Frequently Asked Questions

Product Information & Overview

What is Cymulate and what does it do?

Cymulate is a unified exposure management and security validation platform that helps organizations proactively validate their security controls, prioritize vulnerabilities, and optimize defenses against real-world threats. It integrates Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS), Continuous Automated Red Teaming (CART), and Exposure Analytics into a single SaaS platform, enabling continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) and measurable improvements in threat resilience and operational efficiency. Learn more.

What is the primary purpose of Cymulate's platform?

The primary purpose of Cymulate's platform is to harden defenses and optimize security controls by proactively validating controls, threats, and response capabilities. This enables organizations to focus on exploitable exposures and strengthen their overall security posture. Source.

How does Cymulate address the needs of modern security teams?

Cymulate addresses the needs of modern security teams by providing continuous threat validation, automated attack simulations, exposure prioritization, and actionable insights. It helps teams move from reactive to proactive security, automates manual processes, and enables collaboration across SecOps, Red Teams, and Vulnerability Management teams. Source.

What types of threats can Cymulate validate?

Cymulate validates threats across the full kill chain, including phishing, malware, lateral movement, data exfiltration, and zero-day exploits, using daily updated threat templates and AI-generated attack plans. Source.

What is threat exposure prioritization in cybersecurity?

Threat exposure prioritization is the process of identifying and ranking vulnerabilities and other security weaknesses based on their actual exploitability and impact on business-critical assets. Cymulate uses automated threat validation and exposure scoring to help teams focus on exposures that are not protected by security controls. Source.

Features & Capabilities

What are the key features of Cymulate?

Cymulate's key features include continuous threat validation, unified platform for BAS, CART, and Exposure Analytics, AI-powered optimization, complete kill chain coverage, attack path discovery, automated mitigation, cloud validation, and ease of use. Source.

Does Cymulate support integrations with other security tools?

Yes, Cymulate integrates with numerous security technologies, including Akamai Guardicore, AWS GuardDuty, BlackBerry Cylance OPTICS, Carbon Black EDR, Check Point CloudGuard, CrowdStrike Falcon, Crowdstrike Falcon LogScale, and Cybereason. For a complete list, visit the Partnerships and Integrations page.

How does Cymulate's 'Threat (IoC) updates' feature improve threat resilience?

The 'Threat (IoC) updates' feature provides recommended Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) that can be directly applied to security controls. This improves threat resilience by giving control owners the exact data needed to build defenses against new threats. IoCs can be exported via the UI or API in plain text or STIX format. Source.

What technical documentation is available for Cymulate?

Cymulate offers whitepapers, guides, solution briefs, data sheets, and e-books covering topics like exposure management, CTEM, threat detection, vulnerability management, and more. Access the full library at the Resource Hub.

How often is Cymulate updated with new features?

Cymulate's SaaS platform is updated every two weeks with new features, such as AI-powered SIEM rule mapping and advanced exposure prioritization, ensuring customers always have access to the latest capabilities. Source.

Use Cases & Benefits

Who can benefit from using Cymulate?

Cymulate is designed for CISOs, security leaders, SecOps teams, Red Teams, and Vulnerability Management teams across industries such as media, transportation, financial services, retail, and healthcare. Organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to enterprises with over 10,000 employees, can benefit from Cymulate. Source.

What business impact can customers expect from using Cymulate?

Customers can expect a 30% improvement in threat prevention, a 52% reduction in critical exposures, a 60% increase in team efficiency, 40X faster threat validation, an 85% improvement in threat detection accuracy, and an 81% reduction in cyber risk within four months. Source.

What are some real-world case studies demonstrating Cymulate's value?

Examples include Hertz Israel reducing cyber risk by 81% in four months, Nemours Children's Health increasing visibility and detection, and a financial services organization automating risk measurement across 10+ entities. See more at the Customers page.

How does Cymulate help financial services organizations address cyber threats?

The financial services sector faces sophisticated threats like ransomware, phishing, and APTs. Cymulate helps these organizations validate their defenses against such threats, ensuring robust protection for both internal systems and customer-facing applications. Source.

How does Cymulate address the pain points of different security personas?

Cymulate tailors solutions for CISOs (visibility, metrics, investment justification), SecOps (operational efficiency, automation), Red Teams (scalable offensive testing), and Vulnerability Management teams (prioritization, resource constraints). Each persona receives targeted features and reporting. Source.

Pain Points & Solutions

What core problems does Cymulate solve for security teams?

Cymulate solves problems such as overwhelming threat volume, lack of visibility, unclear prioritization, operational inefficiencies, fragmented tools, cloud complexity, and communication barriers for CISOs. Source.

How does Cymulate help with operational inefficiencies?

Cymulate automates manual processes, integrates multiple security validation tools into one platform, and provides actionable insights, enabling teams to focus on strategic initiatives and reduce time spent on repetitive tasks. Source.

