What is Advanced Threat Detection? Definition and Tools for Threat Hunting

The rapid acceleration of the digital age has brought about incredible advancements and era-defining technology. Strides taken to ensure a virtual eutopia of software processing capabilities has rendered us pioneers of expansion. However, with the increase in cyber-technology, the malicious software that threatens those same developments improve and adapt as well.

It isn’t enough to simply have a locked door anymore. A proactive solution to malware is necessary to help your company stay secure and ensure that every threat is found and destroyed before heavy damage is taken. This is where advanced threat detection plays its part as the watchdog for your cyber security needs.

What Is Advanced Threat Detection? - Definition

Advanced threat detection is a set of cyber security tools that make use of automated monitoring, sandboxing, behavioral analysis, and other functions to mitigate various advanced malware. This set of tools helps secure your data where traditional cyber security functions - such as firewalls, antivirus, and intrusion prevention systems, may fail.

Typical cyber defenses fall short of being able to provide well-rounded threat detection, are generally difficult to operate, and are slow in locating possible threats before they become a surmountable security risk.  Advanced threat detection bypasses all of these tedious drawbacks by providing critical analysis, rapid action, and comprehensive security to extinguish threats before they can even try to wreak havoc on your system. 

How Does Advanced Threat Detection Work?

Advanced threat detection works on the assumption that threats encountered will be new and improved – contrasting the predecessor tools of signature-based detection which required the cyber “fingerprint” of the malware to be known in order for the system to navigate its way around it.  

Sandboxing is the method of isolating corrupted or suspicious files to process them without the risk of compromising other files on the server. It locks the malware in a virtual prison to be analyzed and identified without risking the host device. After isolating the irregular file, advanced threat detection pushes further to analyze the behavior of the security risk. 

Behavioral Analysis allows security teams to assess the behavior patterns of skeptical internal hosts or files and evaluate if they fall within acceptable parameters before exposing any potential threats to the main server.

Automated Monitoring ensures real-time security surveillance of the network by providing constant and consistent monitoring for outliers – offering up any anomalies and patterns produced, without the need to manually search for the problem. 

Which Advanced Threat Detection Solution Should You Choose?

With increasingly sophisticated forms of vicious ransomware on the rise, advanced threat detection is the only way to ensure your company remains entirely secure from cyber-attacks. A single safety resolution is not enough – for complete protection and threat hunting capabilities, an encompassing and integrated system needs to be in place. 

Your cyber security needs to be evaluated in conjunction with active detection, monitoring, and support facilitation. A holistic approach to threat hunting will include endpoint security and other safety measures used in tandem.

There are a couple of Open Source Threat Detection tools available that we listed out in earlier article

• OSSEC: OSSEC is an open-source and free software EDR that offers log analysis, real-time windows registry monitoring, and other EDR features.  
• TheHive Project: TheHive Project is a “security incident response (platform) for the masses,” drafting fast and detailed security incident reports to help inform security strategies.  
• osQuery: osQuery is released as an application under the Apache license, with querying software that increases visibility of connected devices, and is typically used by SMBs and large enterprises.
• Nessus: Nessus vulnerability scanner scans ports for system vulnerabilities but does not have full EDR capabilities.
• Snort: Snort is robust intrusion prevention software designed to analyse packet logging and real-time traffic

You can read more about these tools in our previous article on EDR Tools.

Sangfor’s Products for Advanced Threat Detection

Sangfor provides various cyber security products for advanced threat detection and threat hunting goals.

Cyber Command

Sangfor’s Cyber Command Advanced Threat Detection works to improve threat hunting and response by monitoring internal network traffic, comparing existing security events, and applying AI technology and behavior analysis, all aided by global threat intelligence.

By integrating endpoints, firewalls, and other security applications with automated features, companies reduce the reliance on regular costly security professionals for advanced threat detection. With a correlated response that works beside Sangfor Endpoint Secure to isolate the breach in the direction of inbound and/or outbound traffic - Cyber Command can halt activity from the host and isolate the attacker.

Endpoint Secure

Sangfor’s Endpoint Secure is an advanced endpoint protection system that detects and prevents malware on PCs and servers.  Deployed at over two million endpoints worldwide, Endpoint Secure assists Cyber Command in collecting data for analysis, and can further perform confining and scanning capabilities for advanced threat detection.

