performing-threat-hunting-with-elastic-siem

name	performing-threat-hunting-with-elastic-siem
description	Performs proactive threat hunting in Elastic Security SIEM using KQL/EQL queries, detection rules, and Timeline investigation to identify threats that evade automated detection. Use when SOC teams need to hunt for specific ATT&CK techniques, investigate anomalous behaviors, or validate detection coverage gaps using Elasticsearch and Kibana Security.
domain	cybersecurity
tags	["soc","elastic","siem","threat-hunting","kql","eql","mitre-attack","kibana"]
subdomain	soc-operations
version	1.0
author	oyi77
license	Apache-2.0
nist_ai_rmf	["MEASURE-2.7","MAP-5.1","MANAGE-2.4"]
atlas_techniques	["AML.T0070","AML.T0066","AML.T0082"]
d3fend_techniques	["Application Protocol Command Analysis","Network Isolation","Network Traffic Analysis","Client-server Payload Profiling","Network Traffic Community Deviation"]
nist_csf	["DE.CM-01","DE.AE-02","RS.MA-01","DE.AE-06"]

Performing Threat Hunting With Elastic Siem

Overview

Cybersecurity skill for performing threat hunting with elastic siem. Follows industry best practices and security standards.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "performing threat hunting with elastic siem"
• "SOC teams need to proactively search for threats not caught by existing detectio"
• "Threat intelligence reports describe new TTPs requiring validation against histo"
• "Red team exercises reveal detection gaps that need hunting query development"

Use this skill when:

• SOC teams need to proactively search for threats not caught by existing detection rules
• Threat intelligence reports describe new TTPs requiring validation against historical data
• Red team exercises reveal detection gaps that need hunting query development
• Periodic hunting cadence requires structured hypothesis-driven investigations

Do not use for real-time alert triage — that belongs in the Elastic Security Alerts queue with automated detection rules.

When NOT to Use

• When you lack proper authorization for testing
• For production systems without change management
• When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope

Prerequisites

• Elastic Security 8.x+ with Security app enabled in Kibana
• Data ingestion via Elastic Agent (Endpoint Security integration) or Beats (Winlogbeat, Filebeat, Packetbeat)
• Data normalized to Elastic Common Schema (ECS) field mappings
• User role with kibana_security_solution and read access to relevant indices
• MITRE ATT&CK framework knowledge for hypothesis generation

Workflow

# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": r"\b[a-f0-9]{64}\b",
}

def extract_iocs(text: ) -> :
     {k: re.findall(v, text)  k, v  IOC_PATTERNS.items()}