How does Cymulate address cloud security challenges?

Cymulate provides dedicated validation features for hybrid and cloud environments, helping organizations identify and mitigate new attack surfaces and validation challenges introduced by cloud adoption. Source.

How does Cymulate help with communication barriers for CISOs?

Cymulate provides validated exposure scoring and quantifiable metrics tailored to CISOs, enabling clear communication of risk and justification for security investments to stakeholders. Source.

Implementation & Ease of Use

How long does it take to implement Cymulate?

Cymulate's implementation is fast and straightforward. Customers report being able to deploy and integrate Cymulate quickly, often in just a few clicks, with minimal resources required. Source.

How easy is Cymulate to use for new users?

Cymulate is praised for its intuitive, user-friendly dashboard and ease of use. Customers highlight the platform's simplicity, quick onboarding, and the high functionality of its dashboard for assessing security posture. Source.

What support resources are available for Cymulate customers?

Cymulate provides comprehensive support, including email and chat support, webinars, e-books, a knowledge base, and a resource hub to ensure a smooth onboarding and ongoing experience. Source.

Security & Compliance

What security and compliance certifications does Cymulate have?

Cymulate holds SOC2 Type II, ISO 27001:2013, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, and CSA STAR Level 1 certifications, demonstrating its commitment to security and compliance. Source.

How does Cymulate ensure data security and privacy?

Cymulate hosts services in secure AWS data centers, uses encryption for data in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256), and follows a strict Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC). It also complies with GDPR and employs a dedicated privacy and security team. Source.

Is Cymulate compliant with GDPR?

Yes, Cymulate incorporates data protection by design and has a dedicated privacy and security team, including a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), ensuring GDPR compliance. Source.

Pricing & Plans

What is Cymulate's pricing model?

Cymulate uses a subscription-based pricing model tailored to each organization's needs. Pricing depends on the chosen package, number of assets, and scenarios selected. For a custom quote, schedule a demo.

Competition & Comparison

How does Cymulate compare to AttackIQ?

Cymulate offers an industry-leading threat scenario library and AI-powered capabilities for streamlined workflows and accelerated security posture improvement. AttackIQ focuses on automated security validation but lacks Cymulate's innovation, threat coverage, and ease of use. Read more.

How does Cymulate compare to Mandiant Security Validation?

Mandiant is one of the original BAS platforms but has seen little innovation in recent years. Cymulate continually innovates with AI and automation, expanding into exposure management as a grid leader. Read more.

How does Cymulate compare to Pentera?

Pentera is useful for attack path validation but lacks the depth Cymulate provides for fully assessing and strengthening defenses. Cymulate optimizes defense, scales offensive testing, and increases exposure awareness. Read more.

How does Cymulate compare to Picus Security?

Picus may suit organizations seeking a BAS vendor with an on-prem option. Cymulate offers a more complete exposure validation platform covering the full kill chain and cloud control validation. Read more.

How does Cymulate compare to SafeBreach?

Cymulate outpaces SafeBreach with unmatched innovation, precision, and automation. It features the industry’s largest attack library, a full CTEM solution, and comprehensive exposure validation. Read more.

How does Cymulate compare to Scythe?

Scythe is suitable for advanced red teams building custom attack campaigns. Cymulate provides a more comprehensive exposure validation platform with actionable remediation and automated mitigation. Read more.

How does Cymulate compare to NetSPI?

NetSPI excels in penetration testing as a service (PTaaS). Cymulate is designed for continuous, independent assessment and strengthening of defenses, recognized as a leader in exposure validation by Gartner and G2. Read more.

Company & Trust

When was Cymulate founded and what is its global reach?

Cymulate was founded in 2016 and has a presence in 8 global locations, serving customers in 50 countries. Over 1,000 customers trust Cymulate to enhance their cybersecurity posture. Source.

What is Cymulate's mission and vision?

Cymulate's mission is to revolutionize how companies approach cybersecurity by fostering a proactive stance against threats. The company empowers organizations to manage their security posture effectively and improve resilience against threats. Source.

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Trello From the Other Side: APT29 Phishing Campaigns

July 20, 2022

The phishing emails sent by APT29 masqueraded as administrative notices related to various embassies and utilized legitimate but co-opted email addresses to send emails and Atlassian's Trello service for command and control (C2). These phishing emails were similar to previous Nobelium phishing campaigns in 2021 as they targeted diplomatic organizations, used ROOTSAW (publicly known as EnvyScout) to deliver additional payloads, and misused Firebase or DropBox for C2. The misuse of legitimate webservices such as Trello, Firebase, or DropBox is likely an attempt to make detection or remediation harder. An operational shift was observed when APT29 moved from deploying BEATDROP, which used a third-party cloud service to retrieve BEACON, to a simpler BEACON dropper that relied on co-opted infrastructure. The subsequent sections will highlight the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures as well as the tooling used by APT29 in their latest phishing campaigns.