NGAF: Next Generation Application Firewall

Sangfor’s Next Generation Firewall (NGAF) is the world's first AI-enabled Next-Generation Firewall which is fully integrated with Web Application Firewall and Endpoint Security products, providing all-around protection from all threats. It is also powered by the malware detection and protection of Neural-X – an analytic tool with AI and sandboxing capabilities that also contains a rich information store of all known malware attacks, and Engine Zero – an AI-powered malware detection engine for protection against zero-day vulnerabilities.

Cyber Command's Key Features

1. Sophisticated Threat Detection and Response

The Cyber Command Analysis Center collects an extensive range of network and security data. This includes North-South and East-West traffic data and logs from network gateways as well as EDRs uncovering breaches of existing security controls while impact analysis identifies hidden threats within the network.

After decoding the data, Cyber Command applies AI analysis to unearth unwelcome actions. AI analysis and real-time monitoring ensure that security rules effectively protect business assets against new threats. 

2. Full Visibility of Threats

Sangfor simplifies threat detection by offering 100% visibility of the threat-kill chain - allowing your company to act based on a thorough network traffic analysis and giving you a clearer idea of how the attack happened to help you to refine your cyber security system accordingly.

3. Rapid Response

Cyber Command, paired with Threat Intelligence, assumes attacks on the kill chain that can be easily detected - meaning faster alerts on exploitation attempts and the slowing down of brute force attacks, Command-and-Control activities, lateral movements, P2P traffic, and data theft. Unique algorithms automatically combine network logs, reduce the number of alerts, and boost productivity.

4. Flexibility

Threat mitigation is prioritized based on the criticality of the at-risk business assets. Combined with Sangfor’s Endpoint Secure and Sangfor’s Next Generation Firewall (NGAF), Cyber Command provides flexible and effective mitigation in a timely manner - offering recommendations for policy or patching, endpoint correlation, and network correlation.

The NGFW  is tightly integrated with Cyber Command by providing key network security events for analysis and can further work together by assisting in the quarantine of infected networks.

5. Advanced Threat Hunting and Monitoring

Cyber Command’s exclusive “Golden Eye” studies the behavior of compromised assets and uses this information to strengthen external and internal system defenses. Cyber Command collects data from Sangfor’s Stealth Threat Analysis (STA) – a sensor that collects raw network traffic that is mirrored from switches, extracts security events, and detects abnormal behaviors. 

The Stealth Threat Analysis (STA) data along with other sources, normalizes and correlates the data to a standard baseline thereafter presenting threat detection, threat hunting, and response capabilities.

Cyber Command helps security administrators to perform comprehensive impact analysis of known breaches and to track “patient zero,” by evaluating all possible points of entry and integrating endpoint security products to provide a detailed threat analysis.

Sangfor’s Cyber Command provides extensive and secure advanced threat detection but you don’t have to take our word for it alone - see for yourself the triumphs of Sangfor’s Cyber Command in action in these success stories of satisfied customers:

• The Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale (ASST) Lariana is an established healthcare provider in the Province of Como, Italy. Sangfor Cyber Command gave the healthcare providers 360-degree visibility of the network to ensure cybersecurity.
• Naquadria S.r.l. is a reliable internet service provider and data center based in Piacenza, Italy. Sangfor’s Cyber Command NDR (Network Detection and Response) solution provided Naquadria with a reliable and advanced control and response center for all threats that plagued the exposed systems - including the web and mail servers.

Watch these videos that include a careful breakdown of the advanced threat detection facilities of Sangfor’s Cyber Command.

Introducing: Cyber Command – An Advanced Threat Detection and Response Platform. The key aspects of Sangfor’s Cyber Command threat hunting capabilities. 

You can also watch Sangfor’s Cyber Command real-time advanced threat detection hunt demo in action. In the video, it detects lateral attacks, port scanning attacks, and suspicious activity within seconds and eliminates the threat from within a simplified console of operations. 

Cyber Command: Live Attack Demo

Find out more about the Sangfor Cyber Command capabilities through the Cyber Command brochure and learn more about Sangfor’s wide-ranging cloud computing and cyber security solutions here.

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