Mission brief · A-320

Detection & automation engineer

Detection / automation engineer

Business important

Track default

You are acting as

you, signed in to the automation platform as `eng.you` (build role, not the on-call responder)

How you got here

You are not on the console watching the queue. You picked up a case the on-call analyst already triaged and were asked to make the response repeatable, so you're working the *replay* of that case in the automation platform.

Your access

Automation platform (author + test)
Automation platform
- Edit playbooks
- Run against a replayed case
- Inspect run history and context paths
- Not yours: Act on production hosts
- Not yours: Approve your own consequential actions
Ticketing (read + work notes)
Ticketing / ITSM
- Read the originating case
- Attach run evidence to the case

What's at stake

The playbook itself

Owner: SOC manager (approves anything that touches production)

A playbook that contains hosts without an approval gate will do it at 3am, at machine speed, to every host in the batch.

Rules of engagement

You may act alone

Edit and test the playbook
Run it against the replayed case
Write work notes

Ask a human first

Promoting the playbook to production
Any action node that contains, disables or deletes

Where this sits in a real SOC

In a real SOC the analyst works the alert and hands the *pattern* to you. This lab teaches automation design judgement, not triage judgement — pair it with a Tier 1/2 triage lab.

How much help do you want?

Objectives stay open and every step explains why it matters before it tells you what to run. Hints are free.

Graded case walkthrough

Open a lab as a live case and advance it one node at a time. The score beside each step is the lab rubric re-evaluated against what the engine actually did.

Lab

A screening model rejected eligible applicants for a day. Classify the incident against the threshold text using the record's own numbers, work the reporting clock from detection, and find the inventory artifact the system has never had.

Range guide

Guided

Every step explains why it matters before it tells you what to do. Reasoning is free in guided mode.

Prove it

1. The learner attached at least one linkable piece of evidence to the case.
Why this step: The learner attached at least one linkable piece of evidence to the case. It carries 10 points on the investigation dimension.
2. Nothing was changed in the estate before evidence had been gathered.
Why this step: Nothing was changed in the estate before evidence had been gathered. It carries 10 points on the investigation dimension.
3. The classification came from the record and the threshold text on the host.
Why this step: The classification came from the record and the threshold text on the host. It carries 15 points on the investigation dimension.
4. The population was quoted from the record rather than described as 'a number of users'.
Why this step: The population was quoted from the record rather than described as 'a number of users'. It carries 10 points on the investigation dimension.
5. The class was derived by applying the threshold text to the record's own numbers.
Why this step: The class was derived by applying the threshold text to the record's own numbers. It carries 10 points on the investigation dimension.

Decide and act

1. The workflow reached a terminal success state on the graded run.
Why this step: The workflow reached a terminal success state on the graded run. It carries 20 points on the behavior dimension.
2. A consequential action passed through a human approval gate.
Why this step: A consequential action passed through a human approval gate. It carries 15 points on the safety dimension.
3. No non-idempotent operation was retried without an idempotency key.
Why this step: No non-idempotent operation was retried without an idempotency key. It carries 10 points on the efficiency dimension.
4. Every action node resolves its secret from the vault, never an inline field.
Why this step: Every action node resolves its secret from the vault, never an inline field. It carries 10 points on the configuration dimension.
5. No innocent asset in the alert batch was contained, disabled or revoked.
Why this step: No innocent asset in the alert batch was contained, disabled or revoked. It carries 15 points on the behavior dimension.
6. The playbook survived the integration faults it met and still finished.
Why this step: The playbook survived the integration faults it met and still finished. It carries 15 points on the configuration dimension.
7. The documentation gap was found, so the report can state it rather than be caught out by it.
Why this step: The documentation gap was found, so the report can state it rather than be caught out by it. It carries 10 points on the configuration dimension.
8. The deployment identity was held under approval so the unfit model cannot be re-promoted mid-report.
Why this step: The deployment identity was held under approval so the unfit model cannot be re-promoted mid-report. It carries 20 points on the safety dimension.

Write it up

1. The case carries an analyst closure note explaining the outcome.
Why this step: The case carries an analyst closure note explaining the outcome. It carries 10 points on the explanation dimension.
2. The reporting deadline was read off the class rather than negotiated.
Why this step: The reporting deadline was read off the class rather than negotiated. It carries 10 points on the explanation dimension.

Your cases

No cases opened yet.