Authorized testing in depth
Threat modeling, assessment planning, and safe validation inside a documented authorization boundary.
Last updated · September 2026
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Offensive mode supports security professionals working within a documented authorization boundary: threat modeling, assessment planning, code and configuration review, attack-surface analysis, and safe validation. Not uncontrolled activity.
| Task | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Engagement framing | Define the owner, written authorization, dates, in-scope assets, exclusions, communications path, and stop conditions. |
| Attack-surface review | Inventory exposed services and trust boundaries from supplied information, then prioritize validation by risk and impact. |
| Application review | Analyze supplied code, architecture, or test notes for design weaknesses and remediation options. |
| Cloud and identity review | Assess supplied configuration and permission relationships, emphasizing least privilege and safe verification. |
| Control validation | Design non-destructive checks that show whether a control detects or prevents a known behavior. |
| Reporting | Convert observations into reproducible findings with impact, evidence, severity rationale, remediation, and retest criteria. |
Required before testing
Written authorization, named scope, time window, rate or impact limits, emergency contact, data-handling rules, and an agreed stop condition. If any of these are unknown, use the output to prepare the engagement rather than begin activity.
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