Services

Network edge traffic profiling services:

Attackers exploit network protocols and legitimate communication channels to move laterally, communicate with external infrastructure, and support malicious operations. Once access is established, compromised endpoints are used to execute code, steal data, and maintain persistence. The network layer is therefore one of the most critical control points for breaking the attacker kill chain.

Protecting the network to detect and block protocol abuse and lateral movement, combined with a deep understanding of traffic behavior at the network edge, is decisive. Other security controls matter, but without visibility into real network behavior, organizations remain partially blind.

The biggest challenges in network defense today:

Modern attacks increasingly bypass traditional defenses due to:

  1. Zero-day attacks, which are the hardest to detect.
  2. Lack of properly designed correlation rules in SIEM platforms.
  3. Missing or outdated signatures in IPS and WAF solutions.
  4. Abuse of commonly allowed mechanisms such as DNS or ICMP to conduct attacks.

How network edge profiling with Deep Packet Inspection helps:

Profiling network edge interfaces using Deep Packet Inspection enables:

  1. Identification of new attack trends and active campaigns.
  2. Countering zero-day attacks that evade signature-based detection.
  3. Introducing an additional defensive layer that does not rely solely on standard monitoring mechanisms.

By deeply understanding network traffic, protocols, mechanisms, and operations, DPI-based edge profiling reveals what is truly happening within the infrastructure. It shows how attackers attempt to obtain sensitive information, gain access to the internal network, and exploit systems using unconventional or stealthy methods.

Awareness is the foundation of network security. Without it, defenders operate with limited visibility and are exposed to failure.

Service objectives:

This service is designed to:

  1. Assist SOC teams in their daily operational activities.
  2. Build a deep understanding of network traffic through network edge profiling to:
    • Identify attacker intent,
    • Correctly estimate risk,
    • Apply appropriate mitigation actions,
    • Close alerts with full confidence,
    • Raise the overall cybersecurity maturity level.
  3. Eliminate unwanted or meaningless traffic that obscures visibility and overwhelms monitoring systems, including the use of BGP Blackholing where appropriate.
  4. Prevent zero-day attacks through behavior-based analysis and continuous profiling.

Baseline, hardening, and continuous improvement:

Network edge profiling is performed in correlation with:

  1. Establishing a traffic baseline,
  2. Gaining full knowledge of the infrastructure, including systems, devices, and supported protocols,
  3. Reviewing and optimizing firewall policies.

A significant portion of incident handling can be reduced through hardening and reconfiguration once the environment is properly understood.

Regular profiling of the network edge, combined with continuous DPI-based traffic analysis, builds expertise across hundreds of protocols, thousands of operations, exploits, and signatures. This process sharpens situational awareness, enabling accurate risk assessment for every alert and ensuring that operational decisions are based on certainty rather than assumptions.

Decisions must never be made blindly. Knowing exactly what is happening on the network determines whether unauthorized access succeeds or fails.

Adversary emulation and EDR testing services:

Endpoint protection remains a critical challenge, particularly when attackers deliberately design malware to evade modern EDR solutions. Custom tooling, non-public samples, and precise knowledge of defensive environments allow attackers to bypass automated detection while maintaining full operational capability.

The biggest challenges in endpoint defense today:

Modern adversaries frequently leverage:

  1. Source-code frameworks and kits designed to generate custom executables and DLLs that evade antivirus and EDR solutions, such as the Artifact Kit from the Arsenal Kit for Cobalt Strike.
  2. Custom, non-public EXE samples specifically crafted to test individual EDR solutions or multiple popular platforms in order to evaluate detection capabilities and achieve full evasion.

Windows execution environment considerations:

Windows provides native runtime support for:

  1. Command Prompt (cmd) for executing commands and batch scripts (.bat).
  2. PowerShell, an object-oriented shell built on .NET, enabling advanced system, registry, service, process, and remote management using .ps1 scripts.
  3. Native execution of C and C++ binaries via the built-in PE loader and runtime libraries such as MSVCRT.dll.
  4. Managed execution of C++/CLI and C# applications via the Common Language Runtime (CLR) when the .NET Framework is present.

