Attack Simulation & Global Threat Assessment (GTA)
See how a sophisticated attacker could identify weaknesses, attempt to gain access and target your organisation's critical systems.
Samurai Security's Attack Simulation service, also known as our Global Threat Assessment (GTA), is an intelligence-led security assessment that recreates realistic attacker behaviour in a controlled, authorised engagement. It combines external reconnaissance, relevant threat intelligence and targeted technical testing to examine how an adversary could identify opportunities, choose entry points and attempt to compromise your environment.
Unlike a penetration test focused on an individual application or system, our cyber attack simulation considers how weaknesses across publicly accessible assets, identities, cloud services, applications and trusted integrations could be combined into credible attack paths. The aim is to show which attack scenarios can be demonstrated, how well relevant security controls perform and where remediation should be prioritised.
What Is an Attack Simulation or Global Threat Assessment?
An attack simulation is an authorised security assessment that recreates the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) a real-world adversary might use against an organisation. It tests whether plausible attack paths can be followed in practice, rather than considering every vulnerability in isolation.
Global Threat Assessment (GTA) is Samurai Security's intelligence-led approach to attack simulation. Both terms describe the same core service: using external intelligence and attacker-informed scenarios to assess resilience to initial compromise.
The assessment starts by examining the organisation's externally visible digital footprint and the threat actors, objectives and techniques relevant to its sector and technology. This intelligence informs a set of realistic attack scenarios and prioritised entry points. Samurai Security then performs controlled testing against approved targets to establish whether identified weaknesses could enable unauthorised access or an initial foothold.
Depending on the agreed scope, GTA may incorporate open-source intelligence (OSINT), threat actor profiling, manual penetration testing, identity and API abuse scenarios, cloud exposure testing and tailored social engineering activity. Post-compromise and insider simulations can be added as separately agreed phases.
The value of this threat-led attack simulation is understanding how multiple security weaknesses could combine into a credible intrusion, supported by evidence of what the team was able to demonstrate.
Why Is Attack Simulation Important?
Modern attackers do not limit their reconnaissance to the systems an organisation already knows about. They can investigate forgotten subdomains, exposed cloud services, public documentation, leaked technical artefacts, identity entry points and relationships with third parties before deciding how to proceed.
A conventional penetration test generally focuses on a defined application, network or environment. Attack simulation through GTA takes a broader, intelligence-led approach: it examines the externally visible organisation, considers likely attacker objectives and develops attack paths based on the opportunities identified. Testing remains subject to an agreed scope and rules of engagement.
This helps organisations answer critical questions:
- What can an attacker discover about our organisation without privileged access?
- Are unknown, legacy or unmanaged services increasing our exposure?
- Could weaknesses in applications, APIs, identities or cloud services provide an entry point?
- Can separate vulnerabilities or misconfigurations be chained into a realistic compromise path?
- How effective are our preventive, monitoring and detection controls against the agreed scenarios?
- Which weaknesses should we address first to reduce the greatest level of business risk?
Key Benefits of Attack Simulation and GTA
Realistic Cyber Attack Simulation
Evaluate attack methods informed by the behaviour of organised criminal groups, advanced persistent threats and other sophisticated adversaries relevant to your organisation.
Greater Visibility of External Exposure
Discover publicly visible systems, forgotten infrastructure, legacy services and potential shadow IT that may not be covered by existing asset inventories or testing programmes.
Validation of Real-World Attack Paths
Move beyond individual findings to understand how an attacker might combine technical weaknesses, exposed information and identity-related issues to obtain initial access.
Improved Detection and Response Insight
Assess whether monitoring and security controls identify relevant activity during the agreed simulation, helping to highlight opportunities to improve detection and response.
Prioritised Remediation
Receive evidence-based findings and practical recommendations that support decisions about remediation, security investment and future assessment activity.
Better Understanding of Business Risk
See how technical weaknesses could affect sensitive information, business-critical services, customer trust and operational resilience, without assuming that every potential attack path is exploitable.
What Does Our Attack Simulation Cover?
