IT Support for Mid-size Businesses

NodeZero from Horizon3.ai is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports repeated, simultaneous, automated assessment of your network to help you find, rank, remediate, and verify cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Penetration tests permit you to work preemptively to block cybercriminals from hijacking data, disrupting operations, or inflicting financial or reputational damage. (For information about pentesting, refer to Progent's penetration testing expertise.)

NodeZero's Breach and Attack Simulation tools are able to use modern cyber attack methods by steadily probing through your network and linking vulnerabilities until a clear attack vector is uncovered. NodeZero then safely exploits the security gap as proof of the weakness, assesses and prioritizes the potential damage that might be caused by an actual malicious exploit, documents the findings, and provides AI-based guidance for remediation. NodeZero's reports highlight systemic issues where implementing a single repair can eliminate several different attack paths. Once you have closed the discovered security issues, you can run NodeZero's 1-click validation option to confirm your fixes were successful. NodeZero can also produce compliance reports required for SOC2, HIPAA, GDPR, and other important compliance requirements.

Progent can provide the services of a NodeZero Certified Operator to assist you to design and perform comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can realistically determine your present cybersecurity posture. Progent can help you to configure and run NodeZero pentests customized for your network environment, analyze NodeZero results, and fix vulnerabilities according to their potential for damaging your network. Progent can also help you to create a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers optimum protection for on-prem, multi-cloud, and perimeter IT assets.

Internal and External Penetration Tests
Internal penetration tests with NodeZero assume your network perimeter has been breached and run a penetration test of your internal network infrastructure to determine what security vulnerabilities may be present that subject your network to attack. To help you to prioritize your remediation activity, the NodeZero dashboard shows which internal vulnerabilities could cause the most damage to your organization and which ones allow the most attack chains. External pentesting with NodeZero is cloud-hosted and utilizes the latest hacker tactics to breach your perimeter defense.

Common Vulnerabilities that PEN Testing Can Help Uncover and Remediate
Threat actors tirelessly probe IT networks for weaknesses by deploying an expanding arsenal of utilities and techniques. While there are many types of security blind spots, below are some of the most frequently encountered attack vectors malicious actors try to exploit:

• Applications that have not had the latest updates and security patches applied
• Code injection flaws that permit threat actors to input code or queries in a web application that fools the app into carrying out malicious instructions or providing control of sensitive resources
• Zero-day vulnerabilities in software that neither the target company nor the vendor are yet aware of and consequently have not had a chance to work on a solution
• Authentication vulnerabilities that make it simpler to break into a network or pose as a valid user
• Setup vulnerabilities that cause gaps in security systems such as opening unsafe ports or leaving cloud storage buckets available to anybody with the correct address
• Unpatched OS vulnerabilities
• EOL technology for which cybersecurity patches have stopped being developed
• SQL Injection (SQLI)
• Easy-to-guess passwords
• Cross-Site Scripting
• Insecure Direct Object References
• Device misconfigurations
• Stale objects
• Open systems access
• Outdated methodology cybersecurity implementations instead of current leading practices
• Failure to implement out-of-band 2FA secured communications (e.g. Man In The Middle Attacks)

• Phishing Impact Testing: Determine the extent of damage that could be done by a cybercriminal using phished credentials and suggest efficient remediation.
• PCI-DSS Compliance: Perform in-depth testing and reporting to demonstrate compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard. Compliance reports can be shared with auditors.
• Trip Wires: Set up honeypots so you can react rapidly to signs of active threats in sensitive areas of your network.
• Kubernetes Testing: Pentest Kubernetes clusters, uncovering issues such as container escapes, RBAC misconfigurations, and hidden exposures.
• Cloud Pentesting: Uncover identity and access management (IAM) weak points and faulty configurations in Amazon Web Services, Azure/Entra, and Kubernetes.
• Rapid Response: Rapidly react to emerging threats before they have time to cause major disruption.
• Insider Threat Attack: Determine the extent of harm a hostile insider could cause.
• Segmentation Pentesting: Show your internal threat surface like IPs, ports, services and applications before running test attacks.
• Active Directory Password Audit: Expose gaps in your AD password policy, streamline remediation, and produce a prioritized report of high risk accounts.

Benefits of Progent's Penetration Testing Services
Progent can provide affordable external penetration testing services on a single-time or periodic basis. NodeZero's autonomous testing delivers rapid results and provides a full evaluation of your outward facing security profile. These "ethical hacking" services can provide a multitude of benefits.

• Meet Requirements of Cyber Insurance Providers: For a growing number of cyber insurance providers, regular pentest is needed to qualify for or keep a policy.
• Identify Perimeter Weaknesses: External penetration tests help organizations discover vulnerabilities in their external-facing systems, such as websites, servers, and network devices.
• Realistic Threat Simulation: Penetration tests play out realistic attack scenarios, giving companies a greater understanding of their vulnerability to various security threats.
• Compliance Requirements: Many regulatory frameworks (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR) mandate regular security assessments, including external pentests. Failing to comply may result in legal and financial consequences.
• Risk Reduction: Identifying and remediating vulnerabilities proactively can lower the chances of data theft, economic losses, and damage to an organization's reputation.
• Third-Party Vendor Assessment: Organizations can use external penetration tests to assess the security of third-party vendors, ensuring that these partners do not introduce vulnerabilities into your organization's supply chain.
• Better Incident Response: A penetration test can assist companies refine their incident response processes by exposing shortcomings in their ability to discover and react to security events.
• Security Consciousness: Conducting pentests can improve understanding among employees about the importance of security. This can also help educate them on best operational practices.
• Build a Cybersecurity Baseline Assessment: A pentest can build a baseline for security, permitting organizations to track the efficacy of cybersecurity improvements over time.
• Competitive Advantage: Demonstrating an emphasis on cybersecurity by means of regular penetration testing can help you gain business advantage, assuring clients and stakeholders that their information is safe.
• Cybersecurity Budget Justification: Penetration test results can provide tangible evidence of the need for expanded spending in security measures and technologies.
• Internal Policy Assessment: Companies can determine whether their internal cybersecurity policies are successful in blocking external attacks.
• Reducing Target Surface: By identifying and fixing weaknesses exposed during a penetration test, companies can reduce their attack surface size and cause it to be harder for hackers to compromise their systems.
• Incident Simulation: Organizations can simulate targeted attacks, permitting their cybersecurity groups to practice responding to realistic attacks in a safe environment.
• Ongoing Improvement: Regular external penetration tests help organizations track their security enhancements over time, helping them stay ready to handle the latest threats.
• Legal and Regulatory Cover: In the event of a cybersecurity breach, being able to produce documented evidence of regular penetration testing activity can offer a level of legal and regulatory cover by evidencing due diligence in security.

Contact Progent for Pentest Expertise
For additional information about Progent's consulting services for NodeZero-based pentesting, call Progent at 800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.

Ransomware 24x7 Hot Line: Call 800-462-8800
Progent's Ransomware 24x7 Hot Line is designed to help you to complete the urgent first phase in mitigating a ransomware assault by containing the malware. Progent's online ransomware engineer can assist businesses to identify and isolate breached servers and endpoints and guard clean resources from being penetrated. If your system has been breached by any strain of ransomware, act fast. Get immediate help by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800. For more information, see Progent's Ransomware 24x7 Hot Line.