Self-Testing Systems

5 automated security scanners

Live Environment Testing Safety

Purpose: The Live Environment Testing Safety Scanner is designed to detect and verify production testing safeguards, non-disruptive verification, and safe exploitation techniques to ensure that organizations have appropriate measures in place to prevent unintended disruptions during security assessments.

What It Detects:

Identifies the presence of a formal security policy document.
Checks for incident response procedures.
Verifies data protection policies.
Ensures access control mechanisms are documented.
Searches for SOC 2 compliance certification.
Looks for ISO 27001 certification.
Identifies penetration testing activities.
Detects vulnerability scanning or assessment processes.
Checks for mentions of non-disruptive testing methods.
Verifies safe exploitation techniques are in place.
Ensures production environments have safeguards against unintended disruptions.
Evaluates the accessibility of company security documentation.
Reviews public policy pages for relevant information.
Examines trust center information for compliance details.
Identifies any mentioned compliance certifications related to security and data protection.
Verifies that the organization adheres to recognized standards and best practices.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com)
company_name (string): Company name for statement searching (e.g., “Acme Corporation”)

Business Impact: Ensuring that organizations have appropriate measures in place to prevent unintended disruptions during security assessments is crucial for maintaining a secure and compliant environment, which directly impacts the overall security posture of the organization.

Risk Levels:

Critical: The scanner identifies critical conditions where there are no documented security policies or procedures, indicating a significant risk to organizational security.
High: The scanner detects high-risk scenarios such as lack of incident response plans or inadequate data protection measures, which could lead to severe disruptions during assessments.
Medium: Medium-severity findings involve partial compliance with standards (e.g., missing parts of the ISO 27001 certification) that still pose a risk but are less critical than those at high severity.
Low: Low-severity findings include informational aspects such as incomplete documentation in trust centers, which while important, do not significantly impact security posture.
Info: Informational findings pertain to the completeness of public policy pages and general accessibility of company security documentation, providing useful but less impactful insights.

Example Findings:

The scanner identifies that Acme Corporation lacks a formal data protection policy documented in their security practices.
ISO 27001 certification is detected as missing from the organization’s compliance certifications, posing a risk of non-compliance with industry standards.

Autonomous Testing Implementation

Purpose: The Autonomous Testing Implementation Scanner is designed to identify and assess self-testing mechanisms, automated red teaming, and independent verification within an organization. Its primary objective is to ensure robust security practices are in place by analyzing publicly available documentation and policies.

What It Detects:

Identifies the presence of formal security policies.
Checks for incident response procedures.
Verifies data protection measures.
Ensures access control mechanisms are documented.
Looks for SOC 2 compliance certification.
Searches for ISO 27001 standards adherence.
Detects references to penetration testing activities.
Identifies vulnerability scanning or assessment processes.
Scans for mentions of red teaming exercises.
Checks for scheduled security assessments.
Verifies the presence of automated testing tools.
Detects continuous monitoring systems.
Identifies third-party audit references.
Searches for external security reviews or certifications.
Ensures regular security audits are conducted.
Analyzes company security documentation for completeness.
Reviews public policy pages for transparency.
Checks trust center information for detailed security practices.
Verifies compliance certifications are up-to-date.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com) - This input is crucial for the scanner to gather data from the specified company’s website.
company_name (string): Company name for statement searching (e.g., “Acme Corporation”) - This helps in identifying relevant security statements and policies during the analysis process.

Business Impact: Ensuring robust security practices is critical as it directly impacts the protection of sensitive information, intellectual property, and overall business continuity. Proper implementation of self-testing mechanisms, automated red teaming, and independent verification can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and enhance trust among stakeholders.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions that could lead to severe security vulnerabilities or compliance violations, such as lack of formal security policies or absence of ISO 27001 certification.
High: Conditions that pose a significant risk to the organization’s security posture, such as incomplete documentation around data protection measures or failure to conduct regular penetration tests.
Medium: Conditions that may lead to moderate risks if not addressed promptly, including missing references to third-party audits or outdated compliance certifications.
Low: Informal findings that do not significantly impact the organization’s security posture but are still recommended for improvement, such as minor inconsistencies in documentation or incomplete trust center information.
Info: General recommendations and transparency improvements that enhance organizational security culture without immediate risk, like updating compliance certification statuses on public policy pages.

