(VOVWORLD) - With cyberattacks growing in scale and complication, traditional remedies are no longer effective. Organizations must move beyond reactive approaches and adopt proactive strategies to protect their digital assets. “Threat Hunting”, the practice of actively searching for hidden threats within systems before they cause harm, is now considered a critical layer of cybersecurity defense. Incorporating “Threat Hunting” into cybersecurity drills has become a best practice for enterprises wanting to strengthen their cyber resilience.
 At the CYSEEX Conference 2024 focusing on disaster response and system recovery (Photo credit: Sapo)
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Last year the CYSEEX, Cyber Security Exercise Alliance, which comprises representatives from the Government, private enterprises, trade associations and non-profit organisations, conducted cybersecurity drills on 18 information systems and identified 500 vulnerabilities, including 100 critical vulnerabilities.
Such drills improved the cybersecurity awareness and response capabilities of employees of Alliance member enterprises, ultimately strengthening national cyber defense.
With 14,000 employees participating, the Alliance's phishing exercise reduced serious vulnerabilities 40%.
As a key member of CYSEEX, Sapo Technology Company has frequently conducted incident response drills to address information security breaches, said Hoang Hanh Phuc, Director of Sapo’s Infrastructure and Security Center.
“Every month, we hold cybersecurity drills where we use real products of the alliance’s member companies and top engineers from alliance members and specialized cybersecurity firms are invited to search for vulnerabilities,” said Phuc, adding, “This allows us to fix problems in advance, ensuring that all products of alliance members remain secure. Since 2020, Sapo has held a weekly ‘Threat Hunting’ drill to identify and neutralize potential risks in Sapo products across cyberspace, thus minimizing security threat risks.”
Considered a “routine health check-up” for IT systems, “Threat Hunting” is a proactive approach to identifying and neutralizing hidden cyber threats that might escape traditional security measures.
Phuc said: "Threat hunting is an integral part of SOC (Security Operations Center) technology. We combine multiple technological measures to proactively detect potential threats. All member companies in the Alliance help us identify vulnerabilities. When threats are found, we act quickly to minimize their impact.”
By using “Threat Hunting” techniques, organizations and businesses can overcome the limitations of conventional security technologies, detect threats earlier, and significantly reduce the time these threats dwell in the system. This leads to faster incident response and better preparedness against increasingly complex and sophisticated cyberattacks. Ultimately, threat hunting enhances an organization’s overall cybersecurity resilience and operational continuity.
Phuc recalled last year, Sapo conducted two phishing simulations to assess Sapo employees' awareness and caution regarding malicious information on the Internet.
“After the first time, we found that the number of Sapo employees unfortunately deceived or victimized by online scams was in double digits. Training was continued until the second test in July, when the number dropped to single digits. This proved that ensuring information security is an ongoing task, so we’ll continue to conduct similar drills," said Phuc.
CYSEEX, who won third prize at the 2nd National Cyber Defense Drill, proved how vital live cyber defense drills are in strengthening the defense capabilities of key system operators.