SEC595: Applied Data Science and AI/Machine Learning for Cybersecurity Professionals

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Contact UsCyber defenders face a relentless barrage of network telemetry, in terms of volume, velocity, and variety. One of the most prolific types of telemetry are Zeek (formerly known as Bro) logs. Many needle-in-a-haystack approaches to threat discovery that rely on log examination are resource-intensive and unsuitable for time-sensitive engagements. This reality creates unique difficulties for teams with few personnel, skills, and tools. Such challenges can make it difficult for analysts to conduct effective incident response, threat hunting, and continuous monitoring of a network. This paper showcases an alternative to traditional investigative methods by using network graphs. Leveraging a freely available, commercial-off-the-shelf tool called Maltego Casefile, analysts can visualize key relationships between various Zeek log fields to quickly gain insight into network traffic. This research will explore variations of the network graph technique on multiple packet capture (PCAP) datasets containing known-malicious activity.