Intelligence Component
I expect to offer basic reconnaissance services to take an inventory of public-facing domains and subdomains belonging to an organization. It is so basic, in fact, many might wonder why I bother. Well, it is still important work that every company should do. It is also meant to be the beginning of a relationship rather than me delivering an off-the-self product. I am different from some penetration testers, because I am opposed to planting payloads and running exploits to “confirm” vulnerability. Further, if exploits are used on a virtual set up of the network, I cannot be completely certain that the service versions, level of patching, and updating are identical. Consequently, if a company genuinely wants to confirm vulnerability, nothing beats live testing; yet this is precisely the service that I don’t expect to offer. I am sure there are many penetration testers willing to take up the challenge.
I make use of a special form of documentation that I call a “quadradoc” to make information more accessible to an AI. An example is presented below.
Case "Company" {
Some salient details about the company.
[Detail "Personnel"]
[Threat "Hackers"]
More salient details about the company.
[Barrier "Inadequate Training"]
}
Detail "Personnel" {
[Detail "IT Staff"]
}
Detail "IT Staff" {
}
Threat "Hackers" {
}
Barrier "Inadequate Training" {
}
What follows is a quadradoc block containing more detailed fictitious code.
Case "Warsaw Manufacturing Ltd." {
Warsaw-based industrial manufacturer specializing in automotive components.
Production halted for several months due to a severe cyberattack.
[Detail "Personnel"]
[Detail "Network Systems"]
[Detail "Clients"]
[Threat "Black Vulture Collective"]
[Barrier "Fragmented Security Policies"]
[Barrier "Limited Incident Response Training"]
}
Detail "Personnel" {
The company employs 250 staff, including 12 IT specialists.
[Detail "IT Staff"]
[Detail "Production Staff"]
}
Detail "IT Staff" {
Small but dedicated team.
Strengths: Quick improvisation, strong technical knowledge.
Weaknesses: Overworked, lacked formal incident response drills.
Some staff contained lateral spread of malware, but others worsened the crisis by reusing compromised credentials.
}
Detail "Production Staff" {
Skilled machinists and engineers.
Dependent on automated systems.
Unable to resume manual production during outage, leading to complete stoppage.
}
Detail "Network Systems" {
Hybrid infrastructure: legacy on-prem servers + cloud-based ERP.
Weak segmentation between production and office networks.
VPN access poorly monitored.
}
Detail "Clients" {
Primary clients: European automotive firms.
Several contracts suspended due to missed delivery deadlines.
Reputation damage led to loss of two major clients.
}
Threat "Black Vulture Collective" {
Fictional hacking group known for ransomware campaigns in Eastern Europe.
Attack vector: spear-phishing emails targeting IT staff.
Payload: custom ransomware "CarrionLock" that encrypted production servers.
Demanded multimillion-euro ransom; company refused.
Result: production halted for 4 months, financial losses exceeded €20M.
}
Barrier "Fragmented Security Policies" {
Policies inconsistent across departments.
No unified framework for patch management.
Allowed attackers to exploit outdated VPN software.
}
Barrier "Limited Incident Response Training" {
Staff lacked rehearsed playbooks.
Initial confusion delayed containment.
Some employees attempted ad-hoc fixes, spreading malware further.
}
An organization can have many thousands of quadradocs. The purpose is to create an information setting for an AI to comprehend the status quo and also run different simulations – just like in War Games. The inventory of domains and subdomains can certainly be added to the database along with details of different threat actors. The value of these documents depend significantly on the intelligence officer. A strictly structural or technical (IT) perspective on an incident can lead the organization to neglect social engineering. For example, I asked the AI to consider the benefits of IT training. The top case block is modified to include [Case “Introduce IT Training to Mitigate Future Risk”]. The AI responds a moment later with the blocks below.
Case "Warsaw Manufacturing Ltd." {
Warsaw-based industrial manufacturer specializing in automotive components.
Production halted for several months due to a severe cyberattack.
[Detail "Personnel"]
[Detail "Network Systems"]
[Detail "Clients"]
[Threat "Black Vulture Collective"]
[Barrier "Fragmented Security Policies"]
[Barrier "Limited Incident Response Training"]
[Case "Introduce IT Training to Mitigate Future Risk" > Recommendation - Proceed]
}
Case "Introduce IT Training to Mitigate Future Risk" {
Initiative to strengthen resilience after the Black Vulture Collective attack.
Training program designed to improve staff awareness, technical skills, and incident response readiness.
[Detail "Training Modules"]
[Detail "Delivery Method"]
[Detail "Evaluation Metrics"]
[Barrier "Budget Constraints"]
[Barrier "Staff Resistance"]
Concluding Comment:
The training program is expected to reduce risk exposure, improve staff confidence, and unify response protocols.
Recommendation: Proceed with phased rollout across all departments.
}
Detail "Training Modules" {
Module 1: Cyber Hygiene (password discipline, phishing awareness).
Module 2: Incident Response Playbooks (containment, escalation, recovery).
Module 3: Network Segmentation & Access Control.
Module 4: Crisis Communication (internal and client-facing).
}
Detail "Delivery Method" {
Combination of in-person workshops and online simulations.
Quarterly tabletop exercises to rehearse breach scenarios.
Mandatory refresher courses every 6 months.
}
Detail "Evaluation Metrics" {
Pre- and post-training assessments.
Simulated phishing campaigns to measure awareness.
Incident response drills scored against time-to-containment benchmarks.
}
Barrier "Budget Constraints" {
Training requires external consultants and simulation platforms.
Management concerned about cost impact after recent financial losses.
}
Barrier "Staff Resistance" {
Some employees view training as disruptive or unnecessary.
Cultural shift required to prioritize security alongside production.
}
It is actually the intelligence component of the work that I consider most interesting.
