IT Support for Mid-size Businesses

NodeZero from Horizon3.ai is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports repeated, concurrent, automated testing of your network so you can uncover, rank, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Pentests permit you to work proactively to keep cybercriminals from hijacking data, disrupting operations, or inflicting financial or reputational damage. (For information about penetration testing, see Progent's penetration testing expertise.)

NodeZero's Breach and Attack Simulation tools are able to utilize modern cyber attack techniques by relentlessly pivoting throughout your network and linking vulnerabilities until an exploitable attack path is uncovered. NodeZero then benignly exploits the vulnerability as evidence of the weakness, evaluates and prioritizes the possible damage that might result from an actual malicious attack, reports the findings, and generates AI-based advice for a fix. NodeZero's comprehensive reports highlight systemic issues where implementing a single repair can block multiple attack chains. After you have removed the reported security gaps, you can execute NodeZero's 1-click verification option to make sure remediation actions were successful. NodeZero can automatically produce compliance reports mandated for SOC2, HIPAA, GDPR, and other common compliance requirements.

Progent can provide the talents of a NodeZero Certified Operator (NCO) to assist you to plan and carry out comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can accurately determine your current security posture. Progent can help you to set up and run NodeZero pentests tailored for your network environment, analyze NodeZero results, and fix vulnerabilities according to their potential impact on your network. Progent can also assist you to create a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers maximum protection for on-premises, cloud-based, and perimeter IT assets.

Internal and External Pentests
Internal pentests with NodeZero proceed as though your perimeter has been breached and run a pentest of your internal network infrastructure to find what security vulnerabilities may be present that subject your network to serious compromise. To assist you to prioritize your remediation activity, the NodeZero dashboard shows which internal vulnerabilities could inflict the most damage to your information system and which ones enable the most attack chains. External pentesting with NodeZero is cloud-based and uses the most current hacker techniques to breach your firewalls.

Common Security Gaps that Penetration Testing Can Help Expose and Fix
hackers continually probe IT networks for weaknesses by deploying an ever-evolving arsenal of tools and procedures. Although there are many different kinds of cybersecurity gaps, below are some of the most frequently encountered issues hackers attempt to exploit:

• Apps that have not had current revisions and security patches installed
• Code injection flaws that allow attackers to insert code or queries in a web app that tricks the app into running malicious commands or providing control of critical resources
• Zero-day security gaps in software that neither the target company nor the vendor know about yet and consequently have not had a chance to develop a fix
• Authentication issues that make it easier to get inside a system or pretend to be a valid user
• Setup weaknesses that create gaps in security systems like opening unsafe ports or leaving cloud storage buckets exposed to anyone with the right address
• Known but unpatched OS vulnerabilities
• EOL technology for which security patches have stopped being created
• SQL Injection (SQLI)
• Easy-to-guess passwords
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
• Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR)
• Device misconfigurations
• Unpurged stale objects
• Open systems access
• Outdated methodology cybersecurity deployments vs current leading practices
• Failure to implement out-of-band two-factor authentication (2FA secured communications (e.g. Man In The Middle Attacks)

• Phishing Impact Testing: Determine the extent of damage that could be done by an attacker using phished credentials and suggest effective fixes.
• PCI-DSS Compliance Testing: Perform detailed testing and reporting to show adherence to the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS). PCI-DSS compliance reports can be shared with auditors.
• Trip Wires: Set up honeypots that allow you to respond quickly to indications of active attacks in sensitive areas of your environment.
• Kubernetes Testing: Pentest Kubernetes clusters, uncovering issues such as container escapes, RBAC misconfigurations, and hidden exposures.
• Cloud Pentesting: Expose identity and access management (IAM) vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure/Entra, and Kubernetes.
• Rapid Response: Quickly respond to new threats before they have a chance to cause major damage.
• Insider Threat Attack: Anticipate the severity of damage a hostile insider could cause.
• Segmentation Pentesting: Reveal your internal attack surface like IPs, ports, services and apps before launching test attacks.
• AD Password Audit: Expose gaps in your AD password policy, streamline remediation, and produce a prioritized report of risky accounts.

Benefits of Progent's Pentesting Services
Progent offers low-cost external pentesting services on a one-time or periodic basis. NodeZero's autonomous testing offers fast testing and delivers a full evaluation of your outward facing cybersecurity posture. Progent's "ethical hacking" services carry a multitude of benefits.

• Compliance with Cyber Insurance Providers: For a growing number of cyber insurance companies, periodic pentest is required to obtain or retain coverage.
• Uncover Perimeter Weaknesses: External pentests help organizations discover vulnerabilities in their external-facing systems, such as websites, servers, and network devices.
• Realistic Threat Scenarios: Pentests play out real-world attack simulations, offering organizations a greater understanding of their vulnerability to various security threats.
• Compliance Mandates: Many regulatory standards (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR) call for periodic security assessments, including external penetration tests. Failing to comply can have legal and financial consequences.
• Risk Reduction: Identifying and fixing security gaps early can reduce the risk of data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage.
• Third-Party Vendor Assessment: Companies can utilize external pentests to evaluate the cybersecurity of vendors, verifying that these stakeholders do not introduce weaknesses into the supply chain.
• Improved Incident Response: A pentest can help organizations refine their incident response practices by exposing shortcomings in their ability to discover and respond to cybersecurity events.
• Security Awareness: Conducting penetration tests can raise understanding among stakeholders about the importance of cybersecurity. It can also help educate them on safe operational practices.
• Establish a Security Baseline Evaluation: A pentest can create a baseline for cybersecurity, enabling companies to measure the effectiveness of cybersecurity improvements over time.
• Competitive Advantage: Demonstrating an emphasis on cybersecurity by means of periodic penetration testing can help you earn competitive advantage, indicating to customers and stakeholders that their data is protected.
• Cybersecurity Investment Justification: Penetration test reports can provide tangible proof of the need for expanded spending in cybersecurity initiatives and technologies.
• Internal Policy Validation: Organizations can determine whether their internal security policies are effective in preventing external attacks.
• Reducing Attack Surface: By identifying and fixing weaknesses discovered by a penetration test, organizations can reduce their attack surface area and make it harder for hackers to compromise their networks.
• Attack Simulation: Companies can simulate targeted attacks, permitting their security groups to practice responding to realistic attacks in a controlled environment.
• Ongoing Improvement: Periodic external penetration tests help organizations follow their security improvements in a fast-evolving threat landscape, ensuring that they stay ready to handle the latest threats.
• Legal and Regulatory Protection: In the event of a security breach, possessing documented evidence of periodic penetration testing efforts can provide a level of legal and regulatory cover by demonstrating reasonable care in security.

Contact Progent for Pentest Consulting
For more information about Progent's services for NodeZero-based pentesting, call Progent at 800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

Ransomware 24x7 Hot Line: Call 800-462-8800
Progent's Ransomware 24x7 Hot Line is intended to guide you to take the crucial first steps in mitigating a ransomware attack by putting out the fire. Progent's online ransomware engineer can assist you to locate and isolate breached servers and endpoints and guard undamaged resources from being penetrated. If your system has been breached by any version of ransomware, don't panic. Get immediate help by calling Progent's Ransomware Hot Line at 800-462-8800. For more information, see Progent's Ransomware 24x7 Hot Line.