Simbian AI: Continuous, Context-Aware Penetration Testing
▼ Summary
– Simbian launched an AI Pentest Agent providing continuous, on-demand penetration testing that incorporates specific business context to focus on relevant security risks.
– The agent addresses the “window of exposure” from infrequent manual tests by enabling real-time security validation, with results typically available in hours.
– It functions as an autonomous reasoning engine that adapts like a human hacker, uncovering complex, exploitable business logic flaws that static scanners miss.
– Developed with LRQA, the agent is designed with “Transparency by Design” and a “safe mode” to operate ethically without disrupting production environments or using data for public LLM training.
– The solution aims to replace noisy, theoretical vulnerability alerts with a prioritized, actionable remediation guide, combining intelligent automation with expert human judgement for trusted assurance.
A new solution is transforming how organizations approach security validation by offering continuous, context-aware penetration testing. Simbian has launched its AI Pentest Agent, a platform designed to provide enterprises with ongoing, on-demand security assessments. This tool distinguishes itself by incorporating specific business context into its automated testing, ensuring findings are directly relevant to each customer’s unique security risks and operational priorities. Developed in collaboration with the global risk management firm LRQA, the agent enables security teams to move beyond infrequent, manual audits toward real-time validation of their defensive posture.
Traditionally, penetration testing is a manual exercise conducted perhaps once or twice a year, often primarily for compliance. In today’s environment of rapid software updates and frequent releases, this creates a dangerous gap. New code changes and emerging vulnerabilities, known as CVEs, can remain unaddressed for months, leaving a significant window of exposure. The Simbian AI Pentest Agent aims to close this gap by making sophisticated testing an on-demand practice, with detailed results typically available in a matter of hours rather than weeks.
Ambuj Kumar, CEO of Simbian, explained the shift. The security industry has historically faced a choice between the thorough depth of a manual penetration test and the superficial speed of an automated scan. Simbian’s technology is built to eliminate that compromise. The AI agent reasons and adapts its approach dynamically, much like a human security researcher, using context to pinpoint risks that genuinely impact the business. The goal is to empower companies to identify and remediate security flaws before malicious actors have a chance to discover and exploit them.
The development process involved close partnership with LRQA, leveraging its extensive experience in cybersecurity testing and risk management. LRQA provided independent validation to help align the solution with established penetration testing methodologies and responsible artificial intelligence principles. These principles are core to the agent’s design. A “Transparency by Design” feature gives security teams full visibility into the AI’s decision-making process, including a complete reasoning trace that shows why specific attack paths were chosen. A built-in “safe mode” is engineered to prevent disruption to critical applications and complex production environments. Furthermore, all data generated during testing is kept secure and is never utilized to train public large language models.
Howard Hughes, Managing Director for LRQA’s cybersecurity division, highlighted the partnership’s value. By integrating Simbian’s autonomous AI with LRQA’s threat-led expertise, organizations can transition from periodic check-ups to a state of continuous risk insight. This collaboration merges intelligent automation with seasoned human judgment, ensuring the AI Pentest Agent adheres to recognized ethical hacking standards and delivers a level of assurance that both executive boards and technical teams can rely on.
Conventional vulnerability scanners play a role as a basic security layer, but they frequently generate excessive noise. They rely on static rules to flag theoretical vulnerabilities, often without confirming whether those flaws are actually exploitable in a live environment. The Simbian AI Pentest Agent operates as an autonomous reasoning engine. It adapts to the specific business context and modifies its testing logic in real-time based on how an application responds. This allows it to discover intricate business logic flaws that rigid scanners would inevitably miss. Ultimately, Simbian replaces lengthy lists of hypothetical alerts with a prioritized, actionable roadmap for remediation, focusing security efforts on the risks that matter most.
(Source: HelpNet Security)