Threat Hunting – Bitdefender TechZone

Key characteristics include its proactive nature, being initiated by analysts rather than solely by alerts, its human-centric reliance on analyst expertise and intuition, and its threat-focused targeting of specific threat actors and tactics. It is important to distinguish threat hunting from related practices. Penetration testing evaluates security posture through simulated attacks but does not continuously monitor for ongoing threats. Alert investigation is a reactive response to triggered alerts; threat hunting searches for activity before alerts are generated.

Threat hunting is a human-driven security process that focuses on generating actionable intelligence about vulnerabilities and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) that could be used against an organization. It goes beyond automated detection and simple indicators of compromise (IoC) hunting by incorporating risk assessments, vulnerability analysis, or patch status reviews. This approach allows analysts to proactively identify and mitigate potential threats from advanced actors like APTs and sophisticated ransomware, who often employ techniques designed to evade standard detection systems.

Actionable intelligence is a key focus, based on threats located on the dark net specifically targeting your environment, new industry-wide TTPs, and threats targeting specific applications or vulnerabilities. This intelligence provides context and direction for hunting activities.

Risk assessment plays a vital role in threat hunting. This includes identifying known vulnerabilities in your environment that are actively being exploited, as well as analyzing anomalous user activity that increases the likelihood of a successful attack. Examples include downloads from suspicious websites, interactions with phishing emails, and the use of unlicensed software. By focusing on actionable intelligence and risk, threat hunters can prioritize their efforts and proactively address the most critical threats.

Simplified flow of Threat Hunting, an incident response without an incident.

GravityZone offers several options for implementing threat hunting within your environment.

Bitdefender MDR provides a managed threat hunting service, ideal for organizations looking to outsource or augment their threat hunting capabilities. The MDR team starts by conducting threat modeling to understand your specific environment, followed by establishing a baseline of normal activity.

The quality of Bitdefender’s MDR threat hunting is significantly enhanced by its robust threat intelligence, derived from the Global Protective Network, which collects real-time data from millions of endpoints. This massive, real-time data stream is then analyzed by Bitdefender's security researchers and threat hunters. This combination of extensive real-time data and expert analysis adds context, identifies patterns, and validates the IoCs, filtering out false positives and ensuring intelligence is actionable.

Risk-based threat hunting involves proactive identification of emerging threats based on industry, location, and technology, with targeted hunt packages developed by our dedicated Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) team. For example, for organizations in the healthcare sector, risk-based hunting may focus on detecting techniques used by ransomware groups targeting medical data.

Targeted threat hunting involves regular (bi-weekly) analysis of endpoint data for anomalies, detection of deviations from baseline behavior in user activity, application activity, and network data, and a focus on detecting advanced threats, zero-day exploits, and insider threats. For example, a targeted hunt might involve analyzing endpoint logs for unusual living off the land commands execution or attempts to modify critical system files.

Bitdefender offers flexible threat hunting solutions to meet various organizational needs. Organizations can utilize GravityZone's built-in threat hunting capabilities or extend retention periods for more in-depth investigations. For those with existing SIEM infrastructure, GravityZone seamlessly integrates to enrich their security data. Alternatively, Bitdefender's MDR service provides a fully managed threat hunting experience, backed by expert analysts and comprehensive threat intelligence. Regardless of the chosen approach, proactive threat hunting is essential for mitigating modern cyber threats and significantly enhancing your security posture by reducing dwell time and detecting threats before they cause significant damage.