5 Threat Hunting Workflows to Supercharge Your Cybersecurity

Reactive alerting isn’t enough for threat hunting. Cybercriminals use methodology like zero-day exploits and phishing to get past defenses. Threat hunting gives you a proactive edge, but doing it manually takes up too much time and resources. 

That’s where Blink comes in. It integrates with platforms like CrowdStrike, VirusTotal, and Slack, and has an AI co-pilot that turns plain language into processes. This helps security teams stay ahead of threats.

Here are five threat hunting workflows you can build on Blink, with natural language prompt (NLP) prompts to get you started. Let’s jump in.

Search for Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) on Endpoints

Manually tracking indicators of compromise (IOCs), like malicious IPs or file hashes, from threat feeds and checking endpoints is a slog. Automate it with a daily workflow that pulls IOCs from VirusTotal and scans your environment via CrowdStrike. If a match pops up, the endpoint gets isolated, and the SOC team gets a Slack alert. This turns a repetitive chore into a hands-off process, catching known threats before they hit.

Workflow Steps

Trigger:

Scheduled daily at 8 AM.

Actions:

1. Fetch IOCs (e.g., IPs, hashes) from VirusTotal.
2. Query endpoints in CrowdStrike for matches.
3. Isolate affected endpoints.
4. Send Slack notification to SOC with details.

NLP Prompt

"Create a workflow that runs every day at 8 AM to pull a list of the latest IOCs like malicious IPs and file hashes from VirusTotal, then searches all endpoints in CrowdStrike for matches. If any are found, isolate the endpoint and send a Slack message to the SOC team with the details."

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Detect Anomalous Login Attempts

Credential stuffing and account takeovers start subtly (think repeated failed logins or access from odd locations), easily lost in log noise. Catch them with a real-time workflow triggered by Okta alerts. It extracts user and IP details, checks the IP against Recorded Future, and if it’s odd, suspends the account, notifies the SOC via Slack, and logs a case.

Workflow Steps

Trigger:

Okta alert on multiple failed logins.

Actions:

1. Extract user ID, source IP, and timestamp.
2. Enrich IP with Recorded Future threat intel.
3. Suspend account in Okta if suspicious.
4. Notify the SOC team via Slack.
5. Log incident as a case.‍

NLP Prompt

"Build a workflow that triggers when Okta detects multiple failed login attempts, extracts the user ID and source IP, checks the IP against Recorded Future for threat intel, and if it’s suspicious, suspends the account in Okta, notifies the SOC team on Slack, and logs the incident in a case."

Hunt for Unpatched Vulnerabilities Exposed to the Internet

Unpatched systems with critical CVEs are prime targets, especially if they’re internet-facing. Manually cross-referencing vulnerability data and exposure is slow; automate it with a weekly scan. Pull CVE-laden devices from Tenable, check AWS EC2 logs for public exposure, scan Splunk for exploitation attempts, then alert the SOC via Slack and open a Jira ticket. This shrinks your attack surface fast.

Workflow Steps

Trigger:

Scheduled every Monday at 9 AM.

Actions:

1. List devices with critical CVEs from Tenable.
2. Check AWS EC2 logs for internet exposure.
3. Search Splunk for exploitation signs.
4. Alert SOC via Slack if vulnerable and exposed.
5. Open Jira ticket for remediation.

NLP Prompt

"Make a workflow that runs every Monday at 9 AM, pulls a list of devices with critical CVEs from Tenable, checks AWS EC2 logs to see if they’re internet-facing, looks for exploitation attempts in Splunk, and if vulnerable and exposed, sends a Slack alert to the SOC team and opens a Jira ticket for remediation."

Investigate Phishing Emails with Malicious Attachments

Phishing emails with malicious URLs or attachments are a persistent headache; users can’t always spot them. Automate threat hunting with a workflow that triggers on Proofpoint flags, extracts and scans content with VirusTotal, and, if malicious, blocks the sender, quarantines the email, warns the user, and alerts the SOC on Slack.

Workflow Steps

Trigger:

Proofpoint flags a new email.

Actions:

1. Extract URLs and attachments.
2. Scan with VirusTotal.
3. Block sender and quarantine email in Proofpoint if malicious.
4. Email user warning and alert SOC via Slack.

NLP Prompt

"Set up a workflow that triggers when Proofpoint flags a new email, extracts URLs, scans them with VirusTotal, and if they’re malicious, blocks the sender in Proofpoint, quarantines the email, emails the user a warning, and notifies the SOC team on Slack."

Monitor for Suspicious Network Traffic Patterns

Data exfiltration or command-and-control traffic blends into normal activity - tough to spot manually. Automate it with a workflow that triggers on Darktrace alerts, checks destination IPs against Recorded Future, and, if malicious, blocks the IP in AWS WAF, isolates the device in CrowdStrike, notifies the SOC via Slack, and logs the incident.

Workflow Steps

Trigger:

Darktrace alert for odd outbound traffic.

Actions:

1. Pull destination IPs.
2. Check with Recorded Future threat intel.
3. Block IP in AWS WAF if malicious.
4. Isolate device in CrowdStrike.
5. Alert SOC via Slack and log incident.

NLP Prompt

"Create a workflow that triggers on a Darktrace alert for unusual outbound traffic, pulls the destination IPs, checks them against Recorded Future for threat intel, and if malicious, blocks the IP in AWS WAF, isolates the source device in CrowdStrike, sends a Slack alert to the SOC team, and logs the incident."

Getting Started with Blink Ops

Thankfully threat hunting doesn’t need to be a grind. With Blink Ops, you can automate endpoint scans, phishing defenses, and more, focusing your expertise where it counts.

Blink Ops makes these workflows effortless. Paste the NLP prompts into its AI Copilot, and it builds them using integrations. Tweak schedules or conditions in the no-code interface, and test as needed. Swap tools (e.g., Splunk for Darktrace) by editing the prompt. 

Check the Blink Library for templates, start small, and use Slack to keep your team synced.