From Zero to Threat Hunter: Building Your Detection Stack in 30 Minutes

Supercharge network security operations with Galileo and MotherDuck, both powered by DuckDB

In a time when advanced cyber threats are continually evolving and network boundaries are becoming less distinct, security teams require network threat hunting solutions that can efficiently process large volumes of network data while remaining cost-effective and easy to deploy. The Galileo Toolkit, a versatile network analytics pipeline, and MotherDuck, a serverless cloud analytics platform, provide this capability by offering hybrid processing that seamlessly scales from local to cloud workloads. Specifically, the combination of Galileo’s enriched network flow data with MotherDuck’s SQL analytical power creates a threat hunting approach that is both technically effective and operationally practical, making it one of the most practical tools in a security analyst's toolkit.

Why A Threat Hunting Stack?

A threat hunting stack is a network security monitoring framework designed to proactively search for and identify anomalous and malicious activities within an organization's network infrastructure. Unlike traditional security tools that rely on known signatures or rules to detect threats, Galileo’s integration with MotherDuck (both powered by DuckDB) enable security analysts to investigate potential threats proactively with the following capabilities:

• Sensing & Data Collection: Sense, generate, ingests, and enrich network flow data

• Analytics Engine: Processes large volumes of data using advanced queries, statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques

• Investigation Workspace: Provides a interactive SQL interface for analysts to explore data, test hypotheses, and follow threat trails

• Collaboration Features: Enables security teams to share findings, create repeatable hunting SQL procedures, and build institutional knowledge

TL;DR

In just 30 minutes, you can test drive a functional threat hunting stack that scales from sensors to the cloud. This open solution easily scales with large datasets and integrates with existing workflows. If you are ready jump to the integration guide or keep reading for a more in-depth overview.

Galileo Toolkit: Versatile Network Analytics Pipeline

The Galileo Toolkit represents a paradigm shift in network security analytics. This versatile open-source pipeline framework makes advanced network flow analysis accessible to organizations of all sizes, transforming what was once the domain of enterprise security teams with massive budgets into a capability available to any security professional. Galileo Toolkit excels at the following functions:

• Flow Generation and Enrichment: Included sensor captures and generates network data from network infrastructure

• Pipeline Processing: Each of the tools transforms and/or enriches flow data into a structured Parquet format optimized for analysis

• Network Traffic Baselines: Collects, samples, and stores network data that serve as the foundation for advanced analytics and anomaly detection

• Threat Intelligence Integration: Enriching flow data with external threat feeds and indicators (under development)

MotherDuck: Cloud-Scale Analytics Without Cloud Complexity

While Galileo Toolkit excels at collecting, processing, and enriching network data, MotherDuck transforms the threat hunting equation by storing and analyzing months (even years) of network data efficiently. MotherDuck’s cloud-native platform includes the following powerful capabilities:

• Fast Performance: Columnar storage and vectorized execution make complex queries over millions of records complete in seconds

• Seamless Scaling: Automatically handle data volumes that would overwhelm traditional databases

• Standard SQL Interface: No need to learn new query languages or adapt existing hunting techniques

• Cost-Effective Operations: Pay only for what you use, making large-scale analysis economically viable

When it comes to analyzing large datasets, SQL remains unmatched in its combination of power, flexibility, and accessibility. Most security analysts already know SQL, eliminating the learning curve that comes with specialized security tools. More importantly, DuckDB’s rich analytical capabilities—from simple aggregations to complex window functions—enable sophisticated anomaly detection and behavioral analysis.

Practical Solution: Why This Approach Works

The most effective security solutions are often the simplest. By combining the comprehensive visibility of network flow data with the analytical capabilities of SQL, security teams can implement a threat hunting strategy that is both technically advanced and operationally practical. Powered by DuckDB, the combination of the Galileo Toolkit and MotherDuck addresses real operational challenges, providing security teams with several benefits:

1. Skill Leverage: Analysts can use their existing SQL skills rather than requiring specialized training on proprietary tools. This reduces on-boarding time and enhances team effectiveness.

2. Cost Efficiency: Collecting network flow data with the Galileo Toolkit requires minimal infrastructure investment. Additionally, MotherDuck's usage-based pricing makes large-scale analysis economically feasible, even for smaller organizations.

3. Investigation Agility: The flexibility of SQL allows analysts to pursue leads as they emerge, testing new hypotheses without having to wait for pre-built dashboards or reports.

4. Documentation and Reproducibility: SQL queries clearly document analytical steps, enhancing reproducibility and promoting knowledge sharing among teams.

5. API Integration: APIs and connectors that enable seamless integration with third-party security tools, allowing organizations to embed threat hunting capabilities into existing security workflows, automate data ingestion from multiple sources, and trigger real-time alerts based on query results.

Conclusion

Modern threat hunting requires tools that can handle the scale and complexity of today's networks while remaining accessible to security teams. Galileo’s versatile network analytics pipeline combined with MotherDuck’s data warehouse capabilities provides a practical solution for proactive threat detection.

In just 30 minutes, you can set up and test a functional threat hunting stack that seamlessly scales from sensor to cloud and efficiently manages large datasets. If you're ready to transform your threat hunting capabilities, check out the integration guide at https://galileotoolkit.org/docs/guide/mother-duck.

The future blog posts will include examples of threat hunting queries with the MotherDuck Web UI and how to visualize data with Preset (a BI platform powered Apache SuperSet).