Evaluating User and Attacker Behavior Analytics

Latest Blogs

By AMSAT Jan 13,2021

Evaluating User and Attacker Behavior Analytics

User behavior analytics helps an organization gain a baseline comprehension of what standard behavior for an employee would be; for example, what kind of data they access, what times they log on, and where they are physically located. That way, an unexpected outlier in behavior—such as a 3 am logon in Bangkok from someone who typically works from 10 to 6 in London and doesn’t travel for business—stands out as uncommon behavior and something a security analyst may need to probe.

With attacker behavior analytics, there’s no baseline of activity to compare information to; rather, small, apparently disparate activities spotted on the network over time may in fact be breadcrumbs of activity that a threat actor leaves behind. Both technology and human are needed to put these pieces together, but they can help form a picture of what a threat actor may be up to within an organization’s network.

Setting Prowler Traps

Some targets are just too alluring for a hacker to keep away from. Security experts are cognizant of this fact, so they set traps on the back of hopes that an attacker will take the bait. Against the backdrop of an organization’s network, an intruder trap could include a special target that may appear to house network services—particularly tempting to an attacker. When a hacker goes after this lure, it causes an alert so the security team know there is wary activity in the network that should be examined.

Steering Threat Hunts

Rather than wait for a threat to appear in the organization’s network, a threat hunt allows security experts to vigorously go out into their own network, endpoints, and security technology to look for threats or invaders that may be prowling as-yet unnoticed. This is an unconventional technique commonly performed by expert security and threat experts.

Preferably, a well-developed security threat finding program should include all of the above strategies, amongst others, to oversee the security of the organization’s employees, data, and important assets.

A Two-Pronged Approach is Needed to Threat Detection

Threat detection requires both human and technical elements. The human element comprises security experts who evaluate trends, patterns in data, behaviors, and reports, as well as those who can ascertain if irregular data points to a possible threat or a false alarm.

However, threat detection technology also plays a cardinal role in the uncovering procedure. There’s no silver bullet in threat detection, and no single tool that will do the job. Instead, a blend of tools serves as a net across an organization’s network, from end to end, to try and seize threats before they become a grave problem.

A strong threat detection program should employ:

• Security event threat detection technology to combine data from events across the network, including verification, network access, and logs from critical systems.

• Network threat detection technology to comprehend traffic patterns on the network and oversee traffic within and between reliable networks, as well as to the internet.

• Endpoint threat detection technology to provide thorough information about possibly spiteful events on user machines, as well as any behavioral or scientific information to assist in probing threats.

Takeaway

By employing a combination of these defensive methods, you’ll be increasing your chances of detecting and mitigating a threat quickly and efficiently. Security is a continuous process, and nothing is guaranteed. It’ll be up to you and the resources and processes you put in place to keep your business as secure as possible.

TAGS