01Introduction
02What is BAS?
Breach and attack simulation (BAS) is software that safely replays known attacker techniques, typically mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, against production controls to measure which are blocked, which are detected, and which pass silently.
03How BAS works
Most platforms use agents placed inside the environment.
- 1.
Deploy simulators
Lightweight agents run on endpoints and in network segments, cloud accounts and mail flows.
- 2.
Run scenarios
Execute benign versions of ransomware, lateral movement, exfiltration and phishing techniques from a threat library.
- 3.
Score controls
Record whether each step was prevented, detected and alerted on, or missed.
- 4.
Tune and repeat
Fix detection rules and policies, then rerun to confirm the gap is closed. This is the loop purple teams run manually.
04Threats and risks
BAS answers a narrow question well; the risks lie outside it.
Control drift
Policy changes, agent failures and rule edits quietly disable protection that used to work.
Known techniques only
Simulations replay a library; they don't discover flaws unique to your applications.
Application layer gaps
Business logic and broken access control bugs are out of scope for most BAS.
Agent coverage
Results only reflect the segments where simulators are installed.
05How Parameter helps
Parameter covers what BAS leaves out: exploitable flaws in the applications and cloud you build.
Real exploitation
The pentesting agents attack your apps and APIs and prove impact, instead of replaying a library.
No agents to deploy
Testing runs from the outside and through your code and specs.
Compare approaches
See how this differs from automated validation on the Pentera alternative and NodeZero alternative pages.
