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- We do manual, hands-on testing that goes deep on vulnerability discovery.
- Automation is used for breadth of coverage, never as a substitute for human expertise.
- Reports are tailored to provide essential information to executives, developers, and asset-owners in a language they understand.
- Get a free proposal for your unique scope »
At Asteros, we take a comprehensive approach to penetration testing where value to your organization is maximized. Through extensive manual testing with automation as an aid, final results are delivered free of false-positives leaving actionable remediation guidance tailored to your unique environment.
People powered, deep-dive testing
Asteros’ penetration testing gives your organization insight into the mind of adversaries. Take a proactive approach to discovering exploitable vulnerabilities in your applications, servers, workstations, and network devices. Deep-dive, manual testing is performed by cybersecurity experts to uncover issues beyond surface level “low hanging fruit.”
Automation as a tool, not a crutch
Automation is leveraged as a tool to ensure comprehensive coverage of vulnerability discovery across in-scope environments, never as a replacement for human expertise.
Autonomation
noun. /au·tono·ma·tion/- A combination of autonomy and automation.
- May be described as “intelligent automation” or “automation with a human touch.”
- People-powered efficiency.
Asteros’ Approach
1 – Intelligence Gathering
Perform reconnaissance against the in-scope organization, systems, and applications. Data collected from a wide variety of sources, both internal to the organization and from public sources. Heavy analysis focused on deriving business relationships and understanding technological processes in use.
2 – Threat Modeling
Map the attack surface and identify likely threats, attackers, vectors, and motivations. Identify and classify organizational assets with context of likely scenarios. Carry forward lessons learned from threat modeling into all other aspects of the process.
3 – Vulnerability Analysis
Perform tests to discover vulnerabilities through deep-dive, human-driven testing. Use of automation as a tool to ensure breadth of coverage only. Correlate reconnaissance data, threat model, and discovered vulnerabilities to determine overall risk of each issue.
4 – Proofs of Concept
Exploit discovered issues and develop proofs of concept. Continue to categories issues and measure risk based off ease of exploitability and access or data gained.
5 – Demonstrating Impact
Demonstrate impact of the exploited issues through post-exploitation activities. Highlight and prioritize risks through realistic scenarios and motivations of real-world attackers.
6 – Reporting & Follow Up
We meticulously document results and recommend specific corrective actions. Our commitment to your organization doesn’t end with the final report. We follow up to ensure you get maximum value from our relationship.
External Assessment
Evaluate the effectiveness of perimeter security and use discovered security issues to establish a foothold within the organization. Demonstrate the ability of remote attackers to cause damage via data loss, compromised systems, and reputational damage.
Internal Assessment
Simulate attacks from an adversary who has already gained a foothold the organization. Identify vulnerabilities and seek ways to escalate attacker presence from mere access to administrator control and data compromise.
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Compliance Based or Security Driven
Whether your penetration test is driven by regulatory compliance or an overall need for greater security, we go beyond a check box approach. All engagements identify areas of risks, opportunities for improvement, and simplify the remediation process for developers and asset-owners.
All penetration testing meets the criteria to satisfy PCI-DSS requirement 11.3. This includes validation retesting to ensure all discovered issues were successfully remediated. Options for on-premises rogue AP scanning are also available.
PCI Segmentation Testing
Segmentation testing, which per requirement 11.3.4 must be performed once a year for merchants and every six months for service providers, are available. These tests ensure that cardholder data environments (CDE) are properly isolated from non-PCI networks.
SOC 2 Penetration Testing
Asteros’ penetration tests may be used to satisfy the SOC 2 criteria for risk evaluations.
HIPAA Penetration Testing
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires covered entities test their security controls through a risk evaluation. NIST specifically recommends conducting penetration testing where appropriate. Asteros’ penetration tests cover healthcare vulnerabilities and identification of PHI exposure that satisfies this recommendation.
HITRUST Penetration Testing
Our healthcare-focused penetration testing is accepted as part of a comprehensive risk assessment required for HITRUST certification. Testing uncovers vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, the level of protection around PHI, and demonstrates the effectiveness of technical controls implemented.
All Signal, No Noise
✅ Deep-dive, human-driven testing
✅ Tailored threat analysis for your organization
✅ Real-life threat examples over theoretical exercises
✅ Hacker mindset and deep understanding of how cybercriminals work
❌ “Set and forget” reliance on scanners
❌ Report filler and fluff, raw data without analysis