How Threat Hunting can Strengthen Your Cybersecurity Posture
The complexity, frequency and impact of cyberthreats are intensifying. 2022 witnessed 236.1 million ransomware attacks, wherein 39% of businesses in the UK succumbed to a cyberattack.
These attacks require tools and resources to identify and rectify vulnerabilities to maintain a robust security framework in cloud environments, reducing the risk of data breaches and compliance violations.
Here, threat hunting becomes crucial to a cohesive cloud security posture management (CSPM) strategy vital to defending organizations from these persistent cyberthreats.
What is Threat Hunting?
Cyberthreat hunting involves actively seeking potential cyberthreats or vulnerabilities that could expose IT infrastructure to attacks. Typically, such infrastructure includes hardware (servers, switches, routers, printers, etc.), software (business applications, OS, databases, etc.), network infrastructure (LAN, WAN, firewalls, etc.), data centers, etc.
Threat hunting is a proactive cybersecurity methodology involving the deliberate and systematic search through networks and datasets (or similar IT infrastructure) to identify and isolate advanced threats that evade existing security solutions.
This means threat hunting relies on a more proactive approach instead of waiting for alerts from traditional security tools like firewalls or intrusion detection systems.
Let’s explore how threat hunting can help strengthen cybersecurity posture.
Advanced Threat Identification
Advanced threat identification is a set of tools and strategies that helps actively search for and identify complex and sophisticated threats that traditional cybersecurity measures (like firewalls, anti-malware solutions, etc.) might fail to detect. These threats can include advanced persistent threats (APTs), attacks where an unauthorized user gains access to a system or network and remains undetected for a long period.
Unlike common cyberthreats, APTs are particularly challenging to identify and neutralize because they operate quietly and avoid triggering typical security alarms. They often employ sophisticated techniques like encryption, zero-day vulnerabilities and customized malware to bypass an organization’s security defenses.
Key Activities of Advanced Threat Identification
Behavioral analysis: Monitoring user behavior and systems within a network to identify anomalous or suspicious patterns. For example, if a user suddenly begins accessing data or systems they don’t normally use, it could be a sign of a security breach.
Sandboxing: This requires running suspicious programs or files in a separate, isolated environment (the “sandbox”) to see how they behave. Threat hunters can use network sandboxing tools to test potentially harmful software without damaging the main system or network.
Threat intelligence: Threat intelligence data is gathered, analyzed and shared. Threat hunters use this intelligence to understand cybercriminals’ tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and develop strategies to counter them. A typical threat intelligence process looks like this:
Source: Threat Intelligence Process
Network forensics: This is a subset of digital forensics and refers to capturing, recording and analyzing network events to discover the source of security incidents or other problem events. This is the process of monitoring and analyzing computer network traffic for information gathering, legal evidence or intrusion detection.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): EDR tools detect, investigate and mitigate suspicious (and potentially harmful) activities on hosts and endpoints.
Below is a more detailed look at how threat hunting identifies and mitigates threats:
Hypothesis creation: Creating a working hypothesis is the first step in threat hunting. For instance, a threat hunter would assume that an attacker would try to break into the company’s email system. The threat environment, occurrences, industry trends and threat intelligence reports are all possible starting points for this hypothesis.
Investigation: After forming the hypothesis, threat hunters investigate the network in-depth by using a combination of tools and techniques like SIEM, network traffic analysis, penetration testing tools, traffic information, logs and system behavior. This is to find evidence for suspecting threats using cutting-edge tools and methods. They may look for indicators of malicious behavior in data, such as server logs, network traffic and user interactions.
Detection: If a threat hunter finds indicators of a possible threat, they’ll investigate further to see if it’s real. This may include investigating the system call patterns on a server, tracking the origin of network traffic, or examining the behavior of a specific piece of software.
Incident response: Once the danger has been identified, incident responders (along with threat hunters) will strive to eliminate it. Potential solutions include isolating the afflicted systems, eradicating the malware, fixing the holes and beefing up security measures. They may also hire digital forensics specialists and incident response teams to ensure the network’s safety.
Post-incident analysis: After a threat has been eliminated, threat hunters undertake a post-incident investigation to learn how an attacker breached security, how much damage they did and what can be done to avoid additional assaults. This research provides valuable information that can be used to strengthen the company’s cloud security and guide future efforts to locate and eliminate potential threats.
Adopting a Layered Risk Mitigation Approach
Threat hunting involves adopting strategic measures to reduce the attack surface and drive data defenses. The goal is to minimize the impact of a threat by adopting a proactive and layered security posture.
