In March 2023, American Express suffered a data breach where third-party actors gained unauthorized access to their sensitive customer information. This breach originated from a successful point-of-sale (POS) attack on a third-party vendor. The attackers succeeded in their motive because of weaker security protocols in a third-party vendor. This means that with increasing digitalization, threat levels continue to rise faster, and they can come from any unexpected source, making it difficult to defend digital assets. Not only are incidents of threats rising, but their sophistication has also gone up a notch above. This underscores the need to adopt more advanced tactics like Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS).
This article provides a brief overview of BAS, how it works, its advantages, and things to consider when selecting a partner.
What is Breach And Attack Simulation?
Breach and Attack Simulation, or BAS, is a proactive cybersecurity approach that enables security teams to identify and address vulnerabilities before a threat actor exploits them. BAS involves sophisticated techniques to simulate attacks, such as phishing campaigns, network intrusions, and malware infections.
Security professionals use BAS tools to test different threat scenarios, such as external attacks, insider threats, and lateral movement within the cloud network.
Why Breach And Attack Simulation Matters
BAS helps organizations better understand their security gaps and provide valuable guidance to address identified vulnerabilities. Here are some core reasons to consider breach and attack simulation solutions:
- Mitigates potential cyber risk: Provides early warning for possible internal or external threats, allowing security teams to fix loopholes before witnessing any adverse outcome, such as critical data exfiltration, loss of access, or data breach.
- Minimizes the likelihood of attacks: Point-in-time testing is insufficient to protect an organization’s security environment. By continuously simulating real-world attacks, BAS enables organizations to strengthen defense at every level, reducing the probability of cyberattacks.
- Tests your defenses: Traditional security measures often react to known threats. On the other hand, BAS lets you test your system’s defenses against real-world attack scenarios, exposing vulnerabilities in firewalls, software, or employee awareness (phishing susceptibility).
Breach and Attack Simulation significantly enhances organizations’ overall security posture and resilience by validating security controls. This empowers them to stay ahead of potential threats.
Key Features of Breach and Simulated Testing
Breach and attack simulation mirrors tactics used by real-world methodologies employed by adversaries. It involves simulating phishing campaigns, network infiltration attempts, and malware delivery mechanisms. When organizations successfully defend against such simulated attacks, they can trust their security environment.
Furthermore, BAS leverages automated workflows to facilitate continuous validation cycles, ensuring up-to-date visibility into potential security gaps. Below, we have outlined some key capabilities of Breach And Attack Simulation:
Feature | Description |
Automation | Leverages automation capabilities for efficient and continuous security assessments. Ensures real-time monitoring of cyber defenses. |
Real-world Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) | Incorporates tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by adversaries. |
Cloud-based Solutions | Offers cloud-based deployment models that provide scalability, accessibility, and cost-effective options. |
Comprehensive Testing Scope | Evaluates various security controls, including network security, endpoint protection, email security, web application security, and more. Provides a holistic view of an organization’s security posture. |
Customizable Scenarios | Creates customized attack scenarios that aligns with an organization’s specific infrastructure, applications, and industry-specific compliance requirements. |
Integration Capabilities | Seamlessly integrates with existing security tools, such as Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms, which enables coordinated incident response. |
How Does Breach and Attack Simulation Work?
In Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS), experts simulate real-world cyberattacks and security breaches in a controlled environment to identify and respond to various threats. Here is a step-by-step description of how it works:

1. Scenario Selection
Select a scenario based on emerging threats, custom-defined situations, historical attack patterns, or advanced persistent threats (APTs).
2. Agent Deployment
Agents are deployed within the cloud environment to mimic the behavior of threat actors. They try to infiltrate the network, exploit vulnerabilities, and move laterally to access critical assets or sensitive data.
3. Create Simulation
The agents simulate various attack vectors, including network and email infiltration attacks, lateral movement, and data exfiltration. This process evaluates the effectiveness of security controls such as:
- Data Leakage Prevention (DLP)
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions
- Email Gateways
- Web controls
- Cloud and container controls
- Data Collection and Reporting
The platform collects valuable data on the attack’s progress during the simulation. Once the simulation is over, the BAS platform generates a comprehensive report comprising detailed findings of gaps, vulnerabilities discovered, security control performance, and recommendations for remediation.
4. Continuous Testing and Improvement
BAS is not a point-in-time exercise. It continuously runs attack scenarios to test the resilience of security controls, provide real-time reporting and actionable insights, and enable security teams to take a threat-centric approach to cybersecurity.
Benefits of Breach and Attack Simulations
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) solutions offer significant advantages.