In contrast, many modern programming languages are not included by default and require manual installation:

  1. Python requires a separate interpreter installation.
  2. Java requires installation of the JVM (JRE or JDK).
  3. Perl, Ruby, and PHP must be installed explicitly.
  4. Go, Rust, and Node.js are not available by default and require additional setup.

This distinction is critical when evaluating EDR behavior, as execution context, runtime dependencies, and loading mechanisms directly affect detection, telemetry, and correlation.

Why custom malware matters in EDR testing:

  1. Custom, non-public EXE samples enable accurate verification of EDR behavior across:
    • Different compilation types,
    • Execution techniques,
    • Event visibility,
    • Correlation logic within the EDR console.
  2. Testing often proves that carefully crafted malware can remain undetectable by major EDR platforms when iteratively modified, while preserving its operational sequence, including:
    • Disabling protection mechanisms,
    • Collecting and exfiltrating data,
    • Removing forensic traces.

Insider threat and realistic adversary scenarios:

Consider the risk posed by an insider with:

  1. Knowledge of the deployed EDR solution and sensor version,
  2. Physical or logical access to a company workstation,
  3. Ability to exfiltrate data over encrypted TLS channels.

The service confirms whether deployed EDR solutions provide effective protection against targeted threats or merely create a false sense of security.

Summary – network edge traffic profiling and adversary emulation and EDR testing services:

Without TAP-based network visibility, hardened endpoint controls, precisely tuned detection logic, and continuous network edge profiling, organizations remain exposed. This risk is amplified when TLS is used for data exfiltration and when automated defenses or traditional forensic methods fail to provide sufficient visibility.

When standard defenses are not enough:

In environments affected by:

  1. Zero-day attacks,
  2. Malware specifically engineered to evade detection,
  3. Incorrect or weak security configurations,
  4. Insufficient auditing or digital evidence,

true resilience can only be achieved through:

  1. Continuous testing of cyber defense solutions,
  2. Adversary emulation and red team activities,
  3. Ongoing network edge profiling,
  4. Penetration testing,
  5. Involvement of experienced, knowledgeable human analysts.

This service provides realistic, controlled adversary simulations that expose blind spots in EDR deployments and validate whether endpoint defenses truly protect against modern, targeted threats.

SOC operational capability and maturity development services:

This service is designed to build real operational readiness and long-term maturity of Security Operations Center (SOC) teams, with a strong focus on analyst effectiveness, decision-making quality, and situational awareness. It is based on hands-on training, realistic scenarios, and operational best practices derived from real SOC environments.

Purpose and scope:

The primary goal of this service is to prepare analysts for effective work in a SOC environment, starting from Level 1 (L1) and extending toward higher analytical and operational maturity. The service focuses not only on technical skills, but also on analytical thinking, intellectual discipline, and operational responsibility.

Core training areas:

The service covers the following areas in a structured and progressive manner:

  1. Preparation for work in a SOC team at the L1 level, including understanding analyst responsibilities and operational expectations, with the possibility of introducing the scope and responsibilities of L2 and L3 roles.
  2. Building technical competencies related to security monitoring, alert handling, and incident triage.
  3. Developing analytical and intellectual skills required to correctly interpret events, logs, and alerts.
  4. Building cybersecurity awareness, including attacker tactics, defender limitations, and operational risk.
  5. Training in issuing correct, justified, and defensible operational recommendations.
  6. Training in making correct operational decisions under time pressure and with incomplete information.

SOC structure, processes, and environment:

Participants are introduced to the operational reality of a professional SOC environment, including:

  1. Presentation of typical SOC department characteristics, mission, and operational scope.
  2. Introduction to core SOC procedures, playbooks, instructions, and internal workflows commonly used in security operations.
  3. Overview of standard SOC organizational structures, including roles, responsibilities, and separation of duties.
  4. Explanation of escalation paths, communication models, and cooperation between different SOC levels and supporting teams.

