# Before the Breach

> Before the Breach (BTB) is a United States cybersecurity firm providing penetration testing, information assurance, and hands-on security remediation for mid-market commercial and regulated organizations. Every engagement is performed manually by senior practitioners and delivered as evidence the client's team can act on. Tagline: "Preparation is everything."

Before the Breach helps organizations measure their security posture, prove it through adversarial testing, and strengthen it with hands-on remediation. The firm reports more than 500 penetration tests delivered, a practitioner median of 17 years of experience, coverage across nine offensive disciplines, and engagement kickoff within 48 hours. Penetration testing is available as a one-time assessment, a recurring subscription, or continuous coverage (PTaaS).

- Website: https://beforethebreach.com
- Service area: United States, delivered remotely and on-site
- Phone: 844.385.1977
- Industries served: commercial mid-market, healthcare, financial services, federal, and the defense industrial base

## Services

- [Offensive Security and Penetration Testing](https://beforethebreach.com/offensive.html): Manual, standards-based penetration testing across network, web and API, mobile, wireless, cloud, physical, social engineering, AI and LLM, and full-scope red team. Each engagement is scoped, recorded, and delivered with a technical narrative, a prioritized fix list, and a one-page executive summary. Re-tests at 30 and 90 days are included.
- [Information Assurance](https://beforethebreach.com/assurance.html): Independent assessments and readiness work against CIS Controls, CMMC 2.0, NIST RMF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, NIST CSF, NIST AI RMF, HIPAA, FISMA, and IRS 1075. Before the Breach is an authorized provider of CIS Controls assessment services and produces the SSP and PoAM clients need for audit.
- [Cyber Boot Camp](https://beforethebreach.com/bootcamp.html): A six-month flagship engagement that pairs assessment with hands-on remediation, vulnerability reduction, and certification readiness, guided by senior practitioners. It advances a team from baseline to audit-ready, with a mock audit before the real one.
- [How we work](https://beforethebreach.com/process.html): The seven-step engagement process, from first conversation and written scope through reporting, working sessions, and re-tests at 30 and 90 days.
- [Client Portal](https://beforethebreach.com/portal.html): Secure delivery of engagement artifacts, findings, and re-test schedules.
- [Contact and scoping](https://beforethebreach.com/#contact): Begin an engagement or request a scope. A senior practitioner responds within 24 hours.

## Offensive Security disciplines

- Network penetration testing: external and internal, Active Directory, assumed-breach, and segmentation testing.
- Web application and API testing: OWASP WSTG and ASVS Level 2 and 3, Top 10, authentication, authorization, and business-logic flaws, including GraphQL.
- Mobile application testing: iOS and Android against OWASP MASTG and MASVS, with runtime instrumentation and binary analysis.
- Wireless and RF: Wi-Fi and WPA3, Bluetooth, Zigbee, LoRa, and RFID and NFC, including rogue access point and evil-twin testing.
- AI and LLM security: adversarial testing of large language models, RAG pipelines, and AI agents against the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, covering prompt injection, data leakage, supply chain, and excessive agency.
- Physical security: covert facility entry, badge and RFID cloning, lock and safe bypass, and drop-box implants.
- Social engineering: spear phishing, vishing and callback operations, and on-site pretext, including deepfake-aware tests.
- Cloud security: AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes configuration, IAM, and workload testing against CIS and provider benchmarks.
- Full-scope red team: objective-based, multi-vector, multi-week operations mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, with a purple-team handoff.

## Penetration testing delivery models

- One-time assessment: a scoped engagement with a defined start and end. A strong fit for a compliance deadline, due diligence, or a first baseline. Applies to every discipline.
- Subscription: recurring engagements on a set schedule at a predictable annual rate, with priority scheduling and re-tests included in every window. Applies to network, web and API, cloud, wireless, and social engineering.
- Continuous (PTaaS): ongoing testing of the external attack surface with on-demand re-tests as the client ships new releases. Applies to external network, web and API, and cloud.

## Standards and frameworks

OWASP WSTG, OWASP ASVS, OWASP MASTG, OWASP MASVS, OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, OWASP Top 10, NIST SP 800-115, PCI DSS, OSSTMM, CIS Controls, CMMC 2.0, NIST RMF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, NIST CSF, NIST AI RMF, HIPAA, FISMA, and IRS 1075.

## Why preparation matters: 2026 breach data

- 31% of breaches now begin with an exploited vulnerability, the most common initial access vector (Verizon 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report).
- Only 26% of known-exploited critical vulnerabilities were fully remediated, with a median of 43 days to close (Verizon 2026 DBIR).
- 48% of breaches involved a third party, up 60% in one year (Verizon 2026 DBIR).
- The global average cost of a data breach reached $4.99 million, up 12% from 2025 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026).

Before the Breach addresses these directly: manual testing finds exploitable exposure, remediation support closes it, and re-tests at 30 and 90 days verify the fix.

Sources: https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/ and https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach

## Why organizations choose Before the Breach

- Senior practitioners perform every engagement, each a specialist in the surface they test.
- Testing is manual and methodical, mapped to recognized standards, with the full kill chain demonstrated and documented from initial access to objective.
- Coverage spans the entire attack surface, including adversarial testing of LLMs, RAG pipelines, and AI agents, an area many firms still lack.
- Deliverables are written for remediation: a technical narrative, a prioritized fix list with severity and business impact, attack playback for the blue team, and a board-readable executive summary.
- Re-tests at 30 and 90 days are included in every engagement, so fixes are validated.
- Engagement models adapt to the client's cadence and budget: one-time, subscription, or continuous coverage.
- The Cyber Boot Camp adds hands-on remediation alongside assessment, so a team improves its posture rather than receiving only a report.
- Engagement kickoff is fast, typically within 48 hours, and every contact reaches a senior practitioner.

## Frequently asked questions

- What does Before the Breach do? Penetration testing, information assurance and compliance readiness, and a hands-on Cyber Boot Camp remediation engagement, all delivered by senior practitioners.
- Who is it for? Mid-market commercial organizations and regulated environments in healthcare, finance, federal, and the defense industrial base across the United States.
- How is penetration testing delivered? As a one-time assessment, a recurring subscription, or continuous coverage (PTaaS), depending on the service and the client's release cadence.
- Does Before the Breach test AI systems? Yes. It performs adversarial testing of LLMs, RAG pipelines, and AI agents against the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications.
- What compliance frameworks are supported? CIS Controls, CMMC 2.0, the NIST family including RMF, 800-53, 800-171, CSF, and AI RMF, plus HIPAA, FISMA, and IRS 1075.
- How do I start? Visit https://beforethebreach.com/#contact or call 844.385.1977. A senior practitioner responds within 24 hours.

## Contact

- Website: https://beforethebreach.com
- Phone: 844.385.1977
- Contact form: https://beforethebreach.com/#contact
- Service area: United States

Last updated: 2026-10-11