BAS Tools You Need To Try: It may be difficult to protect organizations against cyberattacks, especially when dealing with big organizations with several systems that hackers might use as targets. To assess how well their protections will stand up to attacks, defenders frequently use blue & red teaming, compliance testing, & penetration testing, among other app security techniques. These techniques can only be used some other days due to their disadvantages of being resource-intensive, labor-intensive, and time-consuming.
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) is a cutting-edge cyber security tool that lets organizations use BAS to continuously simulate and automate a variety of cyber attacks against their system and obtain information reports on existing vulnerabilities, how the existing BAS exploited them, and how they can be fixed. The BAS allows for the simulation of whole attack cycles, including malware attacks on endpoints, insider threats, lateral moves, and exfiltration. The tasks carried out by the members of a cyber security team’s blue and red teams are automated using BAS tools. Red team members simulate hostile attackers and attempt to attack systems to find vulnerabilities during security testing, while blue team members fight against the red teamers’ attacks.
How A BAS Platform Function?
BAS software includes predefined cyber-attacks to simulate attacks on computer systems based on knowledge, research, and observations of how attackers breach and attack computer systems. The MITRE ATT&CK framework, a globally available knowledge base with the tactics and procedures discovered from actual observations of cyberattacks, is used by many BAS software. The framework also includes guidelines for categorizing and characterizing hacker attacks and other intrusions into computer systems. Pre-configured attacks are launched on the target system during a BAS simulation. These pre-configured attacks imitate actual attacks in a safe, low-risk manner without interfering with service. For instance, it will employ secure copies of well-known malware when delivering malware.
The program covers the whole life cycle of cyber attacks in a simulation. I will survey to understand the underlying system, look for vulnerabilities, and attempt to exploit these vulnerabilities. BAS produces real-time reports describing the vulnerabilities that have been exploited, how they were found, and corrective actions that may be performed. BAS will imitate attackers by moving laterally within a system, executing data exfiltration, and erasing its tracks once it has successfully attacked a system. Once completed, thorough reports are produced to assist an organization in addressing vulnerabilities that have been found. Repeat these simulations numerous times to ensure the vulnerabilities have been fixed.
Use A BAS Platform Reasons
When it comes to the security of their systems, organizations that employ BAS get a lot of benefits. Among these benefits are several.
BAS Allows Organizations To Determine If Their BAS Security Systems Are Effective
Despite spending a lot of money on cyber security, organizations frequently need more knowledge of how well their systems defend against complex attacks. A BAS platform may launch repeated, complex attacks across all its systems to determine how effectively its systems can resist a real attack. Additionally, this may be done as frequently as necessary, with no risk, and organizations receive thorough data on the vulnerabilities in their systems that can be exploited.
BAS Overcomes The Limitations Of The Blue And Red Teams
It takes a lot of resources to get members of the red team to launch attacks on systems and members of the blue team to protect the system. It cannot be sustainably done daily. By automating the tasks performed by blue and red team members, BAS solves this challenge and enables organizations to run simulations continuously and inexpensively all year round.
BAS Circumvents The Limitations And Mistakes Of Human Experience
Security testing may be quite subjective because it depends on the knowledge and experience of the individuals evaluating the systems. Additionally, people make errors. Organizations may obtain more accurate and reliable findings on their security posture by automating the testing process using BAS. BAS is not constrained by human abilities and experience in carrying out such attacks and may simulate various attacks.
BAS Equips Security Teams To Handle Threats Better
Security teams may use BAS to continuously scan their systems for vulnerabilities rather than waiting for breaches or software makers to discover vulnerabilities and deliver security updates. This allows them to remain ahead of attackers. They can identify areas that can be used for breaching and fix them before they are exploited by attackers, as opposed to waiting to be attacked and responding to the attacks. BAS is a tool that may assist in leveling the playing field against attackers and neutralizing vulnerabilities even before attackers exploit them for any organization serious about security.
How To Pick The Right BAS Platform?
Although many BAS tools exist, not all of them may be suitable for your organization. Determine the best BAS platform for your organization by considering the following factors.
The Number Of Available Pre-configured Attack Scenarios
BAS tools are shipped with predefined attack scenarios conducted against an organization’s systems to test whether they can recognize and respond to attacks. When picking one, you want a BAS platform with multiple pre-configured attacks that cover the whole life cycle of cyberattacks. This encompasses both system-accessing attacks and attacks carried out after systems have been hacked.
Continuous Updates On Threat Scenarios That Are Available
New methods for attackers to attack computer systems are continually being developed. To protect your organization against the most recent attacks, you should use a BAS platform that keeps up with the constantly evolving threat landscape and regularly refreshes its threat library.
Adaptation To Current Systems
Picking a BAS platform that works well with security systems is crucial. Additionally, the BAS platform should cover all the areas you wish to test in your organization with very little risk. You could leverage your network infrastructure or cloud environment, for example. Pick a platform that supports this, then.
Reports Produced
A BAS platform should produce thorough, actionable reports explaining the vulnerabilities that have been found and steps that may be done to correct the security holes once it has simulated an attack on a system. Pick a platform that produces thorough, real-time reports with pertinent data to address any vulnerabilities found in a system.
