Attack Simulation

In an attack simulation, social engineering can be part of the audit. The aim of a social engineering audit is to check employees' awareness of and reactions to social engineering attacks. The simulated attacks are based on real attacks. In contrast to real attacks, however, simulated attacks must comply with legal and moral boundaries. The personal integrity and psychological well-being of the persons involved should not be affected in any way by a social engineering audit. The results of such an audit are only made available in anonymized form and should not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the identity of the individual persons tested and their behavior.

In the OSINT module, publicly accessible sources are searched for information that could also be of interest to an attacker. This is especially information that could be used for a targeted phishing attack, for example. This is typically also the first step in real, targeted attacks, and knowledge of disclosed information can help a company to better prepare for such attacks. Even if information that was once publicly accessible can no longer be easily removed (Internet Archive), access to such information can at best be made more difficult and the bar for an attacker can be raised. This module can also help to raise awareness for the disclosure of such information.

Leaked data and passwords often end up for sale on the Dark Web. Often, these are then bought and monetized by other criminal groups, for example by escalating privileges and encrypting and demanding ransom (ransomware). This also shows the increasingly widespread specialization of criminal organizations and the use of the ransomware-as-a-service model. This means that the individual steps do not necessarily have to be carried out by the same criminal organization, which often leads to time disruptions. This offers the opportunity to detect any data and password leaks before they lead to greater damage. Dark Web research can be used to search for precisely such leaks on the Dark Web once, or ideally through regular monitoring. Should any connections to your company become apparent, you will be informed immediately and steps to mitigate the damage will be discussed and initiated together. Such a Dark Web monitoring could have already saved many a company from greater damage.

Cyberattacks that originate from a physical attack vector, such as unprotected LAN access, WLAN or USB sticks with malware, are generally very targeted attacks and tend to be attributed to more experienced attackers. This is also quite correct and the defense against such attacks does not necessarily have to have top priority, but should nevertheless be examined sooner or later and security measures established. Sending a USB stick by mail can become a relatively simple but effective matter for an attacker with a little OSINT and is not so easy to prevent. In this simulation, we look together at the possible physical attack vectors and test the existing security measures for their effectiveness. In addition to the examples mentioned above such as LAN, WLAN, USB sticks, this can also include the physical security of the data center, printers, passwords on post-its, non-locked workstations or social engineering attacks. Since such simulations often involve people and their behavior, we are aware of the sensitive nature and follow a strict Code of Conduct.

An attack via WLAN can be attributed to a physical attack vector and for a secure WLAN architecture, some points have to be considered. In this audit, we test exactly this security. The separation of guest WLANs, secure encryption and access control are the central components that are tested. By means of so-called wardriving and brute force attacks, the existing security can be tested in a simulated attack. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon that central systems can be accessed from the unsecured guest WLAN and maximum damage can be caused. Such mishaps must be uncovered and cleaned up.

For most companies, the primary concern is to protect themselves against financially motivated cyberattacks (for example, ransomware). However, they often lack the resources to conduct in-depth penetration tests or red teaming. Nowadays, only covering the external attack surface is no longer sufficient to protect against current cyber threats. With this service, you allow our Red Team specialists to attack your company under real conditions. We use the same tools and methods as real attackers and your company will be put to a real endurance test. As with real cyberattacks, your company will not only be subjected to a one-time attack, but will be permanently searched for attack paths. Payment is only made after successful attacks, i.e. after predefined targets have been reached, such as initial compromise, access to sensitive data or domain dominance. With our report, exactly these attack paths can be mitigated. If there is no successful attack, nothing is paid, quite simply. This offers probably the most realistic and efficient way to specifically increase the cyber security of a company.