting and analysis of their characteristics

In the digital world, every organization must have the ability to navigate dangerous environments, and this needs to be guarded by their guardians - a team of cybersecurity professionals. In this endless game of attack and defense, proactive threat hunting is an important security practice. It enables defenders to pre-emptively disrupt adversaries’ carefully planned attack plans and transform security teams from passive sentinels responding to attacks to proactive ones. Cyber ​​warriors launching attacks.

Threat hunting is a proactive and sustainable approach to cybersecurity that aims to identify and mitigate threats before they cause significant harm to an organization. Unlike traditional security measures that rely on reactive techniques such as signature-based detection or incident response, threat hunting at its core is based on the principle of hypothesis compromise, encouraging security professionals to take a more proactive and continuous monitoring approach, looking for information that may have been compromised. Escape traces and evidence of threats from traditional defenses.

The core goal of an organization's threat hunting program is to shorten the time between the emergence of danger and the completion of an attack, the so-called "dwell time." The longer attackers remain in an enterprise environment, the greater the harm they can cause. To be more precise, threat hunting needs to be able to discover risks that are not detected by traditional security tools, and help enterprises analyze and improve the effectiveness of existing threat detection mechanisms and processes, and make reasonable security optimization suggestions. In addition, they need to be able to identify new attack methods, tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to launch new threat mitigation tasks.

In order to help organizations carry out threat hunting more effectively, this article collects and sorts out 7 threat hunting methods that are currently widely used, and analyzes their characteristics:

1. Hypothesis-Based Threat Hunting

Hypothesis-driven threat hunting is similar to the work of a detective, primarily discovering threats and testing them through meticulous investigation. In this approach, threat hunters (security analysts) apply their knowledge of attacker behavior and use the MITER ATT&CK framework as a guide for their actions. This framework details the tactics, techniques and processes used by attackers to help threat hunters search for potential attacks in a targeted manner.

The greatest value of the hypothesis-based threat hunting method is that it can effectively guide process-based hunting activities and focus on using known techniques to discover specific attacker behaviors. It provides a structured and proactive approach that enables hunters to stay ahead of the search for potential threats and continuously adjust and optimize the organization's defenses. By continually developing new threat hypotheses and incorporating new intelligence, threat hunters can more effectively predict and combat their cyber adversaries.

2. Threat hunting based on abnormal behavior

Compared with threat hunting activities based on assumptions, threat hunting based on identifying abnormal behaviors takes a unique hunting path, emphasizing the identification of abnormal behaviors within the network. Its hunting targets will be more comprehensive and extensive. Threat hunting based on abnormal behavior requires establishing a baseline of behavior that represents normal activity and issuing alerts and reminders when deviations occur. This approach requires heavy use of machine learning’s ability to detect anomalous behavioral patterns that may indicate potential threats.

The advantage of threat hunting based on abnormal behavior analysis is that it can discover some unknown new threats. By comparing regular patterns in the network to a baseline of security behavior, emerging behavioral deviations can be quickly identified and investigated. This approach is particularly useful when detecting insider threats or new sophisticated cyber attacks.

However, it should be noted that threat hunting based on abnormal behavior also has many challenges. For example, how to effectively distinguish true anomalies from benign anomalies is a very complex task. Threat hunters must also invest considerable time and effort in continuously optimizing their detection mechanisms to minimize false positives and ensure that their investigations focus on those real threats.

3. Signature-unrelated threat hunting

In the process of organizations seeking to detect threats, some signature-unrelated hunting activities can lead security analysts to deviate from the conventional monitoring path. At this time, they need to boldly go beyond traditional signature-based threat detection methods. Signature-agnostic threat hunting challenges the limitations of predefined detection rules and signatures to discover dynamically changing and ambiguous threats. In this hunting mode, threat hunters are required to scrutinize a large number of security indicators, including suspicious behavior patterns, malicious code fragments, and abnormal network facilities.

