Breach & Attack Simulation Tools: A Comprehensive Buyer’s Guide
Breach & Attack Simulation (BAS) tools can be a significant investment, making the selection of the right product crucial. This guide aims to assist in that decision-making process.
Breach & Attack Simulation tools provide insight into the effectiveness of security controls.
Breach & Attack Simulation (BAS) solutions help organizations understand their security posture. These tools automate the testing of specific threat vectors, often based on frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK or the Cyber Kill Chain. BAS products can simulate:
- Network attacks and infiltration attempts,
- Lateral Movement,
- Phishing,
- Endpoint and gateway attacks,
- Malware and ransomware attacks, and
- Insider threats.
Understanding Breach & Attack Simulation
Breach & Attack Simulation can complement Red Teaming, Penetration Testing, or Attack Surface Assessments (ASA), but it differs significantly from these measures. Consider an organization as a villa:
- Red Teaming or Penetration Testing involves hiring someone to break into the property and empty the safe. The goal is to uncover potential access points.
- Breach & Attack Simulation, on the other hand, is like checking all the locks on the doors for functionality and ensuring that installed security cameras react appropriately when they detect people. The goal is to ensure all control measures function as intended.
- While BAS focuses on enterprise security controls like EDR, Attack Surface Assessment examines all potential vulnerabilities and attack vectors.
Gartner, the analyst firm, categorizes these technologies under the broader term “Exposure Management.” According to analysts, Breach & Attack Simulation solutions are particularly in demand in highly regulated sectors like banking and insurance, which face increasing compliance requirements. Ilja Rabinovich, Director of Adversarial Tactics at security provider Sygnia, confirms this assessment: “BAS products are typically expensive and are not acquired by smaller companies with limited budgets or restricted process landscapes.”
The Market for Breach & Attack Simulation Tools
Gartner analysts predict that over 40 percent of all organizations will rely on consolidated platforms or Managed Service Providers for cybersecurity validation by 2026. The BAS vendor landscape is correspondingly diverse, with standalone providers, large security companies, and service providers offering their BAS solutions. Chirag Mehta, an analyst at Constellation Research, foresees further market consolidation: “If a tool can simulate attacks, the next logical step is to prevent them. However, this requires integrating a range of different tools, which is not an easy task.”
A growing trend in IT security, as in other areas, is the use of Generative AI (GenAI). Erik Nost, an analyst at Forrester Research, views this development positively: “We will likely see generative AI first implemented in the user interface. Interacting with data in a cool way is the new GenAI use case.”
The analyst also considers it possible that AI could model threats based on data or the most relevant attack types for users or the company. He adds: “Generative AI could also be used to help organizations understand problems found by BAS, set appropriate priorities, and suggest specific remediation measures.”
Key Features of BAS Solutions
Users should look for the following important features in Breach & Attack Simulation tools:
- Representative Attack Vectors to simulate a broad spectrum of attacks relevant to the organization.
- Realistic Attack Scenarios based on frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, resembling those of real attackers.
- Customizable Scenarios to test specific infrastructure aspects.
- Automated Tests to enable regular and efficient simulations without impacting operations or requiring additional personnel.
- Detailed Reporting and Analytics to explain the significance of tests and identify areas for improvement.
- Scalability to cover not only the current enterprise environment but also future developments.
- Testing Capabilities for Hybrid Production Environments to evaluate control measures under real-world conditions.
- Ease of Use and Simple Deployment Options, along with integration possibilities with existing security tools and platforms.
- Expert Support – especially if unfamiliar with Breach & Attack Simulation tools or lacking large security teams with relevant experience.
- An Appropriate Cost Structure, as pricing models for BAS providers typically vary. The pricing structure should be suitable for the use case.
Leading Breach & Attack Simulation Tool Providers
Below is an overview of key Breach & Attack Simulation providers and their solutions. This selection is based on customer reviews from Gartner’s Peer Insights ranking and assessments from specialists at Expert Insights.
According to Expert Insights, AttackIQ’s central emulation platform replicates attacker tactics, techniques, and methods in alignment with the MITRE ATT&CK framework. The company’s Breach & Attack Simulation offering is divided into three options:
- The managed platform “Ready!” aims to help organizations achieve a consistent security validation strategy more quickly and easily.
- The agentless testing service “Flex” operates on-demand and is billed on a pay-as-you-go, monthly, or annual basis.
- “Enterprise” is a comprehensive co-managed service.
AttackIQ has also gained recognition for testing ML and AI-based cybersecurity components. The company states it is the only BAS provider offering both self-service and full-service solutions. In the future, artificial intelligence is expected to further assist AttackIQ customers in automatically identifying and remediating security vulnerabilities.
