Our Methodology
Our Methodology
At Beetles, we follow a structured and comprehensive approach to offensive security testing that blends globally recognized standards with our own advanced methodologies. Every engagement is designed to uncover real-world attack vectors and provide a complete understanding of your organization’s security posture.
Our methodology is grounded in industry-leading frameworks such as the OWASP Top 10, ASVS, MITRE ATT&CK, PTES, and OSTMM ensuring that every assessment is both systematic and aligned with global best practices. This allows us to deliver consistent, measurable, and repeatable results that support compliance and strengthen resilience.
What sets Beetles apart is our hacker-led perspective. Our team goes beyond automated scans and surface-level testing to replicate the mindset, techniques, and creativity of real attackers. By combining human intelligence with proven frameworks, we deliver deep, actionable insights that help you detect, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Our 5-Stage Offensive Security Methodology
Planning & Reconnaissance
The foundation of our methodology begins with thorough planning and reconnaissance. We work closely with your team to define the scope, objectives, and constraints of the security assessment, ensuring alignment with your business goals and compliance requirements.
Test Planning: Developing a comprehensive testing strategy and timeline
Information Gathering: Collecting publicly available information about target systems
Threat Modeling: Identifying potential high-risk areas for focused testing
Vulnerability Scanning
We employ a combination of automated and manual scanning techniques to identify potential vulnerabilities in your systems. Our approach goes beyond simple automated scanning to include manual verification and analysis, eliminating false positives and providing context-aware results.
Automated Scanning: Using industry-leading tools to identify common vulnerabilities
Manual Verification: Expert review to eliminate false positives and assess context
Configuration Analysis: Identifying security misconfigurations and weak settings
Preliminary Risk Assessment: Initial categorization of findings by severity
Manual Penetration Testing
The core of our methodology is manual penetration testing performed by our team of ethical hackers. We simulate real-world attack scenarios to identify vulnerabilities that automated tools cannot detect, including business logic flaws, complex multi-step attack chains, and subtle security weaknesses.
Exploitation Attempts: Safely exploiting identified vulnerabilities to confirm their existence
Business Logic Testing: Identifying flaws in application logic and workflows
Attack Chaining: Combining multiple vulnerabilities to demonstrate realistic attack scenarios
Privilege Escalation: Testing for unauthorized access to sensitive functions and data
Analysis & Risk Assessment
We analyze all identified vulnerabilities to assess their potential impact on your business. Our proprietary Beetles Risk Rating (BRR) system combines technical severity with business impact to provide a comprehensive risk assessment that helps prioritize remediation efforts.
Vulnerability Validation: Confirming the existence and exploitability of each vulnerability
Impact Assessment: Evaluating the potential business impact of each vulnerability
Risk Scoring: Applying our Beetles Risk Rating (BRR) methodology
Prioritization: Ranking vulnerabilities based on risk score to guide remediation efforts
Reporting & Remediation
We deliver comprehensive, actionable reports that document all findings and provide clear remediation guidance. Our reports are designed for multiple audiences, from technical teams to executive stakeholders, ensuring that everyone has the information they need to address security issues effectively.
Executive Summary: High-level overview of findings and recommendations for management
Detailed Documentation: Comprehensive description of each vulnerability with reproduction steps
Remediation Recommendations: Specific, actionable guidance for addressing each vulnerability
Remediation Verification: Optional follow-up testing to confirm successful vulnerability remediation
Beetles Risk Rating (BRR) System
Our proprietary Beetles Risk Rating (BRR) system provides a comprehensive assessment of vulnerability risk, combining technical severity with business impact factors. This approach ensures that remediation efforts are prioritized based on the actual risk to your organization, not just technical severity.
The BRR system uses a scale of 0-10, with higher scores indicating higher risk. Each vulnerability is assessed across multiple dimensions to calculate the final risk score.
Technical Impact Factors
Assessing the technical severity of the vulnerability, including exploitability, complexity, and potential for unauthorized access or data exposure.
Business Impact Factors
Evaluating the potential impact on business operations, including financial loss, reputational damage, regulatory compliance issues, and operational disruption.
Contextual Factors
Considering the specific context of your environment, including existing security controls, compensating measures, and the sensitivity of affected systems or data.
BRR Risk Levels
Critical Risk
Immediate remediation required
High Risk
Prioritized remediation needed
Medium Risk
Planned remediation recommended
Low Risk
Address as part of normal maintenance
Informational
Awareness and monitoring recommended
Industry Standards & Frameworks
OWASP Top 10
We incorporate the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Top 10 list of critical web application security risks into our testing methodology, ensuring comprehensive coverage of common vulnerabilities.
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ASVS
The Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) provides a basis for testing web application technical security controls and also serves as a guideline for secure development.
MITRE ATT&CK
We leverage the MITRE ATT&CK framework to model adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) during our offensive security activities, providing a realistic assessment of your security posture.
PTES
The Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES) defines a common language and scope for performing penetration tests, which we incorporate into our methodology for network and infrastructure testing.
CREST Methodology
As a CREST-certified organization, we adhere to their rigorous standards for ethical, legal, and technical execution of penetration testing and other offensive security activities.
NIST (SP) 800-115
Following NIST (SP) 800-115 means using National Institute of Standards and Technology's structured framework to plan, perform, analyze, and report security assessments for improving system security.
OSSTMM
The Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSTMM) provides a scientific methodology for the accurate characterization of security through examination and correlation in a consistent and reliable way.
Learn MoreReady to Experience Our Methodology in Action?
Let our team of ethical hackers help you identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.