Everyone who works in IT security knows that effective threat management systems are essential to protecting systems, networks, and data, but everyone knows how to act proactively. It does not mean. Intrusion detection systems & firewalls such as intrusion detection systems (IDS); or security information and event management (SIEM) systems only work after a threat is detected. How do you proactively protect your data and network? Through threat hunting.
In the recent Simplilearn webinar, Dr. James Stanger, Senior Director of Products at CompTIA, discusses the importance of threat hunting and the skills needed to succeed as a threat hunter. Learn more about threat hunting, both as a practice and as a career.
Threat hunting is an effective strategy for combating cyber-attacks on enterprise IT networks and systems. In a survey of the effectiveness of threat hunting conducted by
Domain tools.
- 74% of respondents reported a reduction in attack surface.
- 59% experienced faster response speed and accuracy.
- 52% discovered threats that were previously undetected on the network.
In this article, you’ll learn the basics of threat hunting, traces of intrusions in your organization’s security measures, procedures for mapping critical security controls to business processes, and best practices to help security professionals limit potential hacks.
Let’s get started
Threat Hunting: The Basics
What Is Threat Hunting?
Threat hunting is a security technique that helps you find hidden threats that circumvent other security measures but have not yet caused damage.
Who Is a Threat Hunter?
In addition to being trained for this job, threat hunters are naturally curious as they are actively looking for enemies. They do not wait for vulnerabilities identified in alerts or patches from security systems. Instead, it acts as an internal analyst with a good understanding of threat concepts and organizations, asking appropriate questions and seeking answers.
Why Hunt?
In the past, enterprises have had to worry about automated malware and viruses that could pose a potential threat to IT systems. Today’s threats are not only malware viruses, but also those who cleverly and permanently threaten the system. The global average time to detect violations has decreased from 146 days in 2015 to 99 days in 2016. However, you still have to worry about the 99-day vulnerability. If you are proactive in looking for threats rather than waiting for security programs to warn you, you can quickly counter threats and reduce damage.
What Does a Threat Hunter Do?
Threat hunters are cyber detectives who find weaknesses in a company’s IT security system. They provide visibility into endpoints in your system, including all IoT devices, phones, IP addresses, and desktops, helping IT teams deploy the right tools to detect and mitigate threats. They are familiar with network best practices and do what hackers do, so they have a clear understanding of how information flows from one system on the network to another.
They are responsible for examining network systems or endpoints to look for patterns or signs of compromise and analyze the situation. They look for vulnerabilities at the crossroads of technologies and tools such as instant messaging and email and use biometrics to control those vulnerabilities. They report threat issues to security personnel or the Security Operations Center and work with administrators to fix these vulnerabilities.
Essential Skills for a Threat Hunter
If you’re interested in a career as a threat hunter, here are the skills you’ll need:
1. Data Analytics
Threat hunters are expected to monitor the environment, collect data and analyze it extensively. This means that experienced threat hunters need to understand data science techniques and data analytics, tools, and techniques. They should be able to use data visualization tools to create charts and diagrams that help identify patterns that provide insight into the best behaviors to take in hunting research and activities.
2. Pattern Recognition
Threat hunters must be able to recognize patterns that match hackers, malware, and anomalous behavior techniques, tactics, strategies, and procedures. To recognize these patterns, you first need to understand the normal behavior patterns on your network so that you can detect unjust activities and transactions.
3. Good Communication
Threat hunters need to have good communication skills to be able to clearly communicate information and recommended actions regarding threat and vulnerability management, or security team leaders.
4. Data Forensic Capabilities
Threat hunters need data forensic skills to analyze new threats and understand how the malware was delivered, its capabilities, and the damage it could have caused. You don’t have to be a data forensic scientist, but you need to know what to look for when examining a file. For example, if a Trojan horse hijacks the Netcat command and the system appears to be working properly, it may actually be at risk.
5. Understand How the System Works
As a threat hunter, you need to have a deep understanding of how systems in your environment work together. Here we focus on practical know-how based on a broad knowledge of how your business works and the processes of your business. You need to understand how to go around the corner because of the problem. In other words, threat hunters need to have sufficient skills to look at the situation and quickly understand what is happening. Next, you need to work with your team to help them improve their security.
How to Become a Master Threat Hunter
If you have these skills or think you can learn them quickly and want to know more about how to become a threat hunter, you can do the following:
- Embed yourself in the domain and develop an insatiable desire to learn more.
- Explore the latest tools in threat hunting.
- Develop a “sixth sense” for threat hunting.
- Develop educated hunches.
- Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act (OODA).
- Anticipate what a potential adversary can do.
- Above all, get an education. There are excellent training programs that teach IT security. B. Simplilearn CompTIA Security + certification training. This course covers the basic principles of network security and risk management, conducts threat analysis, and provides hands-on experience in responding with appropriate mitigation techniques.
With the strong demand for skilled professionals, any cybersecurity career can be profitable. Working as a threat hunter is just one of many options in this area, but it will still be an attractive career option. If you have any questions about threat hunting, please leave them in the comments below.
