Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting

Custom KQL analytics, hunting queries, and detection tuning against your real environment and threat model. Delivered by DESSS with a documented 6-step workflow, named deliverables, and a 24-hour discovery response.

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MICROSOFT DEFENDER

What does DESSS deliver for Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting

DESSS delivers Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting on Microsoft Defender & Sentinel through the detection engineering and threat hunting deployment: threat model and use cases; telemetry onboarding; detection engineering; triage runbooks and escalation; tuning window; operations and hunting. Each step closes with named deliverables you sign off before the next begins.

THE WORKFLOW

6 steps, start to finish

Every engagement follows a documented sequence, so you always know which stage the work is in and what closes it.

Threat model and use cases — Weeks 1–2
Telemetry onboarding — Weeks 2–5
Detection engineering — Weeks 4–7
Triage runbooks and escalation — Weeks 6–8
Tuning window — Weeks 8–11
Operations and hunting — Ongoing

WHAT YOU GET

Named deliverables, signed off

Each step closes with deliverables you review and approve before the next one begins — progress you can audit rather than a status colour on a slide.

Use-case catalogue
Threat model
Priority detections
Connected sources
Parsing validation
Ingestion cost model
Analytics rules
ATT&CK coverage map
Simulation results
Triage runbooks

HOW WE DELIVER

Inside the Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting workflow

Detection built from your threat model, tuned until analysts can sustain the alert volume.

Step 01

Weeks 1–2

Threat model and use cases

Detection use cases are selected from the threats that realistically apply to your sector and estate, so Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting collects telemetry for a purpose instead of filling storage.

Deliverables:

Use-case catalogue
Threat model
Priority detections

Step 04

Weeks 6–8

Triage runbooks and escalation

Severity definitions, triage procedures, escalation contacts and out-of-hours authority are documented and agreed, so the first real incident is not the first conversation about them.

Deliverables:

Triage runbooks
Escalation matrix
Severity definitions

Step 02

Weeks 2–5

Telemetry onboarding

Identity, endpoint, email, network and cloud sources are connected with parsing validated and ingestion tiered by value, because cost control is part of the design in Microsoft Defender & Sentinel.

Deliverables:

Connected sources
Parsing validation
Ingestion cost model

Step 05

Weeks 8–11

Tuning window

A deliberate tuning period drives false positives down to a level a human can sustain, with every suppression documented and reviewed rather than quietly applied.

Deliverables:

Tuning log
False positive trend
Suppression register

Step 03

Weeks 4–7

Detection engineering

Analytics rules are mapped to MITRE ATT&CK techniques, written against your environment, and tested with simulated activity before they are trusted.

Deliverables:

Analytics rules
ATT&CK coverage map
Simulation results

Step 06

Ongoing

Operations and hunting

Monthly reporting on incidents, response times and coverage gaps is paired with quarterly threat hunting that feeds new detections back into Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting.

Deliverables:

Monthly reports
Hunt findings
New detections

HOW TO ENGAGE

Advice, delivery, or managed service

Engage DESSS at whatever depth the work needs — independent advice before budget is committed, full delivery against an agreed blueprint, or ongoing support from the team that built it.

Consulting & Advisory

Assessment, platform selection, business case, and roadmap — before you commit budget.

Implementation Services

Full delivery to an agreed blueprint, with weekly demos and named deliverables at every step.

Integration & Migration

Connecting and modernizing the systems the work depends on, with validated data and monitored interfaces.

Managed Support Services

Monitoring, incident handling, enhancements, and release management from the team that built it.

Also on Microsoft Defender

Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting is most often delivered alongside these, in a phased roadmap that avoids rebuilding earlier work.

Defender for Endpoint

Onboarding, attack surface reduction rules, tamper protection, automated investigation, and device risk integration with Conditional Access.

View module

Defender for Identity

Sensors on domain controllers and ADFS to catch reconnaissance, lateral movement, and DCSync-class attacks.

View module

Defender for Office 365

Safe Links, Safe Attachments, anti-phishing policies, quarantine workflows, and attack simulation training.

View module

Defender for Cloud

CSPM, secure score improvement, regulatory compliance dashboards, and workload protection across Azure, AWS, and GCP.

View module

Defender for Cloud Apps

Shadow IT discovery, app governance, session policies, and data controls for sanctioned SaaS.

View module

Defender Vulnerability Management

Continuous discovery, prioritized remediation by exploitability, and measurable exposure reduction.

View module

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting

A typical DESSS Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting delivery runs 6 steps, with the final step reached around ongoing. Complex integrations, multi-entity scope, or regulated environments extend that — the discovery session produces a dated plan for your case rather than an average.

Every step closes with named deliverables — ATT&CK coverage map, Analytics rules, Connected sources, Escalation matrix, False positive trend, Hunt findings, Ingestion cost model, Monthly reports — so progress is visible, auditable, and reviewable rather than a status colour on a slide.

Yes. Integration with the systems your detection engineering depends on is designed early and delivered with validation, monitoring, and error handling, so failures are visible and recoverable.

No. Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting is often delivered alongside the other Microsoft Defender & Sentinel products listed below, in a phased roadmap that avoids rebuilding earlier phases. DESSS sequences them so each phase stands on its own.

The consultants who implemented it. Managed support covers monitoring, incidents, enhancements, and release management under severity-based service levels.

GET STARTED

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Talk to a DESSS consultant about Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting on Microsoft Defender. We respond to discovery requests within 24 hours.

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