SOC tooling and infrastructure:

The service includes practical exposure to SOC technology and environments:

  1. Presentation of core SOC system categories used for security monitoring, detection, and response.
  2. Introduction to a SOC training and laboratory environment and its role in analyst skill development.
  3. Hands-on training in the use of tools commonly required for daily SOC operations.
  4. Exercises focused on correct and conscious tool usage rather than blind or fully automated operation.

Practical exercises and scenario-based training:

A strong emphasis is placed on practice and realism:

  1. Exercises based on representative and realistic attack and incident scenarios.
  2. Hands-on correlation analysis exercises using real-world event patterns.
  3. Training in identifying false positives, real incidents, and ambiguous cases.
  4. Developing the ability to justify decisions and recommendations using evidence.

Direction of development and analyst growth:

The service also provides guidance on long-term professional development:

  1. Indicating clear paths for further analyst growth beyond L1.
  2. Helping participants understand the competencies required for higher SOC levels.
  3. Building awareness of specialization areas such as threat hunting, detection engineering, DFIR, or network security.
  4. Supporting the development of professional responsibility, confidence, and accountability.

Role as a SOC Trainer:

As a SOC Trainer, this service is delivered with a strong emphasis on knowledge transfer, discipline, and operational realism. Training is based on real SOC experience, real incidents, and real constraints, not theoretical models. The objective is to produce analysts who understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what consequences their decisions have.

This service strengthens SOC operational capability, improves decision quality, and raises overall organizational cybersecurity maturity by developing people who can think, analyze, and act correctly in real-world conditions.

Chain of Custody implementation services:

This service focuses on the design, implementation, and operational integration of Chain of Custody (CoC) processes within an organization, ensuring proper handling of digital evidence in line with internationally recognized forensic standards and best practices.

The service is delivered by a specialist certified as ISO/IEC 27037:2012 Lead Implementer, authorized to implement and manage processes related to the identification, preservation, acquisition, and storage of digital evidence. This ensures that all implemented procedures are aligned with accepted standards of digital forensics and can withstand legal, regulatory, and audit scrutiny.

Scope of the service:

The service includes the practical implementation of Chain of Custody processes covering:

  1. Identification and classification of potential digital evidence.
  2. Secure preservation and acquisition procedures.
  3. Controlled handling, storage, and transfer of evidence.
  4. Documentation of every stage of evidence access and movement.
  5. Assignment of roles and responsibilities for evidence handling.
  6. Integration of Chain of Custody procedures into existing security, incident response, and forensic workflows.

Chain of Custody documentation is designed to provide full traceability of evidence, from initial identification and collection through storage, analysis, and long-term retention. This applies to both digital data and related materials, including physical media and supporting documentation.

Key benefits:

Implementing a formal Chain of Custody framework enables the organization to:

  1. Ensure the integrity and authenticity of digital evidence.
  2. Maintain admissibility of evidence in legal proceedings and regulatory processes.
  3. Reduce the risk of disputes or allegations related to evidence tampering.
  4. Align investigative and forensic activities with internationally accepted standards.
  5. Improve consistency and repeatability of investigative actions.
  6. Strengthen cooperation with external entities, auditors, and legal authorities.
  7. Increase organizational credibility and trustworthiness.
  8. Support informed decision-making by roles such as CISO and certified forensic specialists, based on reliable and verifiable evidence.

Outcome:

The result of this service is a fully implemented, documented, and operational Chain of Custody process, embedded into the organization’s security and investigative activities. It protects the organization against legal and regulatory risks, improves the quality and reliability of forensic work, and establishes transparency and accountability in evidence handling.