Our GTA attack simulation focuses on the agreed external attack surface, attacker-informed scenarios and validation of initial access paths. The exact activities are tailored to the organisation and approved in the rules of engagement. The following capabilities may form part of an engagement.
External Reconnaissance and Digital Footprint Analysis
Identify information and assets visible to potential attackers, including:
- Primary and secondary domains, subdomains and regional services
- Public IP addresses, internet-facing hosts and exposed network services
- Web applications, public APIs and API gateways
- Authentication portals, administrative interfaces and support services
- Publicly discoverable cloud services and storage endpoints
- Developer documentation, partner interfaces and integration endpoints
- Content delivery networks, edge services and hosting relationships
- Exposed development or staging systems, legacy services and shadow IT
- Public code repositories, build artefacts and other exposed technical information
- Relevant DNS records, certificate transparency data and domain registration information
Where included in the engagement, Samurai Security's proprietary Black Dragon platform supports the collection and correlation of external intelligence to establish an attack-surface view.
Threat Intelligence and Attacker Profiling
Use relevant threat intelligence to assess which attacker behaviours are most applicable to the organisation's sector and technology, including:
- Account takeover and credential reuse
- Credential harvesting and weaknesses in multi-factor authentication
- Cloud identity and access management abuse
- Theft, replay or misuse of API tokens
- Exploitation of externally exposed applications and services
- Abuse of administrative or support interfaces
- Exploitation of trusted integrations and service relationships
- Techniques associated with maintaining access after an initial compromise
Threat intelligence is used to inform plausible attack scenarios. It does not establish that a particular threat actor is actively targeting the organisation.
Web Application and API Security Testing
Perform targeted manual testing against agreed web applications, APIs, gateways and partner interfaces. Areas of assessment may include:
- Injection vulnerabilities
- Broken authentication and authorisation
- Business logic weaknesses
- API-specific security flaws
- Security misconfigurations
- Sensitive functionality exposed through application or API access
- Issues aligned with the OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Security Top 10
Where authorised, identified weaknesses may be exploited in a controlled manner to validate whether they could permit unauthorised access or support an initial foothold.
External Infrastructure, Cloud and Identity Testing
Assess agreed internet-facing systems and relevant configurations for weaknesses such as:
- Exposed ports, services and management interfaces
- Insecure or misconfigured network services
- Internet-accessible cloud resources and control-plane exposures
- Weaknesses in identity and authentication services
- Misconfigured access controls and firewall rules
- Insecure trust relationships between services, identities or platforms
- Exposed hosting, orchestration and supporting infrastructure
Initial Access and Foothold Attack Simulation
Attempt agreed, controlled initial access scenarios that reflect realistic attacker behaviour, such as:
- Exploitation of externally accessible vulnerabilities
- Use of compromised or exposed credentials within the agreed test conditions
- Abuse of APIs, authentication workflows or access tokens
- Exploitation of identity-related weaknesses
- Abuse of trusted integration paths
Where initial access is achieved, the team can validate the nature of the foothold and assess relevant monitoring or detection responses. Any persistence testing is subject to explicit authorisation and agreed limits.
Targeted Social Engineering and Deception (Where Agreed)
Depending on the assessment objectives and permissions, GTA may include bespoke spear-phishing, executive-targeted phishing (whaling), pretexting or other controlled social engineering scenarios. These activities are separately agreed and are not assumed to be included in every GTA.
Post-Compromise and Malicious Insider Simulation (Extended Scope)
Organisations may extend the engagement beyond initial access to examine what an attacker or compromised user could achieve internally. This is a separate, agreed phase that can include:
- Mapping reachable internal systems and high-value services
- Misuse of legitimate access, administrative interfaces or support tooling
- Testing role boundaries and segregation of duties
- Privilege escalation involving cloud roles, service accounts or application identities
- Lateral movement and abuse of trust relationships
- Access to sensitive data or restricted functions under controlled conditions
- Assessment of internal detection, monitoring and insider-risk controls
Scope clarification: Core Attack Simulation / GTA focuses on external attack paths and initial foothold. Internal lateral movement and malicious insider simulation form a separately agreed extended phase and are not automatically included.
