What is Offensive Security?
Reactive solutions and processes like threat detection and patching will always be a vital part of cybersecurity. However, with the threat landscape constantly growing and evolving, it’s become essential to tackle the problem from every angle.
An offensive security approach does just that with proactive solutions and processes that expose and close security gaps before a breach ever occurs. An offensive security strategy identifies weaknesses and uses the same exploitation techniques as threat actors to determine risk.
To put it simply, the goal of offensive security is to be a deterrent, providing significant obstacles to ensure that attackers never see your environment as an easy target, but instead one that would be time consuming, labor intensive, and ultimately not worth the hassle.
What Are the Benefits of an Offensive Security Strategy?
Proactively Reduce Risk
Implementing offensive security greatly reduces the risk of a successful cyberattack. Actively prioritizing vulnerabilities and testing the depth of their weaknesses helps security team's remediate security gaps before they can be exploited.
Build Stronger Defenses
In the cybersecurity realm, nothing is ever static. Discovering new and trending vulnerabilities is half the battle. Testing those vulnerabilities can find what sensitive data is accessible and helps your security team bolster your defensive efforts.
Increase Response Time
Practice makes “perfect” and learning the same tactics, techniques, and methodology of a real-world attacker helps reduce attack response time. Offensive security techniques use the same attacks a cybercriminal would use, which helps security teams anticipate, detect, contain, and respond faster to minimize damage.
Regulatory Compliance Management
Most industries, especially those dealing with sensitive health or financial data, have mandated standards over their cybersecurity measures. Offensive security like vulnerability management, penetration testing, and red teaming helps organizations proactively find weaknesses so they not only meet compliance standards, but safeguard consumer data.
Minimize Business Disruptions
Managing your attack surface proactively reduces the likelihood that a cyberattack will be successful. This prevents costly system downtime as well as compliance penalties and reputational damage. The right offensive security portfolio can save your security team valuable time too, improving their efficiency by prioritizing tasks by risk so the team stays focused on what matters most.
Methods of Offensive Security
Vulnerability Management
Uncover the unknown. Vulnerability management has become more than "just a scan" and is considered an essential piece of an offensive security strategy. Find vulnerabilities and prioritize them by threat based on industry and specific company details. Measure remediation efforts of all sizes with an easy to understand grading system, to show a quick glance of your security overview. Keep close tabs on network devices as they're added and removed so there are no surprise malicious additions. Ensure remediation is effective with rescanning and in-depth reporting showing a wide range of security perimeters. All of these aspects are necessary for compliance and regulatory standards, such as HIPAA and PCI-DSS.
Penetration Testing
See your security posture through the eyes of an attacker and how far they can go after a vulnerability has been discovered. With penetration testing, security professionals can exploit weaknesses which allows them to bypass security efforts and expose sensitive data. After a successful pen test attempt, reports are generated with detailed information that can help any security team better protect that data and close those security gaps. Retesting can help determine if remediation efforts have worked or if there are additional efforts needed.
Red Teaming
Cyberattacks are rarely immediate or instantaneous. Once an attack path is found, it's exploited, but it can take a malicious actor weeks or months to find what they're looking for. During that time, they lay low and stay quiet, silently navigating your inner security system to access sensitive data. These are the same methods red teamers use, only they're on your side. They're employed to use simulated ransomware, phishing, social engineering, or even on-site techniques in order to test the detection and response capabilities of a security team. The detailed reporting from these engagements helps your blue team strengthen security measures and be better prepared for a real-world attack.
Bundle Offensive Security Solutions for Maximum Coverage
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What is the Difference Between Offensive and Defensive Security?
Offensive security focuses on identifying and anticipating attack vectors, determining their exploitability and what assets they put at risk. Vulnerability management, pen testing, red teaming are all aspects of offensive security. The goal is to eradicate security weaknesses that could be exploited before they are even discovered by an attacker.
Defensive security concentrates on detecting, blocking, and containing active attacks. Defense security methods are antivirus, antimalware, firewalls, encryption, and intrusion detection that work to keep attackers out of a system and minimize damage.
When used together, offensive security and defensive security create a comprehensive strategy that ensures your organization is a less attractive target to malicious actors.
Offensive Security Solutions from Fortra
Offensive security solutions from Fortra pinpoint the risks that present the greatest threat to your infrastructure. These solutions work both independently and in tandem. Services can be complemented by tools to maintain constant visibility on potential new attack vectors and tools can be bundled together to create a multi-layered portfolio that advances security maturity and provides full coverage.
Vulnerability Management
Use vulnerability management solutions to identify, evaluate, prioritize, track, and report on security weaknesses that may be putting your organization at risk.
Pen Testing Software
Run advanced pen tests with a centralized solution that offers guided automations, certified exploits, and multi-vector testing capabilities.
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Red Team Software
Run Red Team engagements and adversary simulations with advanced tools.
Security Testing Services
Expert services with a consultative approach, with offerings such as penetration testing, Red Teaming, software security assessments, social engineering assessments, physical security testing, and employee training.
Offensive Security Certified Professionals
The Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) is an elite penetration testing certificate that is well-respected throughout the cybersecurity community due to the rigor of training required and level of skill needed to attain this credential. Fortra has multiple OSCP professionals on our security team providing their specialized expertise. Additionally, other advanced certifications, such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Offensive Security Wireless Professional (OSWP), and GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT) are held by other team members, demonstrating the diversity of talent available.
Offensive Security Resources
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