Blog

Attack Surface Management - The importance of knowing what you have

Posted on 2022-05-18 by Volkis in Business Security


Here’s the problem: technology is evolving rapidly, cloud adoption is at an all time high, development is faster than ever, infrastructure has become more dynamic, and security is struggling to keep up! The first step to regaining control: knowing what you have.

Let’s talk about it!

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The value that Volkis brings as a company for penetration testing

Posted on 2022-04-13 by Matt Strahan in Volkis News


When building a cyber security company there’s a question we have to keep front of mind at all times. What value do we bring as a company? It’s one thing to just say “yes of course we provide value as a company” but for me I’ve tried to make an actual list. I’ve put up the results of this up in a new handbook page.

This exercise is more than just a bit of a boost for our egos. Rather, it’s a genuine component of the consulting model - of the business model that Volkis fits into. Whenever we have an engagement, there are three parties that come into play. They are the client, the consultancy, and the consultants themselves. The value of the consultants’ time is obvious: they perform the work. They find the security vulnerabilities in the systems that are being tested or find the ways the system might not be up to spec.

Why would the client not just contract someone out directly or employ their own pentester? If we don’t provide actual value then what’s the point? Thinking about this question directly has helped me solidify in my mind what we need to do well as a company and helped build our business model.

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How to Get the Most Out of Your Penetration Test 🤷

Posted on 2022-04-05 by Volkis in Business Security


Our experience performing thousands of penetration tests has given us an in-depth understanding of common issues when engaging a consultant to complete a penetration test. We like to see our customers get the most possible value out of their penetration tests. Much of the responsibility lies with the penetration test provider, but cooperation and communication from our customers is also a key factor in the value that is provided.

In this article, we will be outlining some ways in which you, as an organisation receiving a penetration test, can get the most value for the money you are spending.

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Basic security for humans in 4 Fridays

Posted on 2022-03-09 by Alexei Doudkine in Tools of the Trade


This post is going to be a little different. Instead of talking about the industry or business security, I’m going to share my guide on how to set up your own basic personal security. It is intended to be followed by non-technical people in 4 Fridays. My goal is to get as many people on this basic programme as I can, so I do ask you to share it with your friends and family. And, if you are a bit more tech-savvy, please help them along the way. 🙂

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How to Share Social Media Credentials Securely

Posted on 2022-03-01 by Jessica Williams in Tools of the trade


Social media has become the platform that companies all over the world use to communicate with their customers, clients, critics, and investors. An attacker who gains access to an organisation’s social media accounts is able to send any message that they wish, posing as the organisation. Sending the wrong message on social media can cause a backlash, bad publicity, and in rare cases even be illegal as Elon Musk found out in 2018 when he was sued by the SEC over one of his tweets.

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What questions should a board ask about cyber security reports?

Posted on 2022-02-07 by Matt Strahan in Business Security


Cyber security is now one of the top-of-mind topics for boards in Australia. Security assessment reports including technical reports such as from penetration testing are being placed in board papers. Although cyber security skills are becoming more commonly represented in boards, it is still the case that boards are called to interpret and act on the results of cyber security assessments without really understanding the practicalities that can underly it all.

What makes it even more difficult for board members is that the regulation and standards around cyber security reports aren’t as mature as for financial reports. While there’s a lot the cyber security assessment report might say, there’s also information that you might not be able to get until you ask the right questions.

While this is not a comprehensive list of questions you might want to ask, I’ve put together some questions that might uncover some of the gotchyas and catches you might not expect when reading a cyber security assessment report.

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State of Volkis - what do we do well and what should we improve?

Posted on 2022-02-04 by Matt Strahan in Volkis News


A few weeks ago we had an internal strategy session with everyone at Volkis. In this session we only discussed four questions:

  • What does Volkis do well?
  • What can we improve?
  • What are pain points that could be taken away?
  • What does Volkis stand for?

While usually when companies do this they would keep it close, especially the “what can we improve” section. Transparency, though, ended up being something that everyone liked and wanted us to keep doing. In this spirit, everything we talked about in that session has been uploaded to our handbook as The State of Volkis.

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PEN-300 Course Review

Posted on 2021-05-21 by Alexei Doudkine in Industry


It’s done! I just completed my OSEP exam and submitted the report. In true Offensive Security style, the course was challenging but very doable given enough motivation. But was it worth it? Did PEN-300, one of Offensive Security’s new replacement courses for the outdated and retired Cracking the Perimeter course live up to the expectations? If you’re thinking about taking the course, read on as I go into the good parts and bad parts of the course.

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What to do to prepare for a penetration test

Posted on 2021-03-31 by Matt Strahan in Business Security


You’re spending a lot of money on getting your systems tested, with expensive consultants spending days, weeks, or even months making sure your systems are secure. You want to get the most for your money, right? You can make the test more effective just by properly preparing.

In general, the more you put into something the more you’ll get out. Penetration testing is no exception. With five steps you can properly prepare for testing, make the test run smoother, and get a better result.

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Cease and desist from calling our products insecure

Posted on 2021-03-03 by Matt Strahan in Business Security


Earlier today Xerox reportedly threatened the Airbus Security Lab researcher Raphaël Rigo with legal action to prevent him from presenting at the Infiltrate security conference. Although obviously we haven’t seen the presentation, the summary said that he was going to talk about vulnerabilities in Xerox printers and give tips on how to secure them.

Is this going to prevent vulnerabilities from being exploited in the wild, or are the organisations who have Xerox printers now just less secure because they won’t know the steps they might need to take to protect themselves?

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