Who Is Attack Simulation For?
Our attack simulation service is suited to organisations with a complex or significant public-facing digital footprint, particularly where a compromise could have material operational, financial or reputational consequences.
It may be especially relevant to:
- Organisations operating nationally or internationally
- Businesses expanding through acquisitions, with multiple inherited technology environments
- Financial services, fintech, investment and trading platforms
- Cloud-native, software-as-a-service and API-driven businesses
- Legal, insurance, healthcare and telecommunications organisations
- Aerospace, defence, engineering, construction and technology companies
- Transport, media, mining, non-profit and government organisations
Attack simulation may also be appropriate for organisations that have already undertaken conventional penetration testing and want to understand how a wider, intelligence-led cyber attack might unfold.
Why Choose Samurai Security?
Adversary-Focused Attack Simulation
Our assessment is driven by realistic attacker objectives and decision-making, rather than relying solely on standardised vulnerability checks.
01
Intelligence Informed by External Exposure
Where included, our Black Dragon capability provides external reconnaissance and attack-surface intelligence that can inform attack path selection and testing priorities.
02
Manual Technical Validation
Our team investigates relevant application, API, infrastructure, cloud and identity weaknesses, attempting controlled exploitation where authorised to establish their practical significance.
03
Tailored Rules of Engagement
We work with your organisation to agree the intended outcomes, target systems, permitted techniques, operational restrictions and escalation arrangements before intrusive testing begins.
04
Actionable Reporting
Findings are presented in the context of plausible attacker behaviour and business impact, with prioritised recommendations to support remediation planning.
05
Our Attack Simulation Approach
01
Consultation, Objectives and Scope
We discuss your organisation, key concerns, business-critical services and assessment objectives. The initial discovery conversation can begin with your organisation's name. Before intrusive activity, we agree the scope, authorisations, rules of engagement, permitted techniques and communication arrangements.
02
Reconnaissance and Digital Footprint Review
We establish an externally visible view of relevant assets and public information. This can be supported by Black Dragon where that capability forms part of the engagement. Findings may include previously unknown services, potential initial access points and connections between systems.
03
Threat Intelligence and Attack Scenario Development
We correlate relevant intelligence and technical findings to identify credible threat scenarios. Potential attacker objectives, likely entry points and paths towards high-value services are considered and prioritised for the approved testing activity.
04
Controlled Cyber Attack Simulation
Using the agreed scenarios, our team performs targeted security testing against approved applications, APIs, identity services, cloud surfaces and external infrastructure. Where permitted, vulnerabilities are exploited to determine whether an initial foothold is achievable.
05
Validation and Security Control Analysis
We assess the outcomes of attempted and successful attacks, document exploitable and non-exploitable paths and review relevant evidence of preventive, monitoring and detection controls. Any activity beyond initial foothold is performed only where separately authorised.
06
Reporting, Debrief and Remediation Priorities
We provide findings through the agreed reporting channels, explain attack paths and associated business risks and recommend remediation priorities. Where the reconnaissance stage is included, an initial Digital Footprint Presentation can provide an early overview before further testing and reporting.
Attack Simulation and GTA Deliverables
The final outputs are agreed during scoping and reflect the activities actually performed.
Digital Footprint Presentation
Where external reconnaissance forms part of the engagement, an initial presentation summarises discovered exposure, relevant intelligence and areas of concern. It can support discussion of subsequent testing priorities.
Comprehensive Attack Simulation / Global Threat Assessment Report
A detailed report documents the approved assessment activity and results, including:
- Executive summary and key business risks
- Assessment scope, methodology and limitations
- Identified weaknesses, relevant vulnerabilities and security misconfigurations
- Attempted and successful attack techniques
- Confirmed exploitation results and evidence
- Plausible but unvalidated attack paths, clearly distinguished from demonstrated compromise
- Analysis of initial access vectors and technical foothold opportunities
- Relevant observations about preventive, monitoring and detection controls
- Prioritised, actionable remediation recommendations
Prioritised Security Improvement Roadmap
Recommendations are organised to help your organisation reduce material exposure and plan further security improvements, including changes to technical controls, identity security, visibility, monitoring or operational practices as relevant to the findings.
