ISO 27001 Control Validation
ISO 27001 Control Validation, in the context of cybersecurity, is the process of confirming that the implemented security controls are operating correctly and achieving their intended objectives in mitigating identified risks. It goes beyond simply verifying that a control exists; it confirms its operational effectiveness and suitability for the environment.
This validation process is a crucial part of the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, specifically residing in the "Check" phase of the Information Security Management System (ISMS). Its goal is to ensure that the organization's security investment is actually yielding the desired reduction in risk.
In detail, Control Validation involves:
Defining Metrics and Criteria: Establishing clear, measurable criteria for what constitutes "correct operation" for each control. For instance, for an access control measure, the metric might be a log audit showing zero unauthorized access attempts over a given period, or for vulnerability management, a penetration test confirming a web application firewall successfully blocked a SQL injection attack.
Continuous Testing and Assurance: Employing methods to test the control's performance. This includes regular auditing, technical testing (like penetration testing and vulnerability scanning), and reviewing operational logs and performance indicators.
Assessing Alignment with Risk Treatment: Ensuring the control remains appropriate for the current threat landscape and the organization's risk acceptance criteria. If a control is put in place to mitigate a specific threat, validation confirms that the danger is indeed being adequately mitigated.
Reporting and Improvement: Documenting the validation results, highlighting any control deficiencies, and feeding this information back into the ISMS for necessary adjustments. If a control is found to be ineffective or only partially effective, the organization must act to improve it (the "Act" phase), which might involve updating the control's configuration or replacing it entirely.
In essence, Control Validation answers the fundamental question: "Are we doing what we said we would do, and is what we are doing actually keeping us secure?" It is evidence of due diligence and due care in maintaining the security posture.
ThreatNG's core function is to provide the external, verifiable evidence required for Control Validation in an ISO 27001 context by using its purely external, unauthenticated view to test if security measures are working as intended in the wild.
External Discovery and Continuous Monitoring
ThreatNG performs External Discovery without connectors, just like a real-world attacker, to identify the full scope of internet-facing assets. This capability validates the organization's asset inventory—a fundamental control requirement—by finding forgotten assets that might be running unmonitored controls. Its Continuous Monitoring capability ensures that control effectiveness is continuously monitored, immediately identifying if a previously secure control configuration has regressed or failed (e.g., a certificate expiring).
External Assessment and Security Ratings
ThreatNG's External Assessment capabilities provide objective proof of control effectiveness by assigning Security Ratings (A–F), where a high score (A) validates a successful control and a low score (F) validates a control failure.
Examples of ThreatNG helping with Control Validation through assessments include:
Web Application Hijack Susceptibility: This rating validates the control's enforcement of secure web configurations by checking for the presence of key headers. If ThreatNG detects the correct presence of Content-Security-Policy, HTTP Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options headers on subdomains, it validates that the secure coding and configuration management controls are working as intended on that application.
Cyber Risk Exposure: This rating provides evidence for cryptographic and network controls. If ThreatNG finds no invalid certificates and confirms the presence of DNSSEC and WHOIS privacy, it validates the effectiveness of the organization's certificate management and domain security controls. Conversely, finding an expired certificate or a missing DNSSEC proves a control failure.
Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility: This assessment validates the effectiveness of configuration management controls and asset decommissioning policies. If ThreatNG cannot confirm a "dangling DNS" state for CNAME records pointing to third-party services like AWS/S3 or Heroku, it validates that the organization's asset retirement processes are functioning and preventing takeover risk.
Mobile App Exposure: This rating validates the security of the development lifecycle and data protection controls for mobile apps. The assessment searches for highly sensitive content in marketplaces, such as Access Credentials (e.g., Stripe API Key, AWS Access Key ID) and Security Credentials (e.g., RSA Private Key), and directly validates whether secure development practices prevented the exposure of secrets.
Investigation Modules
The Investigation Modules provide the granular, irrefutable evidence for specific control validation points.
Examples of ThreatNG helping with Control Validation using these modules include:
Sensitive Code Exposure: This module performs a passive check to validate the control that prevents secret leakage. If ThreatNG's discovery finds a Potential cryptographic private key or AWS Secret Access Key in a public repository, it is irrefutable evidence that the secure development and access control review controls failed.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) Discovery: ThreatNG validates a key network security control by confirming the presence and vendor of Web Application Firewalls down to the subdomain level. Discovering a WAF validates the organization's use of a defense-in-depth control; its absence is noted as a weakness.
Website Control Files: Discovering a robust Security.txt file with a Bug Bounty Program Listed validates the organization's formal adoption of a Responsible Disclosure Program control.
Domain Intelligence: This module validates asset protection controls by reporting on Domain Security factors, such as missing clientDeleteProhibited or serverTransferProhibited locks. The absence of these locks validates a failure in the fundamental configuration management of the domain asset itself.
Intelligence Repositories
ThreatNG’s Intelligence Repositories (DarCache) enrich the validation process by integrating external threat context.
Vulnerabilities (DarCache Vulnerability): By combining NVD data, the likelihood of exploitation from EPSS, and evidence of active exploitation from KEV, ThreatNG can validate the effectiveness of the organization's patch management control. If a system is running a technology with an actively exploited vulnerability (KEV), it is a validation of a patch management failure.
Compromised Credentials (DarCache Rupture): A finding here is direct, external evidence that the organization's internal authentication policies and monitoring controls have failed to prevent or detect credential compromise.
Reporting
ThreatNG's Reporting capabilities translate validation results into governance language. The External GRC Assessment Mappings directly correlate the technical evidence (e.g., Subdomain Takeover) to the relevant ISO 27001 control (e.g., A.8.9 Configuration management, A.8.2 Technical vulnerability management). This provides security leaders with Legal-Grade Attribution and absolute certainty to justify security investments and demonstrate to auditors precisely where controls are succeeding or failing.
ThreatNG and Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG's ability to provide high-certainty external validation makes it an essential partner for internal security tools, transforming internal data into externally validated assurance.
Vulnerability Management Solutions (VMS): When the ThreatNG Vulnerabilities repository identifies a critical vulnerability (NVD and KEV) on an externally exposed subdomain, it collaborates with a VMS by providing the external validation required to confirm the risk is exploitable and internet-facing. This prioritizes the VMS to scan and remediate that specific asset first, effectively validating that the patching control is applied where it matters most.
Security Operations Center (SOC) Tools / SIEM: If the Dark Web Presence module reports an organizational mention indicating a planned attack, this Threat Intelligence is fed to the SOC tools. This external validation of an active threat can instantly elevate the priority of related internal alerts, demonstrating the SOC's ability to correlate internal monitoring data with external threat context.
Asset Management Systems (AMS): ThreatNG's External Discovery of an unlisted domain or sub-domain with a secure configuration (e.g., full security headers) cooperates with the AMS by providing objective data to validate and update the asset inventory. Conversely, if it finds an asset with a primary control failure (e.g., an exposed private IP), it provides the evidence needed to trigger an AMS update and assign an owner for immediate remediation.