If specific risk levels are not detailed in the README, these inferred levels can guide interpretation of potential impacts based on the scanner’s purpose.

Example Findings:

The company lacks a comprehensive security policy that covers all critical aspects such as data protection and access control mechanisms.
There is no evidence of scheduled penetration testing or vulnerability scanning activities documented in public policies, indicating a gap in proactive security practices.

Adversarial Simulation Coverage

Purpose: The Adversarial Simulation Coverage Scanner is designed to evaluate the attack surface testing scope, technique coverage breadth, and tactic implementation depth of a company’s security posture by analyzing publicly available documentation and policies.

What It Detects:

Security Policy Indicators: Identifies mentions of “security policy” to assess if formal security guidelines are in place. This includes checks for “incident response,” “data protection,” and “access control.”
Maturity Indicators: Detects references to SOC 2 compliance, signifying adherence to service organization controls. It also identifies ISO 27001 certifications indicating comprehensive information security management systems. Additionally, it searches for mentions of “penetration test” activities and “vulnerability scan” or “assessment” practices.
Public Policy Pages: Analyzes public-facing policy documents for transparency in security measures and incident response strategies. This includes detailed descriptions of security protocols and controls on official company websites.
Trust Center Information: Reviews trust center pages for comprehensive security disclosures, including third-party audits and certifications. It also evaluates the presence of security-related news or updates on trust center sites.
Compliance Certifications: Identifies references to various compliance standards and certifications in public documents. This includes verifying the inclusion of specific compliance frameworks that demonstrate adherence to industry best practices.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): The primary domain to analyze, such as “acme.com.”
company_name (string): The company name for statement searching, such as “Acme Corporation.”

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial for assessing the robustness of a company’s security posture by evaluating its adherence to formal policies and proactive testing practices. It helps in identifying gaps and weaknesses that could be exploited by adversaries, thereby enhancing overall security measures and incident response capabilities.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions where there are no mentions of any security policy or compliance certification, indicating a significant lack of formal security measures.
High: Conditions where only basic access control mechanisms are in place without detailed policies or certifications that demonstrate adherence to industry standards.
Medium: Conditions where partial coverage exists for security practices such as incident response and vulnerability assessments but lacks comprehensive policies like SOC 2 compliance.
Low: Conditions where there are mentions of standard compliance certifications, indicating a basic level of formalized security measures without significant gaps in coverage.
Info: Conditions where minor details about security protocols or references to recent updates on trust centers suggest ongoing efforts and transparency but do not significantly impact overall risk.

Example Findings:

A company lacks any mention of a “security policy” across its public documentation, indicating a high risk for critical issues related to formalized security measures.
Another company has only basic access controls without references to ISO 27001 or SOC 2 compliance, suggesting moderate risks in the absence of comprehensive information security management systems and proactive testing practices.

Purple Team Automation

Purpose: The Purple_Team_Automation Scanner is designed to assist in the assessment of a company’s cybersecurity posture by analyzing its internal documentation, public policy pages, trust center information, and compliance certifications. This tool helps identify gaps in security policies, maturity levels, and overall security posture, thereby supporting proactive measures for enhancing cyber defenses.

What It Detects:

Security Policy Indicators: The scanner identifies the presence of key security policy documents such as “security policy,” “incident response,” “data protection,” and “access control.”
Maturity Indicators: It detects compliance certifications and maturity indicators like SOC 2, ISO 27001, penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning.
Public Policy Pages: The scanner analyzes public-facing policy pages for security-related content to ensure transparency and adherence to best practices.
Trust Center Information: Scrapes trust center information to verify the company’s commitment to security and compliance.
Compliance Certifications: Checks for official compliance certifications that demonstrate the company’s adherence to recognized security standards.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com) - This input is essential for directing the scanner to the target company’s website for analysis.
company_name (string): Company name for statement searching (e.g., “Acme Corporation”) - Useful for identifying relevant documents and policies within the company’s documentation.