Effortless Use
Any BAS tool must be simple to use and understand, regardless of how complicated or complex. Choose a platform with good documentation, an easy-to-use user interface, and minimal security knowledge requirements, allowing for quick attack deployment and report production. Before making a selection, the criteria mentioned above should be thoroughly studied. Selecting a BAS platform should be a smooth process. The best BAS tools are listed here to help you with your decision.
Top 7 BAS Tools You Need To Try
We’ve compiled a list of BAS Tools to help you find the right one.
1. GreyMatter Verify
Insights on the security posture of the whole organization as well as the security tools being used, are provided by GreyMatter, a BAS solution from Reliaquest that interacts seamlessly with the available security tech stack. It allows for threat hunting to find possible threats in systems and offers threat information in case threats have already infiltrated your systems. Additionally, it facilitates ongoing surveillance of open, deep, and dark web sources to spot possible threats and provides breach and attack simulations by the MITRE ATT&CK framework mapping. You can’t go wrong with Greymatter if you’re looking for a BAS solution that offers much more functionality than breach and case simulation.
2. Cymulate
The Frost and Sullivan BAS product of the year for 2021 was Cymulate, a Software as a Service BAS product. Because it is software as a service, its deployment may be completed in a few minutes with a few clicks. Users may receive technical and executive assessments on their security posture in minutes by deploying a single lightweight agent to execute infinite attack simulations. It also has pre-built and customized API connectors that make interacting with various security stacks simple. Cymulate provides simulations of attacks and breaches. Continuous purple teaming, endpoint security, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks, web app firewall, data exfiltration email security, web gateway, and phishing assessments include the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Additionally, Cymulate allows users to securely choose the attack vectors they want to simulate, attack simulations on their systems, and provide insights that can be used.
3. Kroll
Regarding the application of BAS tools, Kroll takes a different tack. Kroll is distinct from others that offer packages containing attack scenarios that may be used to simulate attacks. Kroll specialists use their knowledge and experience to create a series of attack simulations tailored to a system when a user chooses to use their service. They consider the demands of the unique user and match the simulations to the MITRE ATT&CK architecture. A programmed attack can be used to test a system’s security posture repeatedly. This assesses how well a system complies with internal security requirements and encompasses configuration modifications and benchmark response readiness.
4. AttackIQ
AttackIQ is a BAS solution that is simple to connect with security systems and is also offered as software as a service (SaaS). But because of its Anatomic Engine, it stands apart. Well, this engine allows it to test cybersecurity components that use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). In its simulations, it also employs AI- and ML-based cyber defenses. With the help of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, AttackIQ allows users to execute breach and attack simulations. Simulating attackers’ actions during multi-stage attacks allows security programs to be tested. This allows for the analysis of breach reactions and the identification of vulnerabilities in text network controls. In-depth reports on simulations conducted and mitigation strategies that may be used to correct the problems found are also provided by AttackIQ.
5. SafeBreach
As indicated by its achievements and BAS-related patents, SafeBreach takes pleasure in being one of the pioneers in developing BAS tools. Furthermore, SafeBreach has no rivals regarding the number of attack scenarios accessible to its users. Its hacker’s playbook contains approximately 25000 attack techniques that bad actors frequently employ. SafeBreach provides cloud, network, and endpoint simulators, and it is simple to integrate with any system. This offers the advantage of enabling organizations to find vulnerabilities that may be leveraged to compromise systems, move laterally within the compromised system, and execute data exfiltration. Additionally, it provides configurable reports with visualizations and dashboards that can be customized to assist users in understanding and explaining their entire security posture.
6. Threat Simulator
The Security Operations Suite from Keysight includes a tool called Threat Simulator. A BAS platform that replicates attacks throughout an organization’s production network and endpoints is known as software-as-a-service. This allows an organization to find and address vulnerabilities before they may be exploited. Its main feature is that it offers simple, step-by-step guidance to assist an organization in addressing the vulnerabilities found by the Threat simulator. It also has a dashboard allowing organizations to assess their security posture quickly. Threat Simulator is a strong candidate for the top rank among BAS tools, with over 20,000 attack approaches in its playbook and zero-day upgrades.
7. Pentera
Pentera, a BAS solution, examines external attack surfaces to simulate the most recent threat actor behaviors. It carries out all the actions a hostile actor would take when attacking a system to accomplish this. This comprises a survey to map the attack surface, scanning for vulnerabilities, challenging-acquired credentials, and using safe malware copies to challenge an organization’s endpoints. To leave no traces, it also moves ahead with post-exfiltration procedures, including lateral movement inside systems, data exfiltration, & cleaning up the code used to test. After careful consideration of the significance of each root-cause vulnerability, Pentera develops a remedial strategy.
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The Bottom Line:
Protecting critical systems from attacks has always been a reactive task, where cyber security specialists wait for attacks to occur, which puts them at a disadvantage. Cyber security experts may acquire the upper hand by adopting the attacker’s mindset and regularly scanning their systems for vulnerabilities before attackers can by using BAS tools. BAS tools are a need for every organization that is concerned about security.
