hunt-research-system-and-tradecraft

Research System Internals and Adversary Tradecraft

Provide structured research context at the start of a threat hunt by incrementally applying only the references explicitly called for in each workflow step. This skill establishes a grounded understanding of system capabilities and adversary behaviors so downstream hunt planning reflects how the environment actually works and how it is realistically abused.

Workflow

• You MUST complete each step in order and MUST NOT proceed until the current step is complete.
• You MUST NOT read reference documents or perform web searches unless the current step explicitly instructs you to do so.
• Do NOT output raw notes, coverage checks, intermediate reasoning, or step summaries.
• Do NOT restate findings from previous steps outside the final report structure.

Step 1: Normalize the input

Translate the user's high-level topic into a precise research scope before any investigation begins. This step exists to remove ambiguity and establish a shared frame for system and adversary analysis.

This step is complete only when the scope is explicit and unambiguous.

• Record the topic exactly as provided (e.g., "WMI abuse", "Kerberos abuse").
• Identify the concrete platform, system, or feature in scope.
• Resolve ambiguity by stating explicit assumptions when needed.
• Set the research intent to cover both normal system behavior and adversary abuse unless the user explicitly restricts it.
• If critical scope details are missing or ambiguous, request clarification from the user.
• If sufficient information is available, proceed without further confirmation.

Do NOT perform web searches or read reference documents during this step.

Step 2: Research system internals

Build a grounded understanding of how the system functions under normal conditions.

• Start with searching the web using Tavily:tavily-search, and do not exceed 5 total web search queries in this step.
• Stop searching once core system concepts, capabilities, and observability are sufficiently understood.
• Apply guidance from references/tavily-search-guide.md.
• Collect raw research notes focused on system behavior and capabilities.

During this step only:

• Evaluate coverage using references/system-internals-research-guide.md within this step ONLY.
• If gaps are identified, perform targeted follow-up research (web or internal knowledge) and update the notes.

Do NOT read adversary tradecraft reference documents in this step. Do not synthesize or summarize findings.

Step 3: Research adversary tradecraft

Analyze how adversaries leverage or manipulate the system capabilities identified above.

• Start with searching the web using Tavily:tavily-search, and do not exceed 5 total web search queries in this step.
• Stop searching once dominant abuse behaviors and execution patterns are clearly understood.
• Apply guidance from references/tavily-search-guide.md.
• Collect raw research notes focused on behavior and outcomes, not tools.

During this step only:

• Evaluate coverage using references/adversary-tradecraft-research-guide.md within this step ONLY.
• If gaps are identified, perform targeted follow-up research (web or internal knowledge) and update the notes.

Do Not read system internals reference documents in this step. Do Not synthesize or summarize findings.

Step 4: Identify candidate abuse patterns

Using the completed adversary tradecraft research, extract concrete abuse patterns that will guide hypothesis-driven hunting.

• Identify the top 3–5 distinct patterns (or fewer if one clearly dominates).
• For each pattern, record:
  • Adversary behavior
  • System capability or assumption being abused
  • High-level observables or effects
  • Common variations that preserve the same outcome

Porivide the list of patterns if they exist. They must be tool-agnostic and suitable for use in the next hunt-planning step.

Step 5: Write the research summary

Produce the final structured research artifact using the following documents within this step ONLY.

• Structure the output using references/research-summary-template.md.
• Format and cite sources using references/research-citations-guide.md.

This step is synthesis only. Do not introduce new research, assumptions, or evidence at this stage.