The document discusses the distinctions between logging, alerting, and hunting in information security, emphasizing the importance of proper data collection and analysis to detect adversaries. It outlines various types of logging (Windows and non-Windows) and highlights the need for effective alerting mechanisms that provide high-fidelity signals without overwhelming staff. The document also addresses the maturity stages of an organization's security posture, moving from lost to proactive defense capabilities.

1. Logging Alerting and
Hunting
Getting on the right track to find evil

2. whoami
2
•SynerComm Information Assurance Consultant
•Penetration Tester
•Former Blue Team / SOC / Incident Responder

3. Logging vs Alerting vs Hunting
• What is logging
• What is alerting
• What is hunting

4. What questions can you ask of your logs?
Let use cases drive your data collection

5. Types of Logging
•Windows
•Non-Windows
•Network

6. Uses for Logging - Benefits
•Diagnostics - Uptime
•Security
•eDiscovery Potential

7. Windows
•Events
•Endpoint controls
•DHCP/DNS
•Other - Sharepoint / MSSQL / Fileshares

8. Windows - Events of Interest
Source: NSA Detecting the Adversary

9. Windows - Events of Interest – Endpoint
General Event Description Group of IDs
Network Connection 5156, 5157
Process Creation 4688, 4689
File Auditing 4663, 4660
Share Access 5140
Registry 4657
Services 7045
Scheduled Tasks 4698, 602
PowerShell 501, 4104, 4103

10. Windows - Endpoint Controls
•You have a root kit on every box, use it
•HIPS is critical
•Coverage is critical
•Deeper information than Windows events can provide

11. Windows - DNS/DHCP
•Many environments use Windows DNS/DHCP
•Logging on these systems is high priority
•These systems are critical to malicious activity as well

12. Windows - Other
•Sharepoint
•MSSQL - C2 Audit
•Fileshares
•IIS or other Windows systems

13. Non-Windows Logging
•Mac OS X
•Linux/Unix
•Network Appliances / Other

14. Non-Windows - Mac OS X
• Similar to Linux/Unix but different (BSDish)
• Open source can help - OSSEC - Syslog
• Use cases are similar to Windows

15. Non-Windows - Linux/Unix
•Easiest systems to get logs from
•Possible to over collect
•Protect from critical data outwards

16. Network Appliances / Other
• SAAS / Cloud (Other people’s computers with your data)
• Netflow / Full Packet Capture / Network Security Monitoring (NSM)
• Security controls - Web proxy logs / Firewall / Intrusion Prevention

17. Alerting
• Alerts are annoying
• Useful alerts need to be high-fidelity
• Get creative - start from a known problem and work backwards

18. Alerting
• Alerts should only fire when action is required (otherwise they are just logs)
• Building new alerts without remediating root cause will increase your work indefinite
• Build defensible positions
• Know your own network
• If staff can’t be dedicated the organization is probably not ready for many alerts

19. Hunting (Hurting)
• Proactive defense
• Requires expertise
• Is not a technology driven solution (its about your people)
• Requires minimum maturity in order to be valuable

20. Getting started / Building Maturity
Lost Reactive Preventative Proactive

21. Stage I - LOST
• Has logs with no staff
• Incidents take unreasonable amount of time to resolve
• Evil can happen unnoticed and unrecorded and probably is

22. Stage II - Reactive
• Has logs maybe not enough staff
• Logs data may be limited
• Most organizations are partially in this stage
• Creates feeling of constant “fire fighting” (Burns out security peop

23. Stage III - Preventative
• Data collection starts to create remediation of root cause
• Some malicious activity is prevented simply by configuration
• Staff start to feel a modicum of control / Less stress
• Not 100% preventative of malicious activity

24. Stage IV - Proactive
• Prevention capability is near maximum
• Hunting is routine
• Incidents are found in earlier stages and root causes identified
• Everybody sings Kumbaya

25. Getting Started (Bare minimum)
• Egress network traffic 5-tuple (source, destination, port, protocol)
• Web Proxy Logs
• Active Directory Logs
• Avoid overlap
• Use tools you already have

26. Sample Solutions - Logging
• OpenSource (Logging only)
• Graylog, ELSA, ELK, nxlog, snare, syslog-ng, fluentd, Bro IDS

27. Sample Solutions - Alerting
• Builds on Logging solutions
• Opensource
• Sagan, OSSEC, Snort, Security Onion

28. Sample Solutions - Hunting
• Building again on logging/alerting
• Opensource
• Security Onion, Squil, Moloch, Redline, Volatility, OSquery, PacketPig

29. Sample Use Cases
• Find processes running that are outliers
• Egress encrypted non-US traffic
• VPN logs from outside the US
• All outbound user agents that don’t match organization default
• All downloaded executables
• Privileged account added/changed/used/abused

30. Sample Use Cases
• Machines using non-standard services (DNS, NTP)
• Protocol mismatched traffic (ie encrypted over port 80)
• Non-Admins running administrator tools (ie net user, powershell)
• External network connections from machines that shouldn’t (ie DC to internet)
• Registry modifications that effect processes running on boot
• Movement of macro enabled Office documents

31. Sample Use Case Template
Source: Anton Chuvakin - Gartner

32. External Resources & ?s