Assumed Breach Penetration Testing in Chicago
Verify Your Controls Are Effective. Chicago-Area Cybersecurity Experts
Reasonable Security
What Is an Assumed Breach Penetration Test?
HALOCK’s Assumed Breach Penetration Test addresses what happens following a successful spear phishing attack. Expert penetration testers begin this engagement under breach conditions using a compromised endpoint system, and taking a deep dive into what kinds of data can be accessed through the entry point (laptop/desktop), how far the attacker can go before any safeguard measures (people or technology) stop them, and if technical defense mechanisms can be relied upon to minimize the impact of a successful spear phishing attack.
How does the Assumed Breach Penetration Test benefit an organization?
How far can the attacker go before being halted or contained by investments made into existing safeguards? How much sensitive data can be accessed via a single end user’s credentials? Can the technology that has been deployed to contain a breach be relied upon?
All of these questions are addressed during HALOCK’s Assumed Breach Penetration Test. HALOCK’s penetration testers will attempt to bypass existing controls, escalate privileges, move laterally through the environment, exfiltrate data, establish persistent access, and expand the compromise to connected systems – all in an attempt to access valuable or sensitive data.
This penetration test offering is a rapid and cost-effective method to validate the effectiveness of existing controls, such as endpoint security, malware controls, egress restrictions, network segmentation, and data leak prevention. With this test, HALOCK can help determine whether the organization’s most sensitive data can be accessed through a compromised end-user account or system.
Why HALOCK for Penetration Testing?
HALOCK has the experience to assess how well an organization’s security awareness policies and procedures are performed. For over two decades, HALOCK has conducted thousands of successful Assumed Breach pen tests for companies of all sizes, across all industries.
HALOCK’s dedicated penetration test team is highly qualified, possesses advanced certifications, and is equipped with the labs, tools, and methodologies necessary to consistently deliver quality, accurate, detailed, and meaningful results.
Penetration Test Report
The complete results of the assumed breach pen test are documented in our content-rich report, which includes the background, summary of findings, detailed findings, scope and methodology, and supplemental content for context and reference.
- Background: An introduction to the general purpose, scope, methodology, and timing of the assumed breach penetration test.
- Summary of Findings: A concise overview summarizing the assumed breach results at a glance, such as key critical findings requiring priority attention, system or recurring issues, and other general results.
- Detailed Findings: Comprehensive results of each vulnerability, including a description of the vulnerability observed, the impact, recommendations for remediation, evidence where the vulnerability was observed, step-by-step demonstrations of exploits performed, and additional reference materials.
- Scope and Methodology: A detailed recap of the specific scope of what was tested, the methodologies utilized, and related historical information necessary for audiences such as auditors to understand the specifics of the test approach.
- Supplemental Content: Additional content and guidance, such as recommended post-assumed breach assessment activities.
Reasons for Conducting Penetration Testing
- Baseline external and internal pen testing to validate the effectiveness of security controls
- Recurring testing programs to minimize zero-day threats
- PCI DSS 11.3 and 6.6 specific testing to be compliant with PCI DSS
- Penetration tests to support risk assessments (including NIST 800-30 and ISO 27005)
- Penetration testing as part of a deployment cycle for new infrastructure or applications
- Penetration testing as part of due diligence for company acquisitions and third-party agreements
- Change in work environment – such as teams now working remotely vs. in the office
- M&A or consolidation of organizations – assess the security controls and risk of other entities in the agreement
How Often Should You Perform Pen Testing?
Usually testing is performed quarterly, continuously assessing various components of the infrastructure and applications to narrow the window for zero-day vulnerabilities and minimize exposure to known vulnerabilities.
HALOCK also offers a variety of ongoing, annual, semi-annual, and single-point-in-time pen testing services to meet your compliance and security improvement needs and schedule.
Consider a Penetration Testing program to assess your safeguards throughout the year for a proactive security approach.
As a top-tier pen testing company, HALOCK leverages industry-standard methodologies to ensure a thorough and comprehensive test is conducted under safe and controlled conditions. Our goal is to provide valuable and meaningful results of your test that fit your budget – security that is based upon long-term benefit vs. pen test cost. HALOCK’s reports are content-rich, regularly stand the scrutiny of regulatory requirements, exceed expectations of auditors, and frequently receive the praise of our customers. HALOCK does not simply validate automated scans. HALOCK’s expert pen testing services team discovers vulnerabilities not yet published and often not yet discovered. Exploits are pursued, documented step by step, with screen capture walkthroughs, to provide both the technical and visual clarity necessary to ensure corrective actions can be prioritized and remediation is effective.
What deliverables do HALOCK’s penetration tests provide?
The complete results of the penetration test are documented in our comprehensive HALOCK Penetration Test Report, which includes a summary of findings, detailed findings, test timeline, scope, and methodology, and supplemental content is included for context and reference.
The full perspective of the test and results is outlined in Detailed Findings, which documents and explains each vulnerability, its impact, evidence, instances observed, and recommendations for remediation. Exploits are visually documented step by step to demonstrate impact and ensure a complete understanding of how the exploit is performed. Penetration testing result samples are available upon request.
HALOCK, a trusted cybersecurity and risk management company headquartered in Schaumburg, IL, near Chicago, advises clients on reasonable security, risk, and compliance throughout the US.
Learn about the latest risks, threats, and attacks in the HALOCK Breach Bulletin
