Getting started with Threat Hunting with a minimal approach

· Threat Hunting · 3 min

Getting started with Threat Hunting with a minimal approach

Start Hunting Today!

Threat hunting doesn’t require enterprise tools. You can simply start with what you already have.

Minimum Requirements

Start with things you probably already have. Work from there, and then think about improving and growing.

  • Centralized logging (Sysmon, firewall, proxy logs)
  • Query capability (ELK, Splunk, or even grep)
  • Baseline knowledge of your network
  • 2-4 hours per week of dedicated hunting time

Baselining is the hardest part for beginners, so start small. Pick one thing you can describe as “normal” (which hosts talk to the internet, which accounts run as admin, what runs at startup) and write it down. That single baseline becomes the yardstick for your first hunts.

Simple Framework

Think about a simple framework that can work for you and your organization. Expand the framework when expanding the threat hunting operations.

  1. Hypothesis - What might attackers do? (e.g., “Are there any unusual PowerShell executions?”)
  2. Hunt - Query logs for anomalies
  3. Analyze - Investigate findings
  4. Document - Record everything

To make hypotheses concrete, anchor them to MITRE ATT&CK techniques. “Credential dumping” becomes T1003, which tells you exactly what data sources and behaviors to look for. When you are ready to grow beyond this loop, established models like TaHiTI or PEAK build on the same hypothesis-driven foundation.

Sample Hunting Queries

Some hunts to start looking at.

  • Rare process-network combinations
  • Off-hours admin activity
  • New scheduled tasks
  • Unsigned executables in temp folders

A concrete starting point with Sysmon and grep, finding executables launched from temp directories:

grep -i "Image:.*\\\\Temp\\\\" sysmon.log | grep "EventID: 1"

It is crude, but it works with what you already have. Refine from there.

Reporting Template

Keeping reports is important for future reference. Work with a template for structure.

Template:

Hunt ID: HNT-YYYY-NNN Hypothesis: [What you are testing] Findings: [What you saw] Action: [False positives, escalations] IOCs: [Hashes / IPs / domains] Improvements: [New detections or baseline updates]

Worked example:

Hunt ID: HNT-2025-001 Hypothesis: Credential dumping via LSASS access Findings: 3 suspicious processes identified Action: 2 false positives, 1 escalated to IR (incident response) IOCs: a1b2c3…, 10.0.0.5 Improvements: Add alerting for mimikatz patterns

Use the Intel

Use the gathered intel! Create rules, update detection systems, and share your findings with other teams or the community.

  • Feed detections - Turn discoveries into Sigma rules so one finding works across ELK, Splunk, and more
  • Update baselines - Refine normal behavior
  • Share IOCs - Distribute to team/community
  • Track metrics - Measure detection improvements

Sigma is worth calling out because it closes the loop: a hunt finding becomes a portable detection rule instead of a one-off query you forget next week.

Start small. Hunt weekly. Iterate based on findings. Your first hunt begins with your next log query.