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Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills/skills/hunting-for-startup-folder-persistence/SKILL.md
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mukul975 cb8d79e068 Map all 754 skills to MITRE ATT&CK v19.1
- Add validated mitre_attack frontmatter to all 754 skills (286 distinct
  techniques), verified against MITRE ATT&CK v19.1 via the official
  mitreattack-python library: 0 revoked, deprecated, or invalid IDs
- Curate precise per-skill technique IDs for forensics, malware-analysis,
  threat-intel, and red-team skills (e.g. DCSync -> T1003.006,
  Kerberoasting -> T1558.003, Pass-the-Ticket -> T1550.003)
- Reconcile v19.1 tactic restructuring: Defense Evasion split into
  Stealth (TA0005) and Defense Impairment (TA0112); revoked T1562.*
  family and T1070.001/.002 remapped to active equivalents (T1685.*)
- Normalize word-split tags across 35 skills (remove filename-derived
  stopword tags, add semantic cybersecurity tags)
- Add api-reference.md for 3 skills that were missing it
- Update README ATT&CK section with accurate v19.1 tactic distribution
2026-06-01 12:13:29 +02:00

2.5 KiB

name, description, domain, subdomain, tags, version, author, license, d3fend_techniques, nist_csf, mitre_attack
name description domain subdomain tags version author license d3fend_techniques nist_csf mitre_attack
hunting-for-startup-folder-persistence Detect T1547.001 startup folder persistence by monitoring Windows startup directories for suspicious file creation, analyzing autoruns entries, and using Python watchdog for real-time filesystem monitoring. cybersecurity threat-hunting
threat-hunting
T1547.001
startup-folder
persistence
autoruns
watchdog
filesystem-monitoring
1.0 mahipal Apache-2.0
Executable Denylisting
Execution Isolation
File Metadata Consistency Validation
Content Format Conversion
File Content Analysis
DE.CM-01
DE.AE-02
DE.AE-07
ID.RA-05
T1046
T1057
T1082
T1083
T1547

Hunting for Startup Folder Persistence

Overview

Attackers use Windows startup folders for persistence (MITRE ATT&CK T1547.001 — Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder). Files placed in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup or C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup execute automatically at user logon. This skill scans startup directories for suspicious files, monitors for real-time changes using Python watchdog, and analyzes file metadata to detect persistence implants.

When to Use

  • When investigating security incidents that require hunting for startup folder persistence
  • When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
  • When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
  • When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.9+ with watchdog, pefile (optional for PE analysis)
  • Access to Windows startup folders (user and all-users)
  • Windows Event Logs for Event ID 4663 correlation (optional)

Steps

  1. Enumerate all files in user and system startup directories
  2. Analyze file types, creation timestamps, and digital signatures
  3. Flag suspicious file extensions (.bat, .vbs, .ps1, .lnk, .exe)
  4. Check for recently created files (< 7 days) as potential implants
  5. Monitor startup folders in real-time using watchdog FileSystemEventHandler
  6. Correlate with known legitimate startup entries
  7. Generate threat hunting report with T1547.001 MITRE mapping

Expected Output

  • JSON report listing all startup folder contents with risk scores, file metadata, and suspicious indicators
  • Real-time monitoring alerts for new file creation in startup directories