What Is Cyber Threat Hunting, and How Can Organizations Use It to Prevent Attacks?

The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving as hackers innovate and refine their approaches, including using artificial intelligence (AI) to launch cyberattacks with greater frequency, scale and sophistication.

To counter cybercriminals, security professionals employ an assortment of tools and techniques, from firewalls and encryption to multi-factor authentication (MFA). However, more advanced strategies are needed to combat increasingly complex and persistent cyberattacks.

While cybersecurity is often on defense — organizations respond to, contain and minimize the impact of an attack — cyber threat hunting represents a shift in this approach by putting security professionals on offense, rooting out hidden threats and vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

What Is Cyber Threat Hunting?

Cyber threat hunting is a proactive cybersecurity strategy that involves searching for hidden or unknown threats across an organization’s network, devices and data. This preemptive approach allows security professionals to identify, respond to and neutralize complex threats before they escalate.

As the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks have grown, cyber threat hunting has become increasingly common, with nearly a third of organizations actively implementing threat hunting programs, according to a 2023 survey of security and information technology (IT) professionals by cybersecurity data and insights company CyberRisk Alliance. About half of those surveyed indicated that they were either planning to implement threat hunting in the near future or considering it.

Cyber threat hunting can be categorized into three main types:

• Structured Hunting: Using this approach, threat hunters search for defined indicators of attack (IoAs) — telltale signs that a cyberattack is underway. Instead of scanning randomly, analysts form hypotheses about potential hackers’ methods and means of attack and look for suspicious activity based on that, allowing them to more efficiently detect and respond to attacks.
• Unstructured Hunting: This approach, which is more reactive than structured hunting, entails searching for indicators of compromise (IoCs) — data that suggests a network has already been breached. By analyzing historical data for patterns and clues, threat hunters can sometimes uncover hidden threats that may still pose a risk.
• Situational Hunting: This cyber threat hunting approach focuses on an organization’s unique situation and risks. Often guided by an internal threat assessment, situational hunting may identify specific employees or assets within the organization as being at greatest risk, directing cyber threat hunters to concentrate their efforts there.

Why Is Cyber Threat Hunting Important?

Cyberattacks pose a persistent threat to organizations in virtually every industry as well as government agencies in the public sector. On average, a single data breach costs companies nearly $5 million, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024 — a 10 percent year-over-year increase from 2023 and the highest total ever recorded.

Moreover, IBM’s report noted that it took most organizations more than six months to determine whether a breach had occurred. Allowing hackers to linger in an organization’s network gives them ample opportunity to steal or damage sensitive data and systems, putting the business at tremendous financial and reputational risk.

As cybercriminals refine their tactics and launch increasingly sophisticated attacks — partly fueled by AI innovation — security professionals need equally sophisticated strategies to resist them. Employing cyber threat hunting’s proactive approach, organizations can close security gaps and address emerging threats before they cause damage.

Common Cyberattacks Threat Hunters Investigate

Used in conjunction with more traditional and generally more passive cybersecurity tools and techniques, cyber threat hunting can help organizations enhance their security posture against a wide range of threats, including the following:

• Malware: Malicious software (malware) is one of the most common types of cyberattack, in which hackers gain unauthorized access to devices, systems and/or networks. Phishing, spyware and ransomware are all forms of malware.
• Social Engineering: Hackers often try to manipulate and mislead an organization’s employees into granting them access or giving away sensitive information. Phishing is the most common form of social engineering attack, accounting for 15 percent of all data breaches, according to IBM.
• Advanced Persistent Attacks: Highly skilled hackers can breach an organization’s network and remain undetected for extended periods, lingering for days or even weeks and maximizing the damage they can cause.

Security professionals skilled in cyber threat hunting can resist these attacks and mitigate the harm they cause by proactively identifying and neutralizing malicious activity before it escalates into a full-scale breach.

How Does Cyber Threat Hunting Work?

Cyber threat hunters leverage security automation tools to scan for, track and neutralize security risks. These tools rely heavily on data collected from an organization’s threat detection systems and other security solutions.

Threat hunters analyze this data, which may include network traffic or data from individual devices, to uncover hidden malware or reveal suspicious activity that automated systems may have overlooked.

