The Analyst's Toolkit
A successful security assessment is not the result of running a single tool and exporting a report. It is an iterative process of hypothesis, testing, and discovery, driven by an analyst's intuition and deep technical knowledge. We combine best-in-class tooling with a creative, adversarial mindset to simulate real-world attacks. Here’s a look at some of the core techniques we employ.
Web Application Interception: Burp Suite
Burp Suite is the industry-standard toolkit for web application security testing. At its core, it's an intercepting proxy that sits between the browser and the target application, allowing us to inspect, modify, and replay every single HTTP request and response. This gives us granular control to test for complex vulnerabilities.
- Proxy & Repeater: Manually manipulate requests to test access controls, business logic flaws, and parameter tampering.
- Intruder: Automate customized attacks with intelligent payloads to fuzz for vulnerabilities like SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and insecure deserialization.
- Scanner: Augment manual testing with an advanced scanner that can identify a wide range of web vulnerabilities.
POST /api/v1/user/update HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
Cookie: session=xyz;
Content-Type: application/json
{
"userId": 101,
"email": "[email protected]",
"isAdmin": false
}
-- Analyst changes to: --
{
"userId": 101,
"email": "[email protected]",
"isAdmin": true
}Automated Discovery: Protocol & Application Fuzzing
Fuzzing is the art of sending unexpected, malformed, or random data to an application's inputs to provoke crashes, errors, or other unintended behaviors. It's an incredibly effective technique for finding memory corruption bugs, denial-of-service vulnerabilities, and unknown attack vectors in both web and binary applications.
Web Fuzzing (ffuf)
We use tools like `ffuf` to rapidly discover hidden content on web servers, such as directories, files, and API endpoints that are not linked publicly but can expose sensitive information or functionality.
Binary Fuzzing (AFL++)
For compiled applications (e.g., C/C++), we use advanced instrumentation-guided fuzzers like AFL++. The fuzzer intelligently mutates input files (like images or documents) and monitors the code execution path, learning how to reach deeper into the code to uncover obscure bugs.
ffuf -w wordlist.txt -u https://example.com/FUZZ -mc 200,403Listening to the Wire: Network Traffic Analysis
Often, vulnerabilities are not in the application code itself, but in how it communicates over the network. By inspecting network traffic, we can uncover a wealth of information.
-
Deep Packet Inspection (Wireshark)
We capture and analyze raw network packets to reverse-engineer proprietary protocols, find unencrypted sensitive data (passwords, API keys), and identify information leakage that could aid an attacker.
-
Flow Analysis (Netflow)
For a macro view, we analyze network flow data to map communication patterns. This helps identify anomalous behavior, such as a compromised server communicating with a known command-and-control (C2) network or exfiltrating large volumes of data.
Inside the Black Box: Reverse Engineering
When source code is not available—as is common with commercial software, mobile apps, and IoT firmware—we turn to reverse engineering. By disassembling and decompiling the binary, we can understand its internal logic to find deeply embedded vulnerabilities.
Static Analysis (Ghidra & IDA Pro)
We analyze the application's machine code without executing it. This allows us to map out its structure, identify functions, and hunt for flaws like hardcoded cryptographic keys, weak algorithms, or logical bypasses in authentication routines.
Dynamic Analysis (x64dbg & GDB)
We execute the program in a controlled debugger, setting breakpoints and observing its behavior in real-time. This helps us understand how it handles data in memory, allowing us to exploit memory corruption vulnerabilities like buffer overflows.
// C Source
if (strcmp(password, "P@ssw0rd123") == 0) {
grant_access();
}
// Simplified Assembly (What the analyst sees)
mov eax, OFFSET "P@ssw0rd123" ; Load hardcoded password
push eax
lea eax, [ebp+password_buffer] ; Load user input
push eax
call _strcmp
test eax, eax ; Check if strings match
jnz _access_denied ; If not zero, jump to denySystematic Risk Identification
A vulnerability assessment is a systematic process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing security weaknesses within an IT infrastructure. It provides a crucial, broad snapshot of an organization's current security posture, enabling proactive risk management and targeted remediation. Our assessments are designed to provide a clear, actionable understanding of your exposure, adhering to industry best practices and relevant European regulations.
Vulnerability Assessment vs. Pentest
Vulnerability Assessment (VA) focuses on breadth. Its goal is to identify, quantify, and rank weaknesses across a wide range of assets using automated tools supplemented by manual verification. It answers: "What are our weaknesses?"
Penetration Test (Pentest) focuses on depth. Its goal is to validate and exploit vulnerabilities to achieve a specific objective, simulating a real attacker's methodology. It answers: "What damage can an attacker do with our weaknesses?"
Testing Public Assets
1. Discovery: Mapping The Attack Surface
A solid foundation requires knowing precisely what to test. We go beyond predefined IP ranges to comprehensively map your digital footprint, using tools like the Project Discovery stack for rapid, context-aware reconnaissance of subdomains, web servers, and open ports.
# Find subdomains
subfinder -d target.com -o domains.txt
# Find live web servers
httpx -l domains.txt -o web_assets.txt
# Passive port scan
smap -iL ips.txt -p21-30,80,443 -oJ ports_and_service.json
2. Analysis: From Data to Actionable Risk
Automated Scanning with Nuclei
We actively scan discovered assets for thousands of known vulnerabilities using Nuclei, the flexible, community-driven standard for modern, template-based security scanning.
# Scan discovered web assets with high-severity templates
nuclei -l web_assets.txt -t cves/,misconfigurations/ -s critical,highPrioritization: Context is King
A high CVSS score is not the whole story. We prioritize risk by considering asset criticality, data sensitivity, and the Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), which calculates the real-world probability of a vulnerability being exploited. A CVSS 7.5 flaw with a 90% EPSS score is more urgent than a CVSS 9.8 with a 2% score.
CVSS 3.1 Risk Analysis Example
Example Vulnerability:
A remote code execution flaw in a public-facing web application that requires no user interaction.
| Attack Vector | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low |
| Privileges Required | None |
| User Interaction | None |
| Confidentiality | High |
| Integrity | High |
| Availability | High |
CVSS 3.1 Base Score
9.8
CRITICAL
Our Expertise is Your Advantage
These techniques represent a fraction of our capabilities. The true value lies in our ability to creatively combine them, pivot based on findings, and understand the business context of a vulnerability. Our goal is not just to find flaws, but to provide a clear path to a more secure and resilient system.