Compromise Assessment is one of the most important risk mitigation techniques in the security world. This article offers a comprehensive overview of what compromise assessment is and why every organization needs it.

Compromise Assessment is a proactive approach to know an organization’s security posture and be notified of past and current cyberattacks on your environment.

The difference between compromise and other security audits is as simple as knowing: Am I breached or Can I breach?

Compromise Assessment is very different from traditional risk audits this includes Cyber Risk Assessment, Red teaming, Malware hunting etc., It focuses on finding gaps in the existing environment and then delving deeper to find whether it has already been exploited or is currently being exploited by malicious third-party actors.

Who Needs Compromise Assessment?

Large enterprises with excellent security tools and technologies have gone through multiple risk assessments, like Red Team exercises and malware hunting. In some cases, if the organization feels or has faced cyberattacks, they may need to do a compromise assessment.

Approach

Many organizations end up performing dark web scans and limiting their checks to end point systems. This assessment should not be limited to one area, but should cover the entire gamut of an organization’s security landscape.

An approach to this assessment should first set a baseline by finding vulnerabilities and risk in the environment from the internal, external, and dark web. Classify the risk according to its exploitability and check whether it has been compromised in the past or is currently being compromised.

How often should you perform a Compromise Assessment?

The frequency of Compromise Assessment varies by the sophistication and types of threats a business faces. How often your business will need Compromise Assessment can be based on multiple factors. These include size, industry, the value of intellectual property you create and possess, whether your business is involved in Large Financial transactions, Outsourcing, Maintain user Privacy, critical infrastructure, Regulations and consider whether your industry has any implications for national security.

An annual assessment designed to emulate the tactics of common cyber-attacks such as Phishing, ransomware and malware. This is often the case for smaller businesses that do not have specific intellectual property that interests attackers, or that do not have critical infrastructure or Stringent regulation by local law or national security roles.

Larger businesses, or businesses that do have intellectual property, critical infrastructure, Highly regulated environment or national security connections, will likely face more adaptive threats. For businesses likely to be targeted by advanced persistent threats (APTs), nation-states, or state-sponsored attackers, more extensive Compromise Assessment is recommended. In fact, a continuous approach (Monthly/Quarterly)may be necessary to fully emulate the kinds of attacks that these sophisticated threats are likely to execute.

Outcome of Compromise Assessment:

The report of the compromise assessment should include three major details.

1. Compromised details with evidence
2. Exposed data – data that has been exposed but not having evidence of a compromise.
3. Potential – Critical vulnerabilities exist that can be easily exploited. 

However, the report may or may not have other Medium vulnerabilities that are not exploitable.

Also Read, Virtual CISO Features and Services

IARM has expertise and experience in performing Compromise Assessments. Our team, combined with in-depth technical knowledge, passion for cyber security, and a dedication to customer success, enables us to provide the highest level of security for our customer environments.

In conclusion, it is important to assess the compromise that your organization might face. This will help you decide if a compromise assessment is necessary or not.

Compromise assessments are used in many organizations to identify the risk of a data breach. The goal is to identify how much damage could be caused by data breach and what are the possible ways of preventing it from happening. 

In order for an organization to have a successful compromise assessment, they must first know what kind of data they have and where it is stored. They also need to know who has access to this data and which security measures are already in place for this type of data.

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