Business Impact: This scanner plays a crucial role in enhancing the security posture of organizations by highlighting areas where current policies may be lacking or outdated, thereby prompting necessary improvements to safeguard sensitive information and maintain operational resilience.

Risk Levels:

Critical: The risk is critical when there are significant gaps in documented security practices that could lead to severe breaches or non-compliance with mandatory regulations.
High: High risks exist where the company’s policies do not meet recognized standards, potentially leading to substantial vulnerabilities being exploited by cyber threats.
Medium: Medium risks pertain to areas where improvements are recommended based on current security benchmarks but pose less immediate threat than those at higher risk levels.
Low: Low risks indicate that the company is well-aligned with industry standards and practices, showing a strong commitment to cybersecurity without significant identified gaps.
Info: Informational findings pertain to areas where there are no obvious issues or gaps in security policies but could still benefit from best practice adherence for continuous improvement.

If specific risk levels are not detailed in the README, these interpretations are based on general assumptions about criticality and severity within a cybersecurity context.

Example Findings: The scanner might flag instances where public policy pages lack explicit statements regarding data protection or where compliance certifications do not cover recent industry standards like GDPR.

Continuous Control Validation

Purpose: The Continuous Control Validation Scanner is designed to ensure continuous validation of a company’s security measures by analyzing its internal documentation, public policy pages, and trust center information for compliance with relevant standards and policies. This tool helps in real-time monitoring of the effectiveness of security controls and provides insights into the maturity level of an organization’s cybersecurity posture.

What It Detects:

Security Policy Indicators: The scanner identifies mentions of “security policy” across various documents, checking for detailed procedures related to incident response, data protection, and access control.
Maturity Indicators: It searches for specific certifications such as SOC 2 compliance, ISO 27001 standards, and mentions of penetration testing or vulnerability scanning. This helps in assessing the maturity level of an organization’s security practices.
Public Policy Pages: The scanner analyzes public-facing policy pages to ensure that they contain relevant security content, including detailed incident response plans, publicly accessible data protection policies, and documented access control measures.
Trust Center Information: It reviews trust center information for disclosures related to compliance certifications, penetration test results, vulnerability scanning findings, and prominent display of security policies.
Compliance Certifications: The scanner identifies and verifies the presence of SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other relevant compliance certifications, checking for detailed documentation of compliance processes and regular audits or assessments.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze, which is crucial for searching company sites and gathering information about security measures and policies.
company_name (string): The name of the company helps in identifying relevant documents and statements during the scanning process.

Business Impact: Continuous control validation through automated scanning provides critical insights into the effectiveness and maturity of an organization’s cybersecurity practices, which is essential for maintaining a robust security posture against evolving threats and regulatory compliance requirements.

Risk Levels:

Critical: The scanner identifies significant gaps in documented security policies or procedures that could lead to severe vulnerabilities or non-compliance with critical standards.
High: There are notable deficiencies in the description of security measures, such as incomplete incident response plans or insufficient access control documentation.
Medium: Some aspects of security practices are inadequately described, potentially leading to medium-level risks if exploited by adversaries.
Low: Minor issues with documentation that do not significantly impact the overall security posture but can be improved for better compliance and transparency.
Info: Informal mentions or non-critical gaps in documentation that provide some level of protection but could benefit from enhancements for a stronger security foundation.

Example Findings:

The company’s data protection policies are not clearly defined, which poses a medium risk due to the lack of detailed procedures for handling sensitive information.
Public policy pages do not include details about regular penetration testing schedules or findings, indicating a high risk in terms of ongoing security assessment and improvement efforts.