Digital and network forensic analysis services:

This service is delivered by an examiner holding multiple internationally recognized certifications in digital forensics, network forensics, and cyber investigations, including:

  1. CM)CFI – Certified Master Cyber Forensic Investigator
  2. GCFE – GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner
  3. GCFA – GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst
  4. GNFA – GIAC Network Forensic Analyst
  5. CCDFA – Cyber 5W Certified Digital Forensic Analyst
  6. C)DFE – Certified Digital Forensics Examiner
  7. C)NFE – Certified Network Forensics Examiner
  8. eCDFP – eLearnSecurity Certified Digital Forensics Professional
  9. CDFEH – CYBER 5W Digital Forensics Evidence Handler
  10. ISO/IEC 27037:2012 – Lead Implementer

Several of these certifications are accredited under ISO/IEC 17024 by ANAB (ANSI National Accreditation Board) and approved by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) under Directive 8570 (superseded) and the current Directive 8140. GIAC certifications are widely recognized as representing one of the highest global standards of competence in cybersecurity and digital forensics. Practical expertise is further validated through the Cyber 5W Certified Digital Forensic Analyst (CCDFA) certification, which requires a comprehensive, hands-on examination involving the execution of a full-scale forensic investigation, in-depth analysis of digital artifacts, and the preparation of a professional investigative report based on realistic scenarios, followed by a mandatory 30-minute final review and evaluation session conducted by the CYBER 5W Examination Committee. In addition, the examiner holds numerous Blue Team, Purple Team, and Red Team certifications issued by leading cybersecurity education and certification organizations, providing a broad and realistic understanding of attacker techniques, defensive limitations, and operational trade-offs.

Scope of forensic analysis services:

The service provides full-scope digital and network forensic analysis conducted directly within the organization and tailored to real incident conditions. It covers all key forensic domains, including:

  1. Digital forensics on Windows systems, performed on workstation and server storage media.
  2. Analysis of network traffic generated by endpoints, correlated with system activity and processes.
  3. Volatile memory (RAM) analysis to identify in-memory threats and runtime artifacts.
  4. Examination of system artifacts using specialized forensic tools.
  5. Correlation of disk, memory, and network evidence to reconstruct events.
  6. Preparation of detailed, professional forensic reports documenting findings, methodology, and conclusions.

Purpose and analytical approach:

The primary objective of forensic analysis is to identify, preserve, and interpret evidence related to security incidents, including but not limited to:

  1. Malware infections and post-compromise activity.
  2. Phishing attacks and credential theft.
  3. Data exfiltration and unauthorized communications.
  4. System manipulation and persistence mechanisms.
  5. Privilege escalation and lateral movement.

Malicious code analysis enables reconstruction of the compromise timeline, identification of persistence techniques, data exfiltration paths, and methods used to conceal activity, as well as assessment of the impact on affected systems.
In phishing investigations, the analysis focuses on identifying credential harvesting techniques, data capture mechanisms, and transmission channels, including HTTP and TLS-based communications.

Each forensic domain is analyzed independently and then correlated, allowing for precise understanding of the incident, reliable attribution of activity, and informed response decisions.

Outcome:

The service delivers defensible forensic findings, suitable for internal investigations, incident response, legal proceedings, audits, and regulatory requirements.
It enables organizations to respond effectively to incidents, understand how compromise occurred, and implement corrective actions that reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

Incident response procedures package design and implementation services:

Modern incident response fails most often not because of missing tools, but because organizations lack a single, coherent, end-to-end operational model. When procedures are fragmented, teams lose continuity between stages of an incident – from the first report, through triage, technical handling and containment, to post-incident analysis, evidence preservation, and formal closure of recommendations and risks. Disconnected documents create gaps between phases. In practice this leads to decision chaos, inconsistent escalations, loss of volatile data, accidental destruction of traces, and an inability to reliably reconstruct what happened.