- Continuous Assessment: BAS products execute automated tests that can be repeatedly conducted across prioritized security issues, enabling ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
- Insightful Reporting: These solutions typically incorporate reporting capabilities, empowering organizations to gauge their performance across specific areas and identify emerging patterns – favorable or concerning – facilitating proactive adjustments.
- Focused Remediation: BAS pinpoints critical domains or troubling trends. This helps in the prioritization of remediation actions.
- Regulatory Compliance: BAS processes help security teams determine whether they fully comply with OWASP, HIPAA, GDPR, and other regulatory requirements. Thus, they can better adhere to evolving state, federal, or regional regulations.
- Supply Chain Assurance: By identifying network vulnerabilities, BAS fortifies an organization’s defenses and instills confidence in its supply chain partners and vendors regarding the robustness of its security posture.
- Operational Resilience: Comprehensive visibility into network weaknesses empowers organizations to mitigate current and potential security risks, promoting business continuity and minimizing disruptive security incidents.
Breach And Attack Simulation Vs. Other Security Testing
BAS offers a clear advantage over other security methodologies. Here is a comparison of breach and attack simulation (BAS) and other cybersecurity methods:
Method | Description | Frequency | Automation | Scope |
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) | Simulates real-world attacks to test security controls and identify vulnerabilities | Continuous | Highly automated | Comprehensive, testing security controls across entire attack surface |
Penetration Testing | Manual testing by security experts to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses | Point-in-time | Manual, human-driven | Specific systems or applications, not comprehensive |
Vulnerability Scanning | Automated scanning to identify known vulnerabilities | Periodic | Automated | Specific systems or applications, not comprehensive |
Red Team Exercise | Simulated attack by a team of security experts to test an organization’s defenses | Point-in-time | Manual, human-driven | Comprehensive, but limited by time and resources |
Factors to Consider While Selecting the Right BAS Partner
When selecting the right breach and simulation attack partner, it is crucial to consider several factors to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of the services provided. Here are some key considerations:

Check Experience and Expertise
- Look for CREST-certified vendors, as this certification is a globally recognized standard for penetration testing and cyber security services.
- Prioritize partners with extensive experience conducting breach and attack simulations for organizations in your industry or sector, as they will better understand the specific risks and regulatory requirements.
- Evaluate expertise in various attack vectors, such as web applications, mobile apps, cloud environments, and industrial control systems, based on your organization’s specific needs.
2. Evaluate Methodology and Testing Approach
- Understand their testing methodology and approach to ensure it aligns with industry best practices and your organization’s requirements.
- Understand their process for scoping, planning, executing, and reporting the breach and attack simulation engagements.
- Evaluate their ability to simulate advanced persistent threats (APTs) and sophisticated attack scenarios that mimic real-world adversaries.
3. Reporting and Remediation Support
Review samples of their reporting format and evaluate the clarity, comprehensiveness, and actionability of their findings and recommendations.
- Check their detailed remediation guidance report. This will give you an idea for addressing identified vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
- Ask about their follow-up and re-testing procedures to validate the effectiveness of the implemented remediation measures.
4. Compliance and Certifications
Verify the partner’s compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations. Look for certifications such as CISSP, OSCP, GPEN, or GIAC, demonstrating their commitment to professionalism and best practices.
5. Post-Assessment Support
Post-BAS support is critical. Consider the partner’s post-assessment support capabilities. It is essential to have access to their expertise and guidance after the remediation process. Check how promptly they will address any follow-up questions or concerns.
6. Cost and Value
While cost is a consideration, it should not be the determining factor. Evaluate the partner’s overall value proposition. Try to evaluate how much value the partner is offering. Consider their expertise, capabilities, pricing, support, and overall potential long-term benefits of a successful breach and simulation assessment.
Emerging Trends in Breach And Attack Simulation
The cybersecurity landscape continues to transform, with new technologies emerging constantly. Breach and attack simulation is no exception to this change. They leverage cutting-edge tools and technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. This has helped them in dynamic adaptation, mimicking sophisticated adversaries’ tactics. Here are some clear emerging trends:
- Generative AI and BAS convergence will enhance user interaction and automate simulation results.
- As BAS capabilities evolve, these automated solutions will gradually minimize reliance on traditional, manual penetration testing methodologies.
- AI-driven innovations have helped simulate a broader range of attack vectors and scenarios with greater accuracy, and the trend will continue.
How SecureLayer7 Can Help
As an industry-leading provider of BAS solutions, SecureLayer7 offers comprehensive attack surface management through next-generation penetration testing and cybersecurity solutions. By partnering with SecureLayer7, organizations can benefit from:
- Comprehensive Scope: SecureLayer7 helps uncover critical flaws like authentication, authorization, and logic vulnerabilities that could lead to devastating data breaches.
- Robust PTaaS platform: We have a Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) platform encompassing application testing, mobile app pen testing, thick client analysis, source code review, smart contract audits, and cloud penetration testing.
- Strong cloud security capability: SecureLayer7 addresses cloud security concerns by securely maintaining clients’ cloud infrastructure. Their platform swiftly detects and quarantines vulnerabilities across AWS, Azure, and Kubernetes environments.
- Comprehensive server hardening: Their approach limits attacker entry points by preventing access through unsecured ports, effectively hardening servers.
- End-to-end security: SecureLayer7 provides full-lifecycle security for IoT ecosystems, including testing, manual assessments, and securing endpoints to cloud networks, minimizing obstacles to IoT product deployment.
- Proven expertise: We have a vast talent pool of Crest-certified security experts who ensure the quality of service delivery. As a Gartner-reviewed vendor, SecureLayer7’s services are recognized for their quality and efficacy.
Conclusion
Ultimately, breach and attack simulation’s future hinges on intelligence, automation, and an ability to proactively identify vulnerabilities before exploitation occurs. By staying ahead of the curve, these services will empower organizations to bolster cyber resilience effectively.
Are you looking for a partner to fortify your defenses? You can leverage our cutting-edge BAS solution. Identify vulnerabilities before attackers do – contact us now.