A Physical Penetration Test simulates the activities that an attacker is likely to undertake when attempting to gain access to an organisation’s facilities (e.g. offices, plants, warehouses) to assess the effectiveness of physical security controls.
Physical Penetration Testing can be performed as a covert exercise designed to simulate a realistic attempt by a malicious party to infiltrate the target facility, or as a more collaborative exercise designed to more comprehensively audit the implementation and effectiveness of physical access controls and safeguards. |
An attack chain involving physical breach will typically overlap with virtual methods to progress the attack, leveraging direct access to the internal network and physical devices to gain privileged access to internal systems to be able to perform malicious actions. JUMPSEC will identify potential actions which, if performed by a real attacker, are likely to result in a real business impact.
Once the physical segment of the attack has been concluded, JUMPSEC will identify the likely follow-on actions and the probable impact. If beneficial, JUMPSEC can separately continue the digital attack from the point of compromise (as per a typical Red Team engagement). This enables testing of internal network security controls and, should the attack succeed, clearly demonstrates the business risk and impact of any deficiencies identified to non-security stakeholders. |
Organisations often assume that cyber attackers are constrained to virtual methods of achieving their goals. While virtual attack vectors often represent the route of least complexity and risk for an attacker, cyber criminals will turn to physical methods where it benefits them.
Attackers will often utilise physical methods to bypass virtual controls protecting an organisation’s digital assets, gaining direct access to internal systems and physically stored information. |
Implementing effective physical security controls is a core component of a layered ‘defence-in-depth’ approach and contributes to the resilience of the wider cyber security operating model.
JUMPSEC recommends that organisations audit and test their physical security controls on a regular basis, particularly when operating in highly targeted industry sectors known to be susceptible to physical and hybrid attacks, e.g. Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) organisations likely to be targeted by state-sponsored actors with the intention of causing political, economic, and social disruption. |
Discover flaws in your physical security controls Security operations could be exploited by a malicious actor using covert, hybrid (physical and virtual) techniques.Complex technical risks translated into business terms Demonstrating the value of cyber security investment in terms of business risk reduction. Enable the timely identification and remediation of vulnerabilities |
Build resilience against realistic attacker techniques By simulating the ways that a real-world attacker will target your network.Satisfy a range of compliance requirements With a comprehensive report detailing vulnerabilities identified and recommended remedial actions prioritised by risk. Increased awareness of physical security threats |
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