The Foundations of Threat Hunting

Book excerpt: Build and mature a threat hunting team capable of repeatably stalking and trapping advanced adversaries in the darkest parts of an enterprise Key Features • Learn foundational concepts for effective threat hunting teams in pursuit of cyber adversaries • Recognize processes and requirements for executing and conducting a hunt • Customize a defensive cyber framework needed to grow and mature a hunt team Book Description Threat hunting is a concept that takes traditional cyber defense and spins it onto its head. It moves the bar for network defenses beyond looking at the known threats and allows a team to pursue adversaries that are attacking in novel ways that have not previously been seen. To successfully track down and remove these advanced attackers, a solid understanding of the foundational concepts and requirements of the threat hunting framework is needed. Moreover, to confidently employ threat hunting in a business landscape, the same team will need to be able to customize that framework to fit a customer's particular use case. This book breaks down the fundamental pieces of a threat hunting team, the stages of a hunt, and the process that needs to be followed through planning, execution, and recovery. It will take you through the process of threat hunting, starting from understanding cybersecurity basics through to the in-depth requirements of building a mature hunting capability. This is provided through written instructions as well as multiple story-driven scenarios that show the correct (and incorrect) way to effectively conduct a threat hunt. By the end of this cyber threat hunting book, you'll be able to identify the processes of handicapping an immature cyber threat hunt team and systematically progress the hunting capabilities to maturity. What you will learn • Understand what is required to conduct a threat hunt • Know everything your team needs to concentrate on for a successful hunt • Discover why intelligence must be included in a threat hunt • Recognize the phases of planning in order to prioritize efforts • Balance the considerations concerning toolset selection and employment • Achieve a mature team without wasting your resources Who this book is for This book is for anyone interested in learning how to organize and execute effective cyber threat hunts, establishing extra defense capabilities within their company, and wanting to mature an organization's cybersecurity posture. It will also be useful for anyone looking for a framework to help a hunt team grow and evolve.