Get ahead of security gaps with Breach and Attack Simulation

The only security system with no known security vulnerability is one that has not been attacked yet. Unfortunately, even the best security systems have vulnerabilities, and organizations need to find out the shortcomings of their security systems themselves instead of finding out after a malicious attack on their data. Any organization that holds high data security standards spends a considerable amount to ensure there are no gaps in its security architecture.

Organizations use many methods to identify gaps in their security: security audits, penetration testing, bug bounty programs, threat hunting, and more. The significant limitation of these methods is that none of them provide a comprehensive report on organizational security gaps. In addition, any update to a security system can introduce new vulnerabilities, resulting in a breach. Even a small action—such as an admin modifying security permissions in an application—can be inconsequential one day but be an attack vector the following week. This is why organizations have to be vigilant at all times.

Breach and attack simulation (BAS) tools fill this need. As the name implies, BAS tools pretend to be an attacker trying to gain entry into your organization's data stores through your security system's holes. BAS tools are automated and run 24/7/365 to find the gaps.

How do BAS systems work?

Currently, there are three different types of BAS systems in the market, and the way they operate varies slightly.

• Agent-based BAS solutions: These are the simplest form of BAS solutions where agents are deployed on all machines across the LAN. These agents utilize a massive database of known vulnerabilities and check for them. Once the checks are complete, the solutions map out the vulnerable machines and the paths a threat actor can use to exploit them. This gives organizations a detailed report on the shortcomings of their security system and how they could be exploited if a vulnerability manages to sneak through their outer defenses. However, they are still vulnerable to any flaws in their perimeter security applications.
• Malicious-traffic-based testing solutions: These BAS solutions test organizations' internal security by generating malicious traffic from within the network. In this method, several virtual machines are set up within the network, and the BAS solution attempts to target these machines with malicious traffic. These virtual machines are test machines, and the BAS systems do not target the production environment. This method aims to verify if the organization's existing SIEM tool and other security solutions can detect malicious traffic. In addition, the BAS systems generate a report on the areas in which the security solutions lack, allowing organizations to rectify the oversights. Like agent-based BAS solutions, this method also reports just on the internal security and does not identify weaknesses in the security perimeter.
• Multi-vector BAS solutions: Multi-vector BAS solutions are cloud-based solutions that closely mimic an actual attack. They simulate various attack scenarios from outside the network and target different entry points. This makes them different from the previous two methods because they can help organizations identify gaps in their perimeter security. BAS solutions are also constantly updated with the latest security vulnerabilities found around the globe, making them well-equipped to test an organization's defense against the latest attack patterns. This provides organizations with the ability to fortify their defenses against recently identified vulnerabilities and to find existing blind spots.

Is BAS the same as penetration testing with a new name?

Penetration testing has been around for a long time, and almost all organizations utilize it to find gaps in their security environments. Penetration testing is where a white hat hacker, typically employed by the organization, attempts to breach the organization's defense system to find its weak spots. The white hat hacker utilizes all their expertise and understanding of how security systems work, and attempts to breach the perimeter. They are creative in their ways of attacking the systems, and this, more than anything, mimics how a threat actor would try to find a way through.

The main difference between a BAS solution and penetration testing is that BAS solutions are entirely automated and can test against numerous vulnerabilities without a break. Penetration testing is time-intensive and thorough but cannot be maintained over an extended period. It's also expensive, and penetration testing only provides a snapshot of the organization's defenses when the tests are run. In addition, any update to the security systems increases the possibility of a new vulnerability creeping in, and the previous penetration test report quickly becomes outdated and does not give an accurate assessment of the security system's resilience.

BAS solutions are automated and can be run continuously to test for gaps. They are programmed to find holes based on past vulnerabilities and are updated regularly to check for new vulnerabilities as and when they are identified. They might not be as creative as white hat hackers, but they make up for it with their ability to constantly test perimeter defenses against various attacks. This ensures organizations always have a good understanding of their security system's weaknesses.

There's no solution without a few cons, and BAS solutions are no exception. The most significant disadvantage of BAS solutions is that they are not as creative and inventive as white hat hackers or threat actors, and hence BAS solutions cannot identify zero-day attacks.

Conclusion

Most organizations use various security systems that can work together or in silos to guard their data. Organizations need a way to identify if their existing solutions are comprehensive and can stave off any potential attacks. BAS solutions allow organizations to constantly test their security measures even if their numerous security applications change every day. In its current form, BAS is a must-have for organizations that emphasize security, and it can only get improve from here.