In cybersecurity, the attack surface refers to the total number of points or ‘surface area’ where an unauthorized user (an attacker) can try to enter or extract data from an environment.
In other words, it’s the sum of all the different points an unauthorized attacker can access a device or network. These points include software vulnerabilities, system misconfigurations, unnecessary services and unprotected user credentials.
Driving data defenses means taking active measures to protect your data’s integrity, availability and confidentiality.
Some examples of these measures are as follows:
Encryption: Encryption is the process of transforming information into a code that can only be deciphered by those with access to a secret cryptographic key. For example, encrypting data at rest using AES or employing transport layer security (TLS) while in transit.
Access control: Permissions and authentication of users fall under the umbrella of “access control.” Users should only be granted the least amount of privileges or access necessary to do their jobs, according to the principle of least privilege (PoLP).
Firewalls and IDS/IPS: Firewalls and intrusion detection systems/intrusion prevention systems safeguard networks by monitoring and stopping hostile activity.
Data backup and recovery: A robust disaster recovery strategy and regular data backups can keep your information accessible in case of a data breach or system failure.
How to Adopt a Proactive and Layered Security Posture
Adopting a proactive and layered security posture involves taking a multi-faceted approach to security, anticipating potential threats and taking steps to prevent them rather than just reacting to attacks or breaches when they occur.
Here’s how to achieve this:
● Identify and classify data: Determine your data, where it resides, who has access to it and what protection measures are currently in place.
● Implement multiple layers of defense: Also known as defense in depth, this might involve firewalls, IDS/IPS, network segmentation, encryption, secure passwords and multi-factor authentication. If one layer fails, others remain in place to stop the threat.
● Continuous monitoring and threat intelligence: Use tools and services that provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware. Subscribe to threat intelligence feeds to keep up with the latest trends and vulnerabilities.
● Regular auditing and testing: Regular security audits ensure your defenses function as expected. Also, perform penetration testing and vulnerability scanning to find and fix any potential weaknesses.
● Incident response planning: Have a well-documented and practiced incident response plan. Knowing exactly what to do during a security breach will minimize downtime and damage.
● Training and awareness: Keep your team educated about the latest threats and how to identify and prevent them. A well-informed team is one of the most effective defenses against cybersecurity threats.
Enhancing Security Protocols
The effectiveness of current security measures can be evaluated with the help of threat hunting. It can reveal potential weak spots in the current defenses, providing an opportunity to shore them up. Moreover, the procedure aids in detecting policy and protocol flaws, which may help strengthen the overall security system.
When security processes are improved, defenses are bolstered against cyberattacks, reducing the likelihood of a security breach.
Here are some suggestions for bettering security protocols and instances of their use:
Routine audits and updates: Regularly check your systems to ensure all applications are updated to their latest versions. Outdated software can provide an entry point for hackers because they often have known vulnerabilities that have been patched in newer versions.
Example: Equifax, a consumer credit reporting agency, suffered a data breach in 2017 because of an unpatched vulnerability in one of its web applications. Regular software audits could have helped prevent this breach.
Layered security measures: Incorporate layered security protocols to provide a depth of protection. This approach, also known as defense in depth, ensures that if one defense fails, others will still be in place to block or mitigate an attack.
Example: Google employs a layered security approach. Suppose an attempt is made to access a user’s account from an unrecognized device. In that case, it triggers an additional layer of security, such as a prompt for a second password or sending a verification code to the user’s phone.
Encryption: Always encrypt sensitive data. It ensures that even if data is intercepted or accessed unauthorizedly, it remains unreadable and useless to the thief.
Example: WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption to protect the privacy of its users’ messages. Even if these messages are intercepted, they cannot be read by anyone except the intended recipient.
Use of strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA): Implement strict password policies and encourage or enforce the use of 2FA. It adds a layer of protection, making it more difficult for unauthorized users to access sensitive information.
Example: In 2012, Dropbox experienced a data breach where the passwords of over 68 million users were exposed. The company has since encouraged using 2FA to add an extra layer of security to user accounts.
Considering the aforementioned strategies, an organization can effectively enhance its security protocols and be better equipped to fend off potential cyber threats.
Wrapping Up
Threat hunting allows organizations to delve deeper into their networks, identifying hidden threats that traditional security measures might miss. Such an approach hunts for signs of compromise, enabling a rapid response to threats before they can inflict significant damage.
This goes beyond simply waiting for alerts from security systems and taking an active stance to identify and remediate risks. It needs regular threat-hunting exercises to ensure that security teams stay updated with evolving threat landscapes and, as a result, are better prepared to defend their organization’s assets.
