In the world of cybersecurity, being reactive isn’t enough anymore. Attackers are getting smarter, stealthier, and more persistent. Even with the best firewalls, antivirus, and security monitoring in place, threats can still sneak in and often go undetected.

That’s why Threat Hunting has become such an essential skill for cybersecurity professionals. It’s not about waiting for alerts, it’s about actively searching for hidden threats in your environment before they cause damage.

In this blog, I’ll share five practical techniques that I use for threat hunting. Whether you’re new to cybersecurity or already working in SOC, Incident Response, or Malware Analysis, these tips will help sharpen your detection game.

What is Threat Hunting?

Before diving in, let’s clear this up: Threat Hunting is the process of proactively searching for signs of malicious activity that your existing security tools might have missed. It’s part investigation, part research, and part intuition.

Think of it like being a detective in your network, following digital footprints, connecting the dots, and uncovering suspicious behaviours before they escalate

1. Watch How Processes Are Created:

Attackers love exploiting how processes run in a system. Malicious programs often disguise themselves by masquerading as legitimate applications. Looks strange, right? Does Microsoft Word start a command prompt that then launches PowerShell? Classic sign of a macro-based attack or exploitation attempt.

As a threat hunter, you should always monitor process creation events, paying close attention to:

cmd.exe launching PowerShell
powershell.exe executing encoded commands
Suspicious parent-child relationships
Unexpected command-line arguments
Processes executing from unusual directories

The more you understand normal process behaviour in your environment, the easier it becomes to spot the anomalies.

Example:
WINWORD.EXE → CMD.EXE → PowerShell It is suspicious and is often seen in malware delivery.

Hunting Tip:

Use tools like Sysmon, EDR solutions, or your SIEM (e.g., QRadar, Sentinel) to track process creation events

2. Monitor Registry Changes:

The Windows Registry is often targeted by attackers for persistence, meaning they change registry keys so their malware runs every time the system boots up.

Here’s a common trick:
Malware might add itself to:

Run and RunOnce keys for autoruns
Changes under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

This ensures it silently runs in the background every time a user logs in.

As a threat hunter, keep an eye on registry modifications, especially:

Autorun keys
Registry entries pointing to unknown executables
Obfuscated or base64-encoded registry values

It might seem basic, but many advanced attacks rely on these small, overlooked changes to stay hidden.

Tip: Investigate unknown or base64-encoded registry values.

3. Hunt for LOLBins (Living off the Land Binaries):

One of the smartest tactics attackers use today is turning your system tools against you. It’s called Living off the Land, abusing legitimate Windows binaries (LOLBins) to carry out attacks without raising suspicion.

Examples include:

certutil.exe — used for downloading malicious payloads
mshta.exe — executing harmful scripts
rundll32.exe — Loading malicious DLL files

Why do attackers love LOLBins? Because they’re trusted by the system, often whitelisted by security tools, and blend right in with normal activity.

Your job is to spot when these tools are behaving abnormally, like being launched from strange directories or with suspicious parameters.

4. Analyse PowerShell Activity:

PowerShell is incredibly powerful — and unfortunately, a favourite for attackers too. With a single encoded command, they can download malware, run scripts, or gain unauthorised access.

If you’re hunting threats, pay close attention to:

Commands using -enc or -EncodedCommand
Scripts that download files via Invoke-WebRequest or IEX
Obfuscated or base64-encoded payloads

For instance, this PowerShell command should raise an eyebrow:

powershell.exe -enc <very long, suspicious encoded string>

Make sure you have PowerShell logging enabled and actively review command line activity. It’s one of the easiest ways to catch stealthy attacks early.

5. Track Suspicious Network Connections:

At some point, most attacks involve communication with the outside world, whether it’s downloading additional payloads or exfiltrating stolen data.

That’s why monitoring outbound connections is critical.

Look for:

Unusual destinations — rare countries or geographies
Connections to non-standard ports (like 4444 or 1337)
Traffic to known malicious IPs or domains

Combining network monitoring with threat intelligence feeds helps identify suspicious connections before they lead to bigger problems.

Final Thoughts:

Threat hunting isn’t about relying on tools alone; it’s about curiosity, critical thinking, and understanding how attackers operate.

These five techniques, process monitoring, registry hunting, LOLBin detection, PowerShell analysis, and network tracking, form a strong foundation for any threat hunting effort.

Even if you’re just starting in cybersecurity, practising these skills can set you apart and prepare you for real-world challenges.

Stay tuned for my upcoming blogs where I’ll share hands-on examples, real incident case studies, and tips to level up your cybersecurity knowledge.

Threat Hunting for Beginners: 5 Practical Techniques You Should Master