Threat Hunting at Scale
Strategies and techniques for conducting effective threat hunting operations across large enterprise environments.
Originally published on Red Canary Blog
Read the full article: Threat Hunting at Scale
The Scale Challenge
Threat hunting in large environments presents unique challenges:
- Massive data volumes
- Diverse endpoint types
- Multiple security tools
- Limited analyst time
Hunting Strategies
Hypothesis-Driven Hunting
Start with a specific hypothesis based on:
- Threat intelligence
- Known adversary TTPs
- Recent vulnerabilities
- Industry trends
Baseline-Driven Hunting
Identify anomalies by understanding normal:
- Establish baselines for key behaviors
- Look for deviations from normal
- Focus on outliers
- Investigate statistical anomalies
Intelligence-Driven Hunting
Use threat intelligence to guide hunts:
- IOC sweeps
- TTP-based searches
- Campaign-specific hunts
- Adversary profiling
Scaling Techniques
Automate the Routine
Automate repetitive hunting tasks:
- IOC searches
- Baseline comparisons
- Common queries
- Report generation
Focus on High-Value Targets
Prioritize hunting efforts:
- Critical assets
- High-risk users
- Sensitive data locations
- Internet-facing systems
Use the Right Tools
Leverage tools that scale:
- EDR platforms
- SIEM systems
- Threat intelligence platforms
- Hunting frameworks
Build Reusable Queries
Create a library of hunting queries:
- Document query purpose
- Share across team
- Version control queries
- Continuously improve
Measuring Success
Hunt Metrics
Track hunting effectiveness:
- Threats discovered
- Time to discovery
- Coverage achieved
- False positive rate
Continuous Improvement
Learn from each hunt:
- Document findings
- Share lessons learned
- Update procedures
- Refine techniques
Read the full article: Threat Hunting at Scale
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