The advantage of this approach is its ability to detect highly targeted APT threats. Attackers often employ custom malware, zero-day exploits, or obfuscation techniques to evade signature-based defenses. By looking for characteristics other than signature characteristics, threat hunters can identify malicious attacks that do not match any known patterns, and are therefore particularly effective at discovering APT attacks and some complex attacks that constantly adjust their attack methods and tactics.

Signature-agnostic threat hunting requires threat hunters to have a very deep understanding of attacker techniques and the ability to analyze multiple security data and indicators. It requires threat hunters to be able to think like attackers, predict their actions, and detect threats based on their underlying behavior and intent.

4. Intelligence-led threat hunting

Intelligence-oriented threat hunting mainly uses the power of collective knowledge to transform massive threat intelligence into the organization's active defense capabilities. In this approach, threat hunters need to make extensive use of threat intelligence obtained from various sources, including vendor notifications, security research institutions, security communities, and some dark web monitoring platforms. By collecting and analyzing key indicators of compromise (IOCs) such as malicious IP addresses, domains or file hashes, threat hunters can proactively search for the presence or potential impact of specific threats within an organization.

Here's a typical hunting scenario: A threat intelligence feed alerts a threat hunter that an attacker has begun using a new malware in a targeted attack. Intelligence-driven threat hunting will comprehensively analyze the characteristics of this malware, such as its command and control infrastructure or unique network signatures. Threat hunters then proactively look for these indicators across the enterprise's network environment and detect any compromise or signs of an ongoing attack.

The primary advantage of an intelligence-led approach to threat hunting is its ability to provide context and focus for hunting activities. By understanding the tactics, goals, and tools of a specific threat actor, hunters can design a more targeted detection strategy. This approach also enables collaboration and information sharing within the security community to work together to strengthen defenses and disrupt adversary activities.

5. Threat hunting based on attacker profiling

Threat hunting based on attacker profiling focuses the threat hunter's efforts on studying the broad characteristics of mainstream threat groups. In this approach, hunters research and analyze the methods, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) employed in specific threat groups or attack incidents. By understanding the behaviors, tools, and infrastructure used in these campaigns, threat hunters can design targeted detection strategies.

For example, a threat actor group known for phishing attacks and using custom malware may be the subject of a hunt based on actor profiling. Hunters will dig into the group's previous attacks, profile their TTPs, and identify unique patterns or infrastructure associated with their previous attacks. This knowledge will then be used to design threat hunts aimed at detecting similar attack patterns within an organization's network.

Threat hunting based on attacker profiling allows threat hunters to stay ahead of persistent and targeted threats. By understanding an adversary's attack behavior and motivations, threat hunters can adjust their detection strategies accordingly, strengthen defenses against specific threat actors or activities, and reduce an organization's risk.

6. Automated threat hunting

Automated threat hunting can leverage the power of security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) tools and security analytics platforms to streamline the threat detection process. This approach leverages AI technology to efficiently analyze large amounts of data, identify threat patterns, and detect potential threats. Automated search rules and machine learning models can be used to continuously monitor an organization's network environment and trigger alerts when suspicious activity is detected.

The advantages of automated threat hunting are its speed and scalability. By significantly reducing the time and effort required for manual analysis, security teams can focus on higher-level tasks and strategic decisions.

7. Collaborative Threat Hunting

A collaborative threat hunting approach emphasizes the power of the security community and intelligence information sharing. In this approach, threat hunters should recognize that no one organization is completely isolated, and that by joining forces, they can collectively strengthen their defenses. By collaborating with peers, participating in information-sharing communities, and leveraging threat intelligence platforms, threat hunters gain access to broader knowledge and advice.

Collaborative threat hunting promotes a united front against cyber threats. It enables every organization to leverage the collective experience and expertise of the security community to enhance their ability to detect, respond to and prevent a wide range of attacks. By working together, threat hunters are able to strengthen their organization's threat detection capabilities and overall security posture.