Tradecraft | Archer Knox

1/9

Collection & Signal Intake

We bias toward verifiable signal. Collection plans are tailored to the decision and time horizon, then bounded by legal, ethical, and contractual obligations.

OSINT / Surface–Deep

Corporate registries, court & regulatory filings
Newswire, trade, technical, social, forums
Vendor datasets under contract

Time-boxed sweeps Geo/Language coverage

Human & Context

Privileged interviews & discreet outreach
Professional networks & source vetting
Counterparty perspective analysis

Bias checks Consent model

2/9

Verification & Provenance

Every claim travels with its provenance. We grade the source and the information separately, then state overall confidence.

Source Reliability

Grade	Descriptor
A	Consistently reliable; past reporting corroborated
B	Usually reliable; minor gaps
C	Mixed reliability; needs corroboration
D	Doubtful reliability; self-interest likely
E	Unreliable; conflicts with known facts

Information Credibility

Grade	Descriptor
1	Confirmed by independent sources
2	Probably true; logical & consistent
3	Possibly true; requires more data
4	Doubtful; inconsistent or unverified
5	Improbable; contradicts reliable info

Confidence call: High Medium Low — stated explicitly on each judgment.

3/9

Analytical Methods

Core Techniques

Triangulation & cross-domain corroboration
Link & timeline analysis
Change detection & anomaly surfacing
Red-team challenge to assumptions
Competing hypothesis checks

Bias & Error Controls

Enumerated assumptions & confidence tags
Blind source review where applicable
Structured dissent on key judgments
Versioned notes w/ reviewer initials

4/9

Decision-Grade Briefs

Every brief is designed to be read in under 3 minutes, with documented depth for counsel and audit.

Executive Actions (clear, prioritized)
Key Judgments (w/ confidence)
What Changed since last brief
Indicators to Monitor

Provenance (source & info grades)
Assumptions & Limits
Alternatives & Risks
Appendix (evidence & citations)

Request a sample brief

5/9

Chain of Custody & Audit

Evidence Handling

Time-stamped capture & hashing where applicable
Append-only activity logs
Role-based access & case segregation
Redaction workflow (PII minimization)

Documentation

Who/what/when for each material action
Source handling notes & limitations
Disclosure readiness for counsel

6/9

Escalation & Playbooks

We map severity to confidence for pre-agreed actions.

Confidence ↓ / Severity →	Low	Moderate	High	Critical
Low	Log & monitor	Monitor + light triage	Notify owner; prepare actions	Notify leadership; hold on actions
Medium	Track indicator	Triage in 24h	Action within 12h	Immediate convening
High	Note in brief	Prepare intervention	Execute playbook	Execute now + counsel

Playbooks are tailored per client (legal, security, comms) and tested via tabletop drills.

7/9

OPSEC & Hygiene

Minimize Exposure

Need-to-know case partitioning
Attribution controls during collection
Sanitized artifacts for distribution

Counter-deception

Deconflict sources; look for echoing
Adversarial checks on narratives
Mis/disinformation triage patterns

8/9

Tooling: Knox Modules

Signals & Subjects

Centralized signal intake, entity resolution, link & timeline views.

Role-based access Immutable notes

Cases & Briefs

Draft, review, and deliver decision-grade briefs with inline provenance.

Confidence tags Review trails

See the platform

9/9

Standards & Boundaries

Legal-first: activities bounded by law, contract, and client policy
Disclosure-ready: briefs and artifacts designed to withstand discovery
Privacy: PII minimization, redaction, retention limits
Governance: versioning, reviewer initials, access controls

Method & Standards Security & Trust