Secure Reporting Access
During the engagement you typically receive access to assessment findings through a secure reporting portal. Exact reporting arrangements and the availability of live updates are confirmed in the proposal.
Additional Outputs for Extended Programmes
Where Black Dragon and/or post-compromise simulation is included, further outputs may comprise:
- A consolidated external asset and intelligence inventory
- A spreadsheet of discovered external assets and associated data
- Asset categorisation by business impact and attacker attractiveness
- Illustrative diagrams of observed and potential attack paths
- Analysis of privilege controls, segregation of duties and internal detection
- Recommendations covering people, processes and technology
Methodologies and Frameworks
Our Global Threat Assessment and Attack Simulation methodology combines Samurai Security's own tactics, techniques and procedures with relevant elements of recognised adversarial testing approaches and knowledge bases, including:
- MITRE ATT&CK: A knowledge base for describing and mapping adversary tactics and techniques.
- Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES): A reference for structuring penetration testing activities.
- CBEST: A Bank of England intelligence-led testing framework that can inform approaches for relevant financial-sector scenarios.
- TIBER-EU: A European framework for threat intelligence-based ethical red teaming.
- OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Security Top 10: References for relevant web application and API security weaknesses.
The methods applied depend on the engagement and its authorised scope. Drawing on elements of CBEST or TIBER-EU does not mean a GTA is a formally recognised CBEST or TIBER-EU assessment.
Compliance and Risk Management Considerations
Our Attack Simulation and GTA service can support an organisation's wider risk management, security assurance and resilience activities by providing evidence of how controls perform against selected realistic attack scenarios.
Findings can help inform security risk assessments, remediation planning, management reporting and the evaluation of technical and operational controls. This may be useful where an organisation has regulatory, contractual or governance obligations to assess and manage cyber risk.
An attack simulation or GTA does not, by itself, demonstrate compliance with a particular regulation or standard, prevent regulatory enforcement or guarantee that a cyber attack will not occur. Any formal compliance mapping should be agreed against the specific requirements applicable to the organisation.
Our Work
Strengthening Cybersecurity Resilience
“Samurai takes the time to understand our needs and helps us to be an enabler for Flagship Group’s mission. It’s always a pleasure to work with them and I’d recommend them to others.”
Enabling Remote Work for the NHS
“When I have a problem nobody else can solve, I call Samurai because I know that they’ll deliver what I need, every time, without fail.”
Incident Response Retainers To Enable Growth
“This partnership has allowed us to scale and grow with the confidence that we are protected from cyber threats around the clock.”
Client Testimonials
“Samurai takes the time to understand our needs and helps us to be an enabler for Flagship Group’s mission. It’s always a pleasure to work with them and I’d recommend them to others.”
“We were astonished by what Samurai’s Black Dragon assessment revealed, even though we thought we had everything covered. The findings spoke for themselves, and the team’s expertise and clarity were outstanding.”
"Samurai’s Black Dragon: Attack Surface Risk Assessment was exactly what we needed and something we’ve never seen done before. They turned it around quickly, highlighted risks that could have easily been overlooked, and gave us a clear roadmap for improvement."
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cyber attack simulation?
A cyber attack simulation is a controlled, authorised exercise that follows realistic attacker tactics to test how weaknesses could be used to gain access to an organisation. It helps validate potential intrusion paths and relevant preventive or detective controls, with activities restricted to an agreed scope.
Is Attack Simulation the same as a Global Threat Assessment (GTA)?
Yes. At Samurai Security, Global Threat Assessment (GTA) is the name of our intelligence-led attack simulation service. GTA combines external intelligence, relevant threat actor behaviours and controlled technical testing to examine how an attacker could gain an initial foothold. Additional post-compromise or insider scenarios can be separately agreed.
How is attack simulation different from penetration testing?