Each cyber threat hunting investigation is unique. However, security professionals often follow some basic steps when conducting one:

1. Develop a hypothesis. Threat hunters may begin by forming a theory about a potential threat, often based on known attacker tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs). This is how structured hunts typically begin.
2. Conduct research. Threat hunters analyze an organization’s data, systems and activities, often relying on automation tools to help them sift and process relevant information.
3. Identify the trigger. Based on their research insights and results from other security tools, threat hunters can pinpoint the origin of the threat.
4. Investigate further. Once they identify the threat, threat hunters probe to determine whether the threat is malicious and what action is needed.
5. Respond and resolve. Threat hunters take appropriate action to neutralize the threat and bolster defenses to prevent future attacks.

Tools Used by Cyber Threat Hunters

Security teams employ various strategies and tools to assist in cyber threat hunts, including many security automation solutions. The most common include the following:

• Security Information and Event Management: SIEM is a type of security software that supports threat detection and response by collecting, organizing and analyzing data from multiple sources in real time.
• Endpoint Detection and Response: EDR software, powered by machine learning and AI, continuously monitors an organization’s endpoints — any physical devices connected to its network — for potential threats and automatically takes steps to mitigate them if any are detected.
• Managed Detection and Response: MDR is a cybersecurity service that integrates advanced technology with expert human analysis to aid in cyber threat hunting, monitoring and response. Organizations typically partner with MDR professionals to augment their in-house security teams.

Another resource threat hunters regularly use is the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques and Common Knowledge (ATT&CK) framework. MITRE ATT&CK is a universally accessible, curated knowledge base that catalogs cybercriminals’ methods, pulling from threat intelligence and incident reporting as well as the latest research.

Typically used in structured hunts, the data contained in this framework can help security teams better understand hackers’ motivations and behaviors, aiding in improved detection and response. It can also be used to simulate attacks to test an organization’s defenses and inform more effective security policies and incident response plans.

The Benefits of Cyber Threat Hunting

Effective cyber threat hunting can yield numerous advantages, both in early threat detection and in strengthening an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture. Below are some of the potential benefits that await organizations that engage in cyber threat hunting.

Uncover Hidden Threats

Hackers can lurk undetected within a network for days, weeks or even months, maximizing the damage they can inflict on the organization and leaving it highly vulnerable. By proactively searching for threats, security teams can root out vulnerabilities — such as hidden malware and sophisticated intrusions — that conventional security solutions often miss.

Early detection reduces dwell time — the period an unauthorized user has access to a network — allowing organizations to bolster their defenses and minimize risks before they cause significant harm.

More Effective Investigations

Cyber threat hunting often provides security teams with deeper insights into cyberattacks and those who perpetrate them, including identifying their causes and motivations, understanding their scope, and predicting potential impacts. Actively analyzing network traffic for malicious activity helps uncover critical data for post-incident investigations, allowing security teams to glean valuable lessons and correct potential issues.

Stay Ahead of Emerging Threats

Cybercriminals are constantly adjusting their tactics and refining their methods, keeping security teams vigilant. Threat hunting helps security teams stay ahead of evolving cyber threats by leveraging the latest intelligence and empowering them to adapt their cybersecurity strategies for maximum effect. It also drives continuous improvement by uncovering valuable data, identifying security gaps and enhancing detection capabilities to strengthen overall defenses.

Improved Reporting and Compliance

Threat hunting allows organizations to provide tangible evidence of proactive threat detection and response efforts. Organizations can document their findings and actions, creating detailed reports that showcase their commitment to security. This not only ensures compliance with regulatory standards but also builds trust with partners, customers and other stakeholders.

Strengthening Security Through Cyber Threat Hunting

Organizations have many reasons to engage in cyber threat hunting. Critically, threat hunting can reduce an organization’s exposure to cybersecurity risks and minimize the potential impact of attacks. This means less damage to the organization’s systems and data and, ultimately, a better bottom line.

Unsurprisingly, the threat hunting market is expected to grow by more than 200 percent over the next decade, with a projected market value of nearly $13 billion in 2034, according to Polaris Market Research.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, in both complexity and frequency, organizations that invest in proactive threat hunting will be better positioned to safeguard their networks, devices and data — ensuring a stronger and more resilient security posture.