What Is Threat Hunting in Cybersecurity?
A clear, direct answer to this question — written for UK business owners and IT decision-makers.
Direct Answer
Threat hunting is the proactive search for threats that have evaded automated detection — attackers already inside your environment who haven't yet triggered alerts. Unlike reactive monitoring, threat hunters actively look for indicators of compromise using hypothesis-driven analysis. It is typically included in comprehensive MDR and managed SOC services. For most UK SMEs, threat hunting is delivered as part of a managed service rather than an in-house capability.
Key Points
What you need to know.
The Short Answer
21% of businesses that experienced a breach reported a negative outcome such as loss of money or data.
For UK Businesses
7% of businesses that experienced a breach reported temporary loss of access to files or networks — up from 4% in 2024.
Cost Considerations
The NCSC handled 429 total incidents in 2025, with 204 classified as nationally significant — the highest-ever number.
Next Steps
What you should do with this information.
Quick Comparison
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Frequently Asked Questions
43% of UK businesses experienced a cybersecurity breach or attack in the past 12 months, according to the DSIT Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025. For medium-sized businesses, this figure rises to 67%. Phishing remains the most common attack type, affecting 85% of businesses that reported a breach.
Only 14% of UK businesses formally review cyber risks from their immediate suppliers. 35.5% of all global data breaches in 2024 originated from third-party compromises. Supply chain attacks add an average of £241,620 to the total cost of a breach and take 267 days to detect and contain.
The average cost of the most disruptive breach is £3,550 for UK businesses. For businesses that experienced negative outcomes such as data loss or financial theft, the average cost rises to £8,260. Medium and large businesses face average costs of £10,830 per disruptive incident.
Organisations with Cyber Essentials certification are 92% less likely to make a claim on their cyber insurance. Certification is mandatory for UK government contracts involving sensitive data. Only 3% of UK businesses are currently certified, giving certified businesses a competitive advantage.
Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts your data and demands payment for its return. Approximately 19,000 UK businesses were hit by ransomware in 2025. The median UK ransom demand has doubled to $5.37 million, and average recovery costs reach $2.58 million excluding the ransom itself.
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Related Questions
MDR vs EDR
Threat hunting is included in MDR services — how managed detection and response goes beyond standalone EDR.
Endpoint Security Service
EDR tooling provides the telemetry that threat hunters analyse to find hidden attackers.
Cybersecurity Guide for UK SMEs
How threat hunting fits within a mature cybersecurity programme for UK businesses.