Guest Post: Bamm Visscher on Detection

Yesterday my friend Bamm Visscher published a series of Tweets on detection. I thought readers might like to digest it as a lightly edited blog post. Here, then, is the first ever (as far as I can remember) guest post on TaoSecurity Blog. Enjoy.

When you receive new [threat] intel and apply it in your detection environment, keep in mind all three analysis opportunities: RealTime, Batch, and Hunting.

If your initial intelligence analysis produces high context and quality details, it's a ripe candidate for RealTime detection.

If analysts can quickly and accurately process events generated by the [RealTime] signature, it's a good sign the indicator should be part of RealTime detection. If an analyst struggles to determine if a [RealTime alert] has detected malicious activity, it's likely NOT appropriate for RealTime detection.

If [the threat] intelligence contains limited context and/or details, try leveraging Batch Analysis with scheduled data reports as a better detection technique. Use Batch Analysis to develop better context (both positive and negative hits) to identify better signatures for RealTime detection.

Hunting is the soft science of detection, and best done with a team of diverse skills. Intelligence, content development, and detection should all work together. Don't fear getting skunked on your hunting trips. Keep investing time. The rewards are accumulative. Be sure to pass Hunting rewards into Batch Analysis and RealTime detection operations in the form of improved context.

The biggest mistake organizations make is not placing emphasis outside of RealTime detection, and "shoe-horning" [threat] intelligence into RealTime operations. So called "Atomic Indicators" tend to be the biggest violator of shoe-horning. Atomic indicators are easy to script into signature driven detection devices, but leave an analyst wondering what he is looking at and for.

Do not underestimate the NEGATIVE impact of GOOD [threat] intelligence inappropriately placed into RealTime operations! Mountains of indiscernible events will lead to analyst fatigue and increase the risk of good analyst missing a real incident.

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