How to install HELK on a single server?

HELK installation involves Docker or manual setup of ELK, Apache Spark, and Jupyter; refer to the official installation guide for steps, but expect configuration complexity due to multiple components.

HELK vs Elastic Security: which is better for threat hunting?

HELK is open-source with advanced analytics like Spark and Jupyter, ideal for research and customization, while Elastic Security is a commercial product with integrated features and support; choose based on budget and stability needs.

Can HELK process real-time security logs?

Yes, through ELK's Logstash and Apache Spark Streaming, but setup requires careful tuning for performance and latency, especially in production environments with large data volumes.

What are the hardware requirements for running HELK?

HELK demands substantial resources due to Spark and ELK; a minimum of 8GB RAM and multi-core CPU is recommended for testing, with more for scalable deployments as per the README's infrastructure notes.

How to use machine learning in HELK for anomaly detection?

Use the integrated Jupyter notebooks with Apache Spark to develop and deploy ML models; the platform provides a framework but requires data science skills and customization for specific use cases.

Is HELK compatible with cloud platforms like AWS?

Yes, HELK can be deployed on cloud infrastructure, but you need to configure scalable resources for Spark and storage, following distributed systems best practices, though documentation may be limited.

Hunting ELK (HELK)

GPL-3.0Jupyter Notebook

An open-source threat hunting platform with advanced analytics capabilities built on ELK stack, Apache Spark, and Jupyter notebooks.

GitHub

What is Hunting ELK (HELK)?

HELK (The Hunting ELK) is an open-source threat hunting platform that extends the ELK stack with advanced analytics capabilities. It integrates Apache Spark for distributed processing, Jupyter notebooks for interactive analysis, and GraphFrames for graph queries, enabling security teams to perform sophisticated threat detection and data science workflows.

Target Audience

Security analysts, threat hunters, and cybersecurity researchers who need an open-source platform for advanced security analytics and hunting use case development.

Value Proposition

HELK provides a comprehensive, open-source alternative to commercial SIEM and hunting platforms by combining traditional log analysis with advanced data science tools, making it flexible for both research and scalable production environments.

Overview

The Hunting ELK

Use Cases

Best For

Deploying an open-source threat hunting platform for security research
Integrating machine learning and Jupyter notebooks into security analytics workflows

Related Projects

Community-curated · Updated weekly · 100% open source

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3.9k stars693 forks0 contributors

Performing graph-based analysis on security logs and events

Developing and testing hunting use cases in a flexible environment

Building a scalable SIEM alternative with advanced analytics capabilities

Combining ELK stack with Apache Spark for distributed security data processing

Not Ideal For

Organizations requiring a stable, production-ready SIEM with commercial support and SLAs.
Teams without dedicated DevOps or data engineering expertise to manage complex deployments involving Apache Spark and ELK.
Use cases focused solely on basic log aggregation and visualization without need for machine learning or graph analytics.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Advanced Analytics Integration

Seamlessly combines Apache Spark and Jupyter notebooks for machine learning and interactive data science, enabling sophisticated threat detection workflows as highlighted in the README.

Open-Source Flexibility

Provides a free, community-driven alternative to commercial platforms, allowing customization for specific hunting use cases, democratizing threat hunting per the project's goals.

Scalable Architecture

Built on ELK with Apache Spark, designed to handle large-scale data processing in distributed environments when properly configured, as noted in the README's deployment description.

Graph Analytics Capability

Integrates GraphFrames for graph queries, enhancing the analysis of relationships in security data, supported by linked resources in the README.

Cons

Alpha-Stage Instability

The project is in alpha, with untested scalability and potential breaking changes, making it risky for critical deployments, as explicitly stated in the README's current status.

Complex Setup and Maintenance

Requires managing multiple heavy components like ELK, Spark, and Jupyter, leading to significant operational overhead and configuration challenges, hinted at in the installation docs.

Limited Production Readiness

Lacks extensive testing in real-world scenarios and commercial support, relying on community feedback, which may not suffice for enterprise environments needing reliability.

Open Source Alternative To

Hunting ELK (HELK) is an open-source alternative to the following products:

IBM QRadar

IBM QRadar is a security information and event management (SIEM) platform that collects and analyzes log data for threat detection.

A

ArcSight

A security information and event management (SIEM) platform that collects, analyzes, and correlates security event data from across an organization's IT infrastructure. It helps detect and respond to security threats.

Splunk

Splunk is a platform for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated big data via a web-style interface.

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