A conventional penetration test usually assesses a defined system, application or network. Our GTA attack simulation uses external reconnaissance and threat intelligence to develop attacker-informed scenarios across the agreed external attack surface. It investigates whether separate weaknesses can be combined into credible routes to initial compromise. Both forms of testing require a defined scope and authorisation.
Is attack simulation the same as red teaming?
They are related approaches, but not necessarily identical. Red team exercises may include extended adversary emulation, defined objectives and wider testing of defensive response. Core GTA focuses on external attack paths and establishing an initial foothold. Post-compromise activity, covert techniques and wider defensive exercises require an agreed extension to the scope.
What systems can be included in an attack simulation?
Depending on scope, a GTA can assess externally accessible web applications, APIs, cloud services, authentication and identity entry points, public infrastructure and trusted integration interfaces. Any phishing, social engineering or internal activity must be explicitly agreed.
Does Attack Simulation / GTA include Black Dragon reconnaissance?
Black Dragon can provide the reconnaissance and external intelligence foundation for GTA. Where a three-phase programme is used, Black Dragon is a distinct first phase that precedes GTA. Whether it is included in your engagement is set out in the scope and proposal.
Will the attack simulation attempt to gain access to our systems?
Where authorised, GTA can include controlled exploitation of identified weaknesses to determine whether an attacker could gain unauthorised access or establish an initial foothold. The targets, techniques, stop conditions and escalation arrangements are agreed before intrusive testing.
Can the attack simulation include phishing or social engineering?
It can. Bespoke spear-phishing, whaling and other deception-based scenarios are available where appropriate to the assessment objectives. These activities require explicit agreement and are not included automatically in every engagement.
Does the service include internal attack simulation or malicious insider testing?
The core external GTA phase is focused on initial access. Internal privilege escalation, lateral movement and malicious insider simulations can be included as a separate extended phase, subject to the agreed scope and any access prerequisites.
How much information do we need to provide before starting?
An initial conversation can begin with your organisation's name. The team will then discuss any relevant asset lists, IP addresses, URLs, technology details and business priorities. Explicit authorisation, a confirmed scope and rules of engagement are required before intrusive testing begins.
How long does an Attack Simulation or GTA take?
Engagements typically run for a minimum of three weeks (15 working days), with larger or more extensive programmes lasting up to 12 months. Actual duration depends on organisational complexity, scope, objectives and budget, and is agreed during planning.
What communication can we expect during the engagement?
You can expect weekly progress updates, an initial Digital Footprint Presentation where reconnaissance is included, and subsequent reviews to discuss findings and next steps. Exact reporting milestones and points of contact are confirmed at the outset.
What do we receive when the assessment is complete?
You receive an assessment report documenting the activity performed, identified security weaknesses, relevant attack paths, evidence and prioritised remediation recommendations. Further outputs, such as a discovered-asset inventory, attack path diagrams or internal-control analysis, depend on the scope of the engagement.
Can attack simulation support our regulatory or compliance activities?
Our attack simulation service can provide evidence for risk management and security assurance activities. However, it is not a substitute for a formal compliance assessment and does not automatically satisfy the requirements of CBEST, TIBER-EU or any other regulatory scheme.
Related Services
Penetration Testing
Targeted assessments of applications, networks, infrastructure and cloud environments to identify and validate security weaknesses.
Vulnerability Assessments
Identify, evaluate and prioritise security weaknesses across defined systems, applications and network environments.
Phishing and Social Engineering Penetration Testing
Evaluate your organisation's resilience to targeted deception, phishing and other human-focused attack scenarios.
Black Dragon: External Attack Surface Risk Assessment
Discover externally visible assets and exposure that could provide an attacker with useful intelligence or potential entry points.
Test Your Defences with Realistic Attack Simulation
Understand how a determined adversary could investigate your organisation, identify potential entry points and attempt to gain access to critical services.
Speak to Samurai Security about our Attack Simulation and Global Threat Assessment (GTA) service, tailored to your external attack surface, relevant threats and business priorities.
Get in touch
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If you want to chat, give us a call: 0121 740 1304
Or, email us: info@samuraisecurity.co.uk