Zero-day vulnerabilities are especially critical because they remain available to hackers even while software developers and vendors remain completely unaware of them. A zero-day vulnerability opens the door to all sorts of exploits that could prove highly damaging. However, the experts at DarkOwl say that Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) can be leveraged to proactively search for them.
With SOAR platform integration in play, an organization can turn dark web monitoring for zero-days into a scheduled, repeatable, automated hunt. The system continuously searches the dark web for any and all indicators of a potential breach. These include:
- Proprietary asset names.
- Vendor names.
- Internal code words.
- High-value customer names.
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs)
The key to successfully leveraging SOAR platform integration is to treat darknet data as yet another source that playbooks can query, normalize, and alert on. Remember the playbooks bring automation to the equation. They allow teams to consistently and continually monitor with very little manual interaction.
3 Layers of Architecture
Using SOAR to proactively search for zero-day vulnerabilities is a strategy built on high-level architecture. There are three layers of architecture, according to DarkOwl:
- DataSource – The data source layer is one consisting of indexed data from dark web marketplaces, Tor forums, paste sites, and even Telegram chat threads.
- SOARIntegration – The SOAR integration layer uses connectors or custom APIs to facilitate playbooks submitting search queries and pulling results. Data is ingested and normalized as artifacts.
- Automation– The automation layer consists of scheduled or event-driven playbooks that routinely search for CVEs and other relevant data before enriching and triaging it.
The big thing for security teams is automation. The more automation, the more consistent and effective a proactive hunt is. Automation ensures that SOAR integration continues to pay off around the clock.
Defining Search Parameters Is Important
If there is a weak point in automated SOAR integration, it is the search parameters a security team chooses to utilize. It is best to have a tight definition so that playbooks can distinguish noise from genuinely relevant data. Security teams do not want noise to drown out the real signal. Here are some example keyword sets for zero-days and exploits:
- CVE Identifiers– Specific identifiers like ‘CVE 2024 xxxx’ and ‘CVE 2025 yyyy’, coupled with additional patterns like ‘Oday’ and ‘n-day’.
- Vendor and Product Names– Both formal and colloquial names are valuable keywords. Likewise for internal abbreviations and code names.
- Technology Stack Hints– combinations like a company’s name and ‘VPN’, or a company’s SaaS product along with ‘exploit’ can be very telling.
The tighter the keywords, the more effective the hunt is. But keywords are not the be-all and end-all. Security teams need to know what they are looking for. Grand and asset identifiers are at the top of the list. But contextual filters also need to be considered.
Building an Effective SOAR Playbook
One last thing to consider is whether a playbook will get the job done. Once the corpus is defined, a security team needs one or more SOAR playbooks that will automate the hunt for zero-day vulnerabilities. Playbooks should be thought of as proactive threat-hunting tools using the darknet as a telemetry source.
Strong playbooks rely on scheduled keywords and CVE hunts. They automate searches for proprietary system names and include baked-in CVE-aware searches. When playbooks are properly designed, they become the engine that drives SOAR integration as a tool for hunting down zero-days.
The realities of modern cybersecurity suggest that being proactive is no longer an option. It is a requirement. SOAR platform integration is an important tool for teams looking to be proactive about zero-day vulnerabilities.
