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From SysAdmin to Pentester - Part 4 - Tickets please

Posted on 2022-10-24 by Nathan Jarvie in Certifications


Part 4 of the Sysadmin-to-Pentester series is discusses offensive security foundation-level certifications. While not required to get a job in the infosec industry, there is no denying that certifications help your chances of landing your first role. Luckily for you, I have done quite a few so far, and can tell you which are worth your time (and which are not).

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From SysAdmin to Pentester - Part 3 - How to stand out in a crowd of paper

Posted on 2022-10-17 by Nathan Jarvie in Industry


Part 3 of the Sysadmin-to-Pentester series is all about how to make your CV stand out from the crowd. Junior roles are rare with many many applications. Additionally, hacking skills don’t translate well to text. So how do we show we have more skill and drive to be a penetration tester than the other candidates, on paper? Well…

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From SysAdmin to Pentester - Part 2 - Great expectations

Posted on 2022-10-10 by Nathan Jarvie in Industry


Part 2 of the Sysadmin-to-Pentester series is discusses the differences between the idea and the reality of being a penetration tester. The certifications and the industry paint a picture a little different from the reality. A better understanding and more preparation towards the roles requirements will help you to decide if this is the role for you and how to ace the interviews.

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From SysAdmin to Pentester - Part 1 - The hard way

Posted on 2022-10-05 by Nathan Jarvie in Industry


This is the first part of a 5 part series in which I will walk through the decision making process and the steps involved in transitioning from a system administrator to a penetration tester. The certifications taken and the the issues and obstacles that I faced along the way.

This is my story, and I hope it helps to inspire people who are considering a mid-life career change that it is possible to do so and to take the leap.

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Active Directory Hacking Speedrun

Posted on 2022-09-23 by Alexei Doudkine in Tools of the Trade


On Saturday 24th of September, I gave a presentation at CSECcon titled, “Active Directory Hacking Speedrun! 14 attacks in 30 minutes.” This post is here to provide some post-talk resources to those wanting to learn about any of these attacks, how they work and recreate them.

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5 methods for Bypassing XSS Detection in WAFs

Posted on 2022-08-09 by Karel Knibbe in Tools of the Trade


Ever since the 1990s, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities have plagued the world wide web. It’s been a difficult problem to solve because of the many ways that it can introduce itself in applications. This, and other application level attacks, contributed to the rise of Web Application Firewalls (WAFs). However, like any other solution that does not tackle the problem by its roots, it’s not ideal. Pentesters, red teamers, bug hunters and malicious actors alike have been playing cat and mouse with vendors to find ways around these additional defence mechanisms. In this post, we’ll be discussing a few fundamental techniques that you can use to bypass these firewalls.

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We were vulnerable - how a security company could have vulns

Posted on 2022-06-22 by Alexei Doudkine in Volkis News


Well, it finally happened! We received the first submission to our Vulnerability Disclosure Program with actual possible impact. And, although it didn’t actually affect us or our clients in any way, it could have. So we awarded it a P3! But how could this happen? We’re security experts ourselves, so shouldn’t we have picked up on it? Well, as we always tell our clients, “security is hard” and no one is perfect.

In the interest of transparency (one of our core values), let’s dig deeper to see how this tale unfolded so that others may learn.

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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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