Overview#
Proactive search for threats not detected by existing alerts. Uses hypotheses, telemetry, and iterative investigations to uncover hidden attackers.
Core objectives#
- Establish shared definitions of Threat Hunting for security, engineering, and leadership teams.
- Connect Threat Hunting activities to measurable risk reduction and resilience goals.
- Provide onboarding notes so new team members can quickly understand how Threat Hunting works here.
Implementation notes#
- Identify the primary owner for Threat Hunting, the data sources involved, and the systems affected.
- Document the minimum viable process, tooling, and runbooks that keep Threat Hunting healthy.
- Map Threat Hunting practices to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or CIS Controls.
Operational signals#
- Leading indicators: early warnings that Threat Hunting might degrade (e.g., backlog growth, noisy alerts, or missed SLAs).
- Lagging indicators: realized impact that shows Threat Hunting failed or needs investment (e.g., incidents, audit findings).
- Feedback loops: retrospectives and metrics reviews that tune Threat Hunting continuously.
Related practices#
- Align Threat Hunting with defense-in-depth planning, threat modeling, and disaster recovery tests.
- Communicate updates to stakeholders through concise briefs, dashboards, and internal FAQs.
- Pair Threat Hunting improvements with tabletop exercises to validate expectations.