Why Chain of Custody is the core of the entire package:

The key element of the package is a formal Chain of Custody (CoC) procedure. It ensures transparency, integrity, and credibility of digital evidence at every stage – identification, acquisition, transport, storage, and analysis. Without implemented CoC, an organization cannot prove who had access to evidence, when, and under what conditions. This creates legal and reputational exposure, including allegations of evidence manipulation, challenges to investigative conclusions, and loss of evidentiary value in legal, disciplinary, or regulatory proceedings. CoC protects the organization not only technically, but primarily legally – it demonstrates due diligence and builds trust in investigative actions internally and externally.

How the remaining procedures feed and support CoC:

The other procedures are designed to directly support and trigger Chain of Custody at the correct moment. Phishing, malware, and other incident handling procedures explicitly define the boundary where standard operational actions end and evidence handling under CoC begins.

The post-incident and forensic activation procedure closes the model by defining:

  1. decision criteria for initiating forensics,
  2. approval and escalation path,
  3. roles and responsibilities,
  4. safe evidence handover to the examiner,
  5. reporting rules for findings, recommendations, and residual risk.

A critical assumption – forensics must be performed by a qualified expert:

Digital forensics is not reversible. Incorrect actions, poor evidence handling, misinterpretation of artifacts, or weak understanding of operating system and network behavior can cause permanent damage. This creates real risk of false factual conclusions, incorrect incident scope assessment, wrong business and legal decisions, and deeper long-term impact. Poor forensics does not solve the problem – it can permanently amplify it. This package formalizes that assumption so it is enforceable at the process and decision level. It precisely defines when forensics can be initiated, what actions are allowed, what evidence requirements apply, and what competency criteria must be met by the person performing the forensic analysis.

Service objectives:

This service is designed to:

  1. Deliver one coherent IR operating model instead of isolated documents.
  2. Eliminate gaps between incident lifecycle stages and reduce decision chaos.
  3. Implement Chain of Custody as a core legal and operational safeguard.
  4. Ensure evidence is preserved correctly and defensibly for internal and external scrutiny.
  5. Provide management with clear visibility into risk, recommendations, and closure status.

Scope – the five-procedure package:

The service includes the design and implementation of a unified package of five procedures:

  1. General incident handling procedure – unified intake, classification, validation of initial data, initial analysis, and clear escalation rules.
  2. Phishing handling procedure – fast and repeatable actions to reduce credential compromise and user impact.
  3. Malware response procedure – structured technical response, artifact triage, and minimized exposure time.
  4. Chain of Custody procedure – consistent rules for securing, transporting, storing, and documenting digital evidence.
  5. Forensic activation procedure – decision criteria, approval path, cooperation rules with the examiner, and reporting and closure requirements.

Together, these procedures remove discontinuities and create one auditable end-to-end operational process.

Implementation – not only documents:

The service covers not only the authoring of procedures, but their operational implementation inside the organization. This includes:

  1. Mapping reporting channels, roles, and escalation points.
  2. Tailoring procedures to real constraints and actual incident conditions.
  3. Delivering operational artifacts that make procedures executable, including:
    • checklists and step-by-step workflows,
    • communication templates and tagging conventions,
    • minimum evidence requirements and evidence packaging rules,
    • reclassification rules and decision matrices for initiating forensics,
    • unified report templates,
    • IOC intake and tracking templates.

Training and capability uplift options:

Implementation can be extended with dedicated training for selected personnel involved in incident response, covering:

  1. phishing handling,
  2. malware response,
  3. general incident handling,
  4. situations that require Chain of Custody and forensic activation.

Training can also be expanded with advanced Cyber Warfare workshops based on realistic attack scenarios reflecting real adversary behavior in corporate environments. These workshops enable practical verification of:

  1. response times,
  2. escalation correctness,
  3. decision consistency,
  4. completeness and quality of process documentation,
  5. correct moments of CoC activation and forensic escalation.

Outcome:

The outcome is a ready, auditable end-to-end incident response process that reduces response time, lowers the risk of operational mistakes, protects the organization legally and operationally, and provides leadership with clear visibility into risk and the status of recommendations and closure.