Threat Hunting
Proactive threat hunting to detect advanced threats hiding in your environment.
Threat Hunting
Automated detection rules catch what they are configured to catch — nothing more. Advanced adversaries, nation-state actors, and sophisticated ransomware operators deliberately operate below the threshold of automated detection, using legitimate tools and credentials to traverse environments undetected for weeks or months. Intelliroot's Threat Hunting service takes a proactive, analyst-led approach to finding these threats before they achieve their objectives.
Our CREST-certified hunters operate across three methodologies: hypothesis-driven hunting guided by analytical intuition and deep environmental knowledge; intelligence-led hunting that converts current cyber threat intelligence into testable hypotheses; and situated hunting that uses your MITRE ATT&CK coverage map to systematically probe the detection gaps your existing rule set leaves exposed. Every hunt is documented with TTP findings and — critically — new detection rules that convert hunt discoveries into permanent detection coverage, improving your SIEM with every engagement.
Why Proactive Threat Hunting Is Essential
Detect What Rules Miss
The average dwell time for undetected attackers exceeds 100 days. Threat hunting proactively searches for the indicators and behaviours that fall below automated detection thresholds — dramatically compressing dwell time.
Living-off-the-Land Attacks Are Invisible to Rules
Adversaries using legitimate tools such as PowerShell, WMI, and native OS binaries generate alerts identical to normal administrative activity. Only a skilled human analyst can distinguish malicious use patterns from legitimate ones.
Continuously Improve Detection Coverage
Hunt findings translate directly into new SIEM detection rules — closing residual detection gaps that ATT&CK mapping reveals. Each hunt engagement makes your permanent detection capability stronger.
Demonstrate Proactive Security Posture
Regulators and cyber insurers increasingly look for evidence of proactive threat detection beyond reactive alerting. Documented threat hunting engagements demonstrate the security maturity they expect.
What Threat Hunting Covers
Hypothesis-Driven Hunting
- Environmental baselining and anomaly identification
- Analyst-led hypothesis development
- Behavioural pattern analysis across telemetry
- UEBA anomaly investigation
- Hunt hypothesis documentation and outcome recording
Intelligence-Led Hunting
- Current CTI analysis for applicable TTPs
- Threat actor TTP to hypothesis conversion
- IoC and TTP-based hunting across log sources
- Sector-specific threat landscape assessment
- CTI-to-detection pipeline documentation
ATT&CK-Situated Hunting
- ATT&CK coverage assessment against current rule set
- Residual gap prioritisation by threat actor relevance
- Systematic hunting across identified coverage gaps
- Living-off-the-land technique detection
- Detection gap to Sigma rule conversion
Telemetry & Data Sources
- EDR telemetry analysis (CrowdStrike / Defender / SentinelOne)
- SIEM log analysis and correlation hunting
- Network traffic and NetFlow analysis
- Cloud audit log hunting (AWS / Azure / GCP)
- Email and identity platform telemetry
Our Threat Hunting Approach
Hunt Scoping & Intelligence Brief
Review the current threat landscape for your sector, recent incident intelligence, and your ATT&CK coverage map. Define hunt scope, telemetry access, and the initial hypothesis backlog with your SOC team.
Baselining & Environmental Familiarisation
Establish behavioural baselines for critical systems, user populations, and network segments. Identify normal administrative activity patterns to distinguish from adversarial behaviour during active hunting.
Active Hunting Sprints
Execute structured hunting sprints across each hypothesis using EDR, SIEM, network, and cloud telemetry. Document each hypothesis, data sources queried, analysis techniques, and findings in real time.
Findings Analysis & TTP Documentation
Analyse hunting findings, confirm or dismiss each hypothesis, and document confirmed TTPs with evidence. Escalate active threat findings to the incident response process immediately without waiting for the hunt to conclude.
Detection Improvement & Hunt Report
Convert hunt findings into new Sigma detection rules and SOAR playbooks. Deliver the hunt report covering all hypotheses tested, findings, detection improvements developed, and recommendations for future hunt priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Deliverables
Threat Hunt Report
Detailed report covering all hypotheses tested, data sources analysed, hunting techniques applied, findings (confirmed and dismissed), and full evidence documentation.
ATT&CK Coverage Assessment
Updated MITRE ATT&CK coverage heatmap showing detection coverage before and after the hunt, including the impact of new detection rules generated from findings.
New Detection Rules
Sigma-format detection rules developed from confirmed hunt findings, translated to your SIEM platform and validated against your log data before delivery.
TTP Documentation
ATT&CK-mapped TTP documentation for all confirmed findings, providing institutional knowledge that informs future hunts, red team exercises, and purple team collaborations.
Hunt Backlog & Future Priorities
Prioritised backlog of future hunt hypotheses based on intelligence findings, residual ATT&CK gaps, and environmental risk factors — ready to guide the next hunt engagement.
Request a Security Assessment
Tell us about your environment and security objectives. We'll design a bespoke assessment and deliver a detailed proposal within 48 hours.