The Threat Hunter's Playbook

The Threat Hunter's Playbook is a field-tested methodology for security teams who are tired of rebuilding their hunting program every time the SIEM or EDR changes. Across fourteen chapters, it takes you from first principles, what hunting is (and isn't), the Hunting Maturity Model, structured versus unstructured methodology, and the Pyramid of Pain, through hypothesis formation with MITRE ATT&CK, PEAK, TaHiTI, and crown jewel analysis.

From there the book grounds you in data: log source prioritization, endpoint, network, identity, and cloud telemetry, plus hands-on Sysmon and auditd configuration. A full analytic toolkit follows, including baselining, stacking, frequency analysis, clustering, long-tail analysis, outlier detection, and timeline reconstruction, each one taught as reusable behavioral logic rather than a vendor-specific query.

The second half is a scenario library organized by ATT&CK tactic: initial access, execution and persistence, privilege escalation and defense evasion, credential access and lateral movement, and command-and-control and exfiltration. Every technique ships as portable Sigma YAML or pseudocode, so you can carry it into Splunk, Elastic, Sentinel, Chronicle, or whatever platform your organization adopts next. The book closes with guidance on documenting hunts using the ABLE framework and building a sustainable hunting program: metrics, cadence, team skills, and purple team feedback loops.

Written for SOC analysts, detection engineers, and security leads running mixed estates, this is a methodology built to outlive your tool stack.