Proactive
Threat Hunting
Proactive investigation for hidden cyber threats. Not every attack triggers an alert - RTCS searches across logs, endpoints, identity systems, cloud platforms and network activity to find suspicious behaviour, attacker activity and detection gaps. The goal is to catch threats earlier, improve detection, and strengthen response capability.
- Endpoint, identity, cloud and SIEM-based threat hunting
- Microsoft 365, Entra ID and Active Directory hunts
- Splunk, Sentinel, Elastic, QRadar and other SIEM platforms
- Suspicious sign-in, privilege change and OAuth consent review
- Endpoint persistence, lateral movement and credential access hunts
- Ransomware precursor activity hunting
- Detection gap identification and SIEM rule recommendations
- Risk-rated findings with evidence and remediation guidance
- Hypothesis-driven hunts mapped to MITRE ATT&CK
Not every attack triggers an alert.
Threat hunting is the proactive search for suspicious activity inside an environment. It identifies compromised accounts, persistence mechanisms, lateral movement, unusual administrative activity, malware behaviour, suspicious PowerShell usage, cloud account abuse and other signs of attacker activity. Most effective when it's focused, evidence-based and aligned to realistic attack scenarios.
The activity that quietly slips past automated tools.
Attackers use legitimate accounts, trusted tools, weak logging, misconfigured systems and low-noise techniques to avoid detection. Threat hunting finds what alerts didn't.
Compromised accounts with no clear alert
Suspicious sign-ins treated as normal activity
Privileged access misuse
Endpoint activity not being investigated
Cloud activity not being monitored properly
Weak or missing detection rules
Logs collected but not reviewed effectively
Early ransomware activity being missed
Hunts targeted at the surfaces attackers actually use.
Identity Hunts
Suspicious sign-ins, impossible travel, privileged role changes, MFA fatigue, legacy auth, guest abuse, risky app consent, unusual mailbox access, new inbox rules, forwarding rules and service account misuse - across Entra ID, M365, AD and other IdPs.
Endpoint Hunts
Suspicious command execution, PowerShell abuse, unusual parent-child processes, persistence mechanisms, credential dumping, remote execution, scheduled tasks, service creation and security-tool tampering.
Cloud Hunts
Privilege changes, IAM role abuse, OAuth and application consent, unusual administrative activity, public-exposure changes, key and secret access, and storage / database access patterns.
SIEM & Log-based Hunts
Authentication, endpoint telemetry, cloud audit, firewall and proxy, DNS, email security, M365, privileged access logs and security alerts - hunted across Splunk, Sentinel, Elastic, QRadar, Google SecOps and other platforms.
Pair with Detection & Response Readiness to turn hunt findings into permanent detection content and SIEM rules.
Targeted hunts based on your environment and threat profile.
Hunts can be driven by Threat Intelligence - use sector-relevant TTPs as the hypothesis, then hunt for the matching activity in your environment.
Hunting vs IR
Threat Hunting
Proactive. Starts before an alert. Looks for signs of compromise or suspicious behaviour that may not have triggered detection, and feeds findings back into the detection program.
Incident Response
Reactive. Starts after an alert or confirmed incident - containment, eradication, investigation and recovery. See Incident Response Readiness.
Scope to Report
A practical, focused engagement that produces specific findings, not generic activity reports.
Confirm the environment, tools, log sources, systems, users and hunt objectives.
Review available telemetry from SIEM, EDR, identity, cloud and network sources.
Perform focused searches for suspicious activity and attacker techniques.
Investigate findings, remove noise and confirm whether activity is expected or suspicious.
Provide clear findings, evidence, recommended actions and detection improvement opportunities.
Who It's For & What You Receive
Who This Service Is For
- Have SIEM, EDR or cloud logs available
- Want to look for hidden threats
- Need assurance after suspicious activity
- Want to improve detection capability
- Need to review identity or endpoint activity
- Want to identify ransomware precursor activity
- Need practical findings rather than generic alerts
- Want to improve security monitoring and response
Typical Deliverables
- Threat hunting report
- Hunt objectives and methodology
- Suspicious activity findings
- Account compromise indicators
- Endpoint investigation findings
- Cloud and identity observations
- Detection gaps
- Recommended remediation actions
- Suggested SIEM detections
- Executive summary
- Technical evidence
Where threat hunting connects to the rest of the program.
Detection & Response Readiness →
Turn hunt findings into permanent detection rules, SIEM content and operational improvement.
Threat Intelligence →
Drive hunts with sector-specific TTPs, exploit activity and credential exposure.
Incident Response Readiness →
Escalate hunt findings into a coordinated, documented incident response.
Identity & Access Management →
Address the privileged access and identity governance gaps hunts expose.
Cloud Security →
Configuration and exposure review of the cloud environments being hunted across.
Red Team & Adversary Simulation →
Purple-team activity that validates detections against real attacker behaviour.
Crisis Management →
Executive decision-making when a hunt finding escalates into a serious incident.
vCISO & Security Advisory →
Strategic oversight of hunting outcomes and integration into the broader security program.
Threat hunting gives organisations a deeper view of suspicious activity, detection gaps and potential compromise. Talk to us about a threat hunting engagement, identity hunt, endpoint hunt, SIEM-based hunt or ransomware precursor review.
Common Questions
What is threat hunting?
Threat hunting is a proactive search for suspicious activity that may not have triggered standard alerts.
Is threat hunting the same as incident response?
No. Incident response usually starts after an incident or alert. Threat hunting is proactive and looks for signs of compromise or suspicious behaviour before a confirmed incident.
What tools do you hunt across?
RTCS can hunt across SIEM, EDR, identity, cloud and logging platforms, including Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender, Elastic, QRadar and other tools where available.
Do we need a SIEM?
A SIEM helps, but it is not always required. Threat hunting can also use EDR, identity logs, cloud audit logs and other available telemetry.
Can you hunt for ransomware activity?
Yes. RTCS can hunt for activity commonly seen before ransomware deployment, such as privilege escalation, lateral movement, credential access, suspicious remote execution and backup tampering.
Do you provide detections after the hunt?
Yes. Where relevant, RTCS can recommend detection rules, alert improvements and logging changes to improve future visibility.
Not sure what you need?
Use the enquiry form or email [email protected] with a brief summary. Include your organisation, the service area if known, and any timing requirements.