What Is Threat Hunting? A Complete Guide to How It Works and Its Challenges

In the modern cybersecurity landscape, relying on passive defenses like traditional firewalls or antivirus is no longer sufficient. Companies now face adversaries capable of hiding within networks for months undetected. This is why an anticipatory strategy is an absolute necessity for your business continuity.

Threat hunting arrives as the answer to this security gap. This method actively searches for anomalies that slip past standard security radars. With this approach, your organization can mitigate data breach risks before fatal damage occurs.

What Is Threat Hunting?

According to Wikipedia, threat hunting (or cyberthreat hunting) is a proactive security practice conducted by security analysts to detect advanced threats that have successfully evaded initial network defenses.

Imagine your company’s standard defenses (Antivirus/Firewall) working on a “Blacklist Matching” principle. If a file or IP does not exist on their blacklist, the system lets it through, deeming it safe.

The problem is, modern hackers often use legitimate Windows tools or valid employee credentials to stay off those blacklists.

This is where Threat Hunting works. It no longer checks lists, but analyzes strange behavior.

Instead of asking “Is this file a virus?”, a Threat Hunter asks: “Why is this application (e.g., Notepad) trying to send data to the internet?” or “Why is the Admin account logging in at 3 AM?” (an activity deviating from the norm). It assumes initial defenses have been breached, then looks for unnatural activity (anomalies) from accounts or applications that appear legitimate.

Unlike automated security systems that react after an attack occurs, threat hunting is initiative-based and iterative. This process combines human intelligence with telemetry data to uncover hidden Indicators of Compromise (IoC).

The goal is not merely to close security gaps, but to hunt down malicious actors who may already be inside the system (dwell time).

Types of Threat Hunting

Although the goal is the same, the approach to hunting threats can vary depending on triggers and methods. Here are three main types commonly applied in B2B environments:

1. Structured Hunting

This type is based on Indicators of Attack (IoA) and the attacker’s Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) that are already known. Analysts typically use standard frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK as a guide.

The process is highly systematic and planned. You are not searching randomly, but validating whether specific attack techniques are occurring on your network.

2. Unstructured Hunting

As the name implies, this hunt does not follow a rigid pattern and is often sparked by specific triggers or the intuition of senior analysts. Usually, it starts from a single data anomaly or a suspicious log.

Analysts will search based on that small clue to see where it leads. Although it sounds random, this method is often effective in finding new threats that do not yet have signatures or standard patterns.

3. Situational/Entity-Driven Hunting

The focus of this type is on specific high-risk entities or recently published vulnerabilities. For example, if your finance department manages sensitive data, the hunt will be centered on assets in that department.

This method is also often called Targeted Hunting. This approach is highly relevant for protecting your company from industrial espionage risks or intellectual property theft.

The Main Goal of Threat Hunting

Why should your company allocate resources to this time-consuming activity? The primary goal is to minimize dwell time—the duration an attacker remains inside the network before being discovered.

The longer an attacker stays, the greater the potential for damage and data exfiltration. Threat hunting aims to disrupt the attack chain (kill chain) as early as possible.

Additionally, this activity aims to improve automated detection logic. Findings from manual hunting processes must be converted into new automated rules within your security system, so similar threats in the future can be blocked instantly.

Key Focus Areas of Threat Hunting

A threat hunter cannot examine an entire ocean of data at once. They must focus the lens on areas with the highest probability of attack:

1. Insider Threats
   Threats do not always come from outside; often the greatest danger originates from within. Without strict oversight, insider threats can cause strategic data leakage without triggering firewall alarms. This focus looks for user behavior anomalies, such as data access outside working hours or mass downloads by employees about to resign. Without visibility into the identity layer, these threats are extremely difficult to detect.
2. Abnormal Network Traffic
   Network traffic is the company’s pulse that must be monitored continuously. Hunters will look for outbound connections to unknown IP addresses or unnatural data transfer volumes (exfiltration). Anomalies like the use of non-standard ports or beaconing patterns (a “heartbeat” signal from malware to an attacker’s server) are prime targets. Early detection here can prevent malware from spreading throughout the infrastructure.
3. Privilege Escalation
   Attackers are rarely satisfied with low-level access; they will try to gain administrator access rights. The hunting focus here is monitoring changes to admin groups or unauthorized tool installations. These privilege escalation attempts are often the first step before an attacker takes full control of your Domain Controller. [Internal Link: Learn about Adaptist Identity Access Management]
4. Hidden Malware Web Shells
   Traditional antivirus often fails to detect fileless malware or web shells planted on servers. This area requires deep analysis of processes running in memory or hidden scripts in web directories.

How It Works

The threat hunting process is not a one-off activity, but a continuous cycle. Here are the detailed workflow stages:

1. Hypothesis-Driven Hunting

Everything starts with a question or hypothesis. For example: “If an attacker uses Phishing techniques to steal admin credentials, what traces would be left in authentication logs?” This hypothesis is built based on recent threat intelligence or the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Without a strong hypothesis, hunting becomes an aimless “needle in a haystack” activity.

