How to Outsmart Cyber Criminals with Proactive Threat Hunting?
The risk of cyber threats has greatly increased due to increased internet usage and online activities. Realizing this, the Security Operations Centre (SOC) emerges as significant in the realm of cybersecurity.
The threats that exist in today’s networks are even smarter as they manage to bypass conventional defenses, and they work secretly without being noticed. It takes almost 207 days for the companies, on average, to detect a cybersecurity attack. This means that the attackers can have all the time they need, creating havoc and, at the same time, making their way through the essential documents. By the time a company realizes that its security has been compromised, the actual damage has already been done, and restorative measures are usually very costly.
Firms must not wait for a cyber attack to ensue; rather, they must learn how to assess risks before the risks actually disastrously manifest themselves. It becomes important that they engage in proactive threat hunting.
However, a question arises as to what proactive threat hunting covers and how it can assist in protecting firms against cyber threats. Let’s find out in this post as it explores all the important aspects related to this essential approach. From explaining SOC threat hunting to listing down the benefits of threat hunting, this blog covers it all.
Let’s explore!
Proactive Threat Hunting
Threat hunting has recently emerged as a popular concept in the field of cybersecurity and is growing in popularity at a fast pace. Proactive threat hunting or SOC threat hunting involves the identification and neutralization of future security threats before they get a chance to be executed. It entails looking for other threats that could have potentially been overlooked by the endpoint protection processes put in place.
Many organizations do not possess the in-house detection capabilities required to constantly monitor their networks for advanced persistent threats that can remain undetected and launch an attack. An Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) can lurk in a network unnoticeable and may take months or even years to execute its plan. Throughout this period, the assailant collects information, looks for valuable data, or obtains login credentials that can be utilized to navigate the system.
Benefits of Threat Hunting
As threats are becoming more sophisticated, enterprises must consider active cyber threat hunting. Cyber threat hunting means a proactive approach to closing the identified vulnerabilities and searching for threats that other security tools might miss. Organizations cannot afford to fold their arms and allow their defenses to be compromised.
The adoption of proactive threat hunting methodologies can greatly increase an organization’s cybersecurity, changing the approach of merely reacting to a threat to proactively hunting for one.
Some of the benefits of threat hunting are listed below:
- Security incidents identification
Threat hunting is a valuable technique for uncovering hidden threats, such as malware, that may be lurking in the background. Its ultimate goal is to identify and apprehend the perpetrators who have already infiltrated the organization’s systems and networks. Using hunting techniques can help neutralize the ongoing threat.
- Threat response efficiency
Threat management continues to be a significant challenge for SOCs. Threat hunting involves proactively searching through networks to identify abnormal behavior that could indicate potential attacks. It can help to quickly identify specific activities or attack patterns that may already exist in an IT environment. Identifying and communicating active threats to an incident responder with the necessary knowledge and experience is crucial for a swift response and minimizing damage to the network and data.
- Time-saving on investigation
Threat hunting provides a security team with valuable insights into an incident, enabling them to fully grasp its extent, pinpoint the root causes, and predict the potential consequences. By taking a proactive stance, examining computer network traffic to identify any harmful content, and investigating possible breaches, valuable information can be collected to analyze and enhance cybersecurity measures. It is instrumental in understanding and addressing incidents that have already occurred.
- Comprehension of security status
Threat hunting is an effective strategy to proactively identify and intercept potential advanced persistent threats (APTs) or other external attacks that could expose an organization to data breaches. It provides IT analysts with a comprehensive view of the organization’s security status and its ability to withstand different types of attacks.
Threat hunting enables the early detection of advanced threats, including hidden, unknown, and emerging ones, allowing cybersecurity teams to secure and defend the systems. With a thorough understanding of the systems and how threats infiltrate them, a successful threat-hunting session can provide valuable insights to enhance a company’s defense mechanisms.
SOC Threat Hunting Best Practices
The SOC team needs to implement a comprehensive strategy to strengthen an organization’s defenses against the constantly changing world of cyber threats. Investing in regular training and upskilling of the team is crucial because a knowledgeable squad can effectively handle and overcome complex threats.
Artificial Intelligence and machine learning’s integration provide a notable benefit by enabling predictive threat analysis and automating routine tasks, thereby improving detection capabilities.
Moreover, selecting the right technology as an enabler of business processes is crucial in order to improve efficiency and such factors as the time-to-complete business processes.
Ensuring that your systems are always up-to-date is of utmost importance. Constant updates and patches can be used to fix vulnerabilities immediately to limit the number of possible entry vectors for hackers.
Conclusion
Given the constant changes and growth of threats in the cyber world, the role of SOCs becomes more apparent. It serves as an identification centers to detect possible threats and prevent invasions and cyber threats. It is about time that organizations recognize that they have to have a strong SOC or some kind of proactive threat-hunting team in place. Organizations need to employ the principles of continuous monitoring, personnel training, and technology adoption to enhance their cyber protection strategies. At Arthur Lawrence, we specialize in assisting firms with developing a strong security management and defense strategy. Contact us today.