David Williams, CEO; Matthew Carr, CTOThis firm initially turned to Atumcell, a leading cyber security provider, after their previous penetration test flagged false positives. Team Atumcell adopted a hacker's perspective, focusing on valuable financial and portfolio company data, ultimately zeroing in on the conference room. They found a compromised conference room monitor — likely backdoored by a foreign entity — recording all business-critical decisions. With no patch available from the installer or manufacturer, the team developed a hot patch to fix the issue. Atumcell’s custom solution served as a high-impact intervention, underscoring the company’s proficiency in tailoring cyber security solutions to fit specific requirements.
This success story demonstrates Atumcell’s expertise in providing penetration testing solutions for high-stakes industries, including private equity-backed and companies relying on complex operational technologies (OT).
“Atumcell penetration tests incorporate the mindset and techniques of real-world attackers. We identify exploitable vulnerabilities and provide guidance on how to eliminate them,” says David Williams, CEO.
Securing Success: One industry at a time
Atumcell's penetration testing services go beyond securing companies, excelling in misconfiguration detection, web application security and cloud security. It helps private equity firms monitor and address risk across their entire portfolio and offers intelligence on upcoming trends. As a measure against bad actors, Atumcell safely emulates advanced adversarial tactics, techniques and tools to assess and safeguard critical infrastructure like oil pipelines and SCADA systems.
“Penetration testing of OT systems requires specialized knowledge to avoid overwhelming critical infrastructure that is often exposed to vulnerabilities due to internet connectivity,” says Matthew Carr, CTO. “Our experience with military and other high-stakes industries allows us to conduct safe, passive and interactive penetration testing using OT-specific protocols, all without disrupting operations.”
Atumcell’s flagship OT security product monitors abnormal behaviors in live systems, maps industrial networks and safely detects vulnerabilities.
Atumcell begins every client engagement process by analyzing the core driver for the test — client demand, compliance standard or proactive measures before product launches. This insight helps define the scope of engagement, giving elbow room to define or expand the approach. Team Atumcell then mimics real-world attacker behavior rather than relying on generic automated scans to uncover actionable vulnerabilities.
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Atumcell penetration tests incorporate the mindset and techniques of real-world attackers. We identify exploitable vulnerabilities and provide guidance on how to eliminate them
For instance, Atumcell collaborated with a mid-size pipeline company that required a penetration test for regulatory compliance and liability insurance renewal. Using passive protocols, it safely evaluated complex OT and IT systems, identifying vulnerabilities without risking downtime or disrupting the company’s operations.
Forward-Thinking Approach
Atumcell has scripted more similar success stories, delivering exceptional results across industries. This level of expertise has enabled the company to offer CISO as a service, allowing mid-sized companies’ access to highly skilled information security specialists at a reasonable cost, meeting both tactical and strategic security needs.
It is continuing to push boundaries by expanding its service portfolio with cloud security tools, SpoofCheck and AtumSeal. These tools enable risk identification across various cloud environments, spoofing detection to prevent phishing attacks and a free-to-use tool for sending encrypted, self-destructing notes. The new AtumScreen provides a fingerprint of a company’s security posture, helping determine whether a penetration test is needed.
As a penetration test alone doesn't guarantee to be "unhackable,” Atumcell emphasizes the importance of periodically switching providers for fresh perspectives, ensuring new vulnerabilities are uncovered and addressed. The company believes that the key to long-term security from emerging cyber threats in this ever-evolving digital landscape is staying vigilant and adaptable.