2. Data Collection & Enrichment

Once the hypothesis is created, the next step is collecting relevant data to prove it. This data can come from SIEM logs, endpoint telemetry, to DNS records. Raw data often needs enrichment with contextual information such as GeoIP location or domain reputation. This is where seamless data integration becomes crucial so analysts don’t waste time on manual correlation.

3. Detection Analysis

At this stage, hunters run search queries within the dataset to find patterns matching the hypothesis. This is a technical stage requiring deep analytical skills. If an anomaly is found, analysts must verify whether it is truly a threat (True Positive) or just unusual business activity (False Positive). Accuracy at this stage determines the next mitigation steps.

4. Response & Mitigation

If a threat is confirmed, responsive action must be taken immediately. This could be isolating infected devices, blocking IPs, or resetting compromised user credentials. Collaboration with the Incident Response (IR) team is vital here. Proper documentation using Adaptist Prose ensures every mitigation step is recorded for audit and compliance (GRC) purposes. Read also: What Is Incident Management? How to Handle Application Incidents Structuredly

5. Learning & Sharing

The cycle closes with learning. Newly discovered attack patterns must be translated into automated detection rules so security teams do not have to hunt them manually again in the future.

Threat Hunting Techniques

To execute the stages above, professionals use various sophisticated data analysis techniques:

1. Baselining

This technique involves a deep understanding of what is considered “normal” in your network. By knowing standard traffic patterns and user behaviors, even the slightest deviation becomes visible.

2. Attack-Specific Hunts

Hunting based on specific indicators of trending attacks, for example, the Log4j vulnerability or the latest ransomware. This is reactive to global security news but proactive in internal checking.

3. Time Sensitivity

Analyzing the frequency and timing of events (Frequency Analysis). A login performed at 3 AM by local HR staff is an example of a time-based anomaly worth suspecting.

4. Third-Party Sources

Utilizing external threat intelligence feeds to enrich hunting context. Combining internal data with global insights increases detection probability.

Challenges in Threat Hunting

While vital, implementing effective threat hunting is not an easy task for many companies.

1. 1. Data Volume One of the biggest challenges is massive data volume, which often creates “noise” and complicates the identification of actual threat signals.
   2. Skill Gap Threat hunting requires senior analysts with deep understanding of operating systems and networks—resources that are scarce in today’s labor market.
   3. Cost and Resources Building an in-house team requires significant investment in tools and personnel. Poor integration between security devices also often hinders comprehensive visibility (data silos).

Threat Hunting Tools

To overcome data volume and analysis complexity challenges, threat hunters rely on a suite of advanced tools:

• Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
  Services combining technology and human expertise to monitor threats 24/7.
• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
  Mandatory tools recording activity on every endpoint device (laptops, servers) for deep forensic analysis.
• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
  A log collection hub allowing data correlation from various security sources in one dashboard.
• Security Analytics
  Analytical platforms using machine learning to detect behavioral anomalies that might escape static rules.

Threat Hunting vs. Threat Intelligence

Often these two terms are used interchangeably, though they have different but complementary functions. Here is the key comparison:

Conclusion

An effective threat hunting strategy demands total visibility, especially in areas often overlooked like user behavior anomalies. Implementing this strategy is also crucial to ensure compliance with data security standards.

Without the right tools, the effort to hunt threats manually is like looking for a needle in a haystack—time-consuming and costly. Do not let your business remain exposed due to these visibility gaps. Contact Our Consultants for an identity security audit of your company.

With the support of the Threat Insight feature in Adaptist Prime, your security team gains real-time visibility into potential threats and early detection of security incidents. This technology allows you to proactively mitigate access risks, stopping attacker movement before they succeed in taking your valuable data.

FAQ

Here are answers to frequently asked questions by cybersecurity leaders regarding the implementation of this strategy:

1. What is the main difference between Threat Hunting and Penetration Testing?

Penetration Testing (Pentest) is an ethical attack simulation to find security gaps or vulnerabilities before they are exploited. Its nature is defense testing. Threat hunting looks for active threats already present.

2. Can Threat Hunting be fully automated using AI? Not entirely. Although AI and Machine

Learning are very helpful in filtering large amounts of data, the core of Threat Hunting is human intuition and creativity in formulating hypotheses for attacks that have never been seen before.

3. How often should companies conduct Threat Hunting?

Ideally, Threat Hunting is a continuous process, not an annual activity like an audit. Cyber threats evolve every day.

4. How does Adaptist Prime assist the Threat Hunting process?

Threat Hunting is often hindered by a lack of visibility into who is accessing what. Adaptist Prime provides the Threat Insight feature, offering real-time visibility into potential threats and early detection of security incidents.

5. Do medium-sized businesses need to conduct Threat Hunting?

Absolutely. Cyber attackers often target medium-sized businesses because they know their defenses are often weaker than large corporations, yet they possess data assets that remain valuable.