According to Expert Insights, Cymulate is a leading provider for Continuous Threat Exposure Management and also holds the best customer ratings on Gartner’s Peer Insights, partly due to its positive user experience. Cymulate’s “Breach and Attack (BAS)” solution is delivered via a SaaS model. A private tenancy option is also available for organizations with data segregation requirements. Like AttackIQ, Cymulate uses the MITRE ATT&CK Framework as its foundation.
The provider states that it currently takes approximately three to four weeks to set up integrations and deploy its BAS tool. Cymulate aims to reduce this timeframe to just a few minutes with the help of Generative AI. The provider’s GenAI plans extend further: the technology is intended to automatically develop mitigation strategies from thousands or even hundreds of thousands of different attack scenarios and explain how these should be implemented to security teams. Cymulate expects its GenAI features to be fully available by the end of October 2024.
Fortinet’s BAS offering does not quite match the customer ratings of the first two providers. However, “FortiTester” combines Breach & Attack Simulation with network performance testing, offering a comprehensive solution. The Fortinet tool simulates various attack types based on the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and, according to Expert Insights, also supports CVE-based IPS tests and DDoS traffic generation.
Security provider Mandiant is primarily known for its Threat Intelligence services. This expertise is integrated into its BAS software solution, “Security Validation,” which sets it apart from competitors. The Mandiant tool supports features such as MITRE ATT&CK Framework mapping, automated alerting, and environmental drift detection, simulating real-world attack scenarios.
NetSPI has established a reputation in penetration testing. The company also offers a BAS solution, “Breach and Attack Simulation,” which can validate security controls, identify detection gaps, and manage attack surfaces. NetSPI’s pentesting expertise is particularly evident in its comprehensive support, as Derek Wilson, the company’s lead security consultant, states: “Our experienced pentester team collaborates with your SOC team to help categorize detections and implement prevention measures.”
NetSPI also plans to leverage Generative AI to add value for its BAS customers. In the future, the provider’s solution is expected to use this technology to utilize multiple data sources to quickly identify and prioritize necessary tests. Additionally, playbooks generated based on threat intelligence for specific industries and the simulation of dynamic attack chains to identify coverage gaps are also planned.
Based on Gartner Peer Insights, Picus Security is the BAS provider with the second-highest customer satisfaction and was awarded a “Customers Choice” award by the analysts. Picus states it serves hundreds of global companies, including Mastercard and the ING banking group. The “Security Validation” platform from this provider includes Breach & Attack Simulation, and also supports automated penetration testing, attack surface management, SOC optimization, and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM). Picus is also heavily investing in AI, aiming to use the technology to deliver better, faster, and more comprehensively personalized insights into users’ security posture.
Specializing in Managed Detection and Response and Penetration Testing, Redscan offers a practical BAS approach called “FAST Attack Simulations.” This promises users tailored attack simulations combined with consulting services to assist with subsequent steps.
Reliaquest was recognized with a “Customers Choice” award by Gartner in 2023 for its “GreyMatter” security platform in the Managed Detection and Response category. This solution is particularly prevalent among mid-sized companies. A feature of this platform, named “Verify,” provides Breach & Attack Simulation.
Reliaquest’s BAS solution offers users a comprehensive portfolio of curated attack scenarios to achieve timely results. These scenarios are continuously updated based on current threat intelligence. The tool compares the identified threat coverage with security frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK.
If considering this provider, it is important to remember that choosing the same vendor for both BAS and MDR might not be ideal for independent verification of security measure effectiveness. However, users could also benefit from such integration.
Dedicated BAS provider SafeBreach also receives positive feedback in Gartner’s Peer Reviews, partly due to its extensive integration capabilities with other security tools. SafeBreach boasts notable clients such as Netflix, PayPal, Pepsi, and the Carlsberg Group. The “SafeBreach” BAS platform tests the effectiveness of existing security controls using over 25,000 attack methods from its proprietary “Hackers Playbook.” The provider also promises to update its platform with newly emerging threats within 24 hours. In addition to customized attack simulations based on the MITRE ATT&CK Framework, the SafeBreach solution offers the option to estimate the projected costs for risk mitigation measures.
7 Questions Before Investing in BAS
Forrester analyst Nost advises organizations to begin their BAS journey with a clear overview of their systems and control measures, avoiding hasty decisions: “Unless you know what you need to test, you should not commit to a BAS tool.”
Beyond that, it is advisable to ask Breach & Attack Simulation tool providers the right questions to avoid unpleasant surprises. For example:
- To what extent does the product ensure improved detection capabilities within security controls?
- Can tests be scaled and run in production environments without significant impact on customers?
- What are the research efforts regarding the latest threats?
- How often is the threat library updated?
- Can an example be demonstrated of how simulation results are presented?
- Are the platforms transparent, or is only black-box testing possible?
- Is there an option for on-premises or air-gapped deployments?
