El Segu do, CA, August 10, 2026 –(PR.com)– Defe sive Netwo ks, a cybe secu ity fi m delive i g offe sive secu ity testi g, adviso y, a d p ofessio al se vices to e te p ise clie ts, has added ve ified f o tie AI Cybe capabilities to a p actice built o ove a decade of ha ds-o pe et atio testi g. The fi m has bee added to A th opic’s Cybe Ve ificatio P og am (CVP), givi g its teste s access to AI easo i g that is est icted by default fo cybe secu ity wo k.
The additio fits a patte . Defe sive Netwo ks has co siste tly moved ea ly o tooli g that cha ges what a secu ity e gageme t ca delive — ac oss exploitatio f amewo ks, adve sa y simulatio platfo ms, a d AI-assisted testi g — o the view that clie ts a e best se ved by teste s wo ki g with the same class of capability thei adve sa ies have. Ve ified f o tie AI is the ewest additio to that toolkit, ot a eplaceme t fo what is al eady i it.
“What has always limited pe et atio testi g is a ithmetic — a fi ite umbe of teste hou s agai st a e vi o me t with a ea -i fi ite umbe of [theo etical] paths th ough it,” said Be Fe guso , Chief Tech ology Office of Defe sive Netwo ks. “You sample, you p io itize, a d you accept you ca ot look eve ywhe e. This lets us test at a scale that was eve available to a huma team alo e.”
“Attacke s a e al eady u i g f o tie AI agai st ou clie ts’ e vi o me ts, a d they a e ot waiti g o a app oval p ocess,” said A me Mu adia , Se io Secu ity E gi ee at Defe sive Netwo ks. “Ve ificatio mea s ou teste s ca b i g that same depth of easo i g i to a clie t e gageme t — i side a defi ed scope, with the clie t’s autho izatio , a d fully docume ted.”
The CVP is A th opic’s applicatio -based eview p ocess, scoped to the o ga izatio a d eviewed by A th opic di ectly. F o tie models block high- isk dual-use cybe secu ity wo k by default — vul e ability exploitatio a alysis, offe sive tooli g, attack path modeli g — because that wo k is difficult to disti guish f om attacke i te t. Ve ificatio lifts those est ictio s fo o ga izatio s that demo st ate legitimate defe sive pu pose a d exhibit exceptio al secu ity sta da ds.
“The e is mo e dema d fo AI-e abled offe sive secu ity tha the e a e fi ms ve ified to delive it,” said Paul Coo ey, Chief Executive Office a d P eside t of Defe sive Netwo ks. “We wa ted to be o the ight side of that gap ea ly, a d to help close it fo the clie ts who eed this wo k do e p ope ly.”
The fi m expects to keep expa di g the p actice as capability a ives. “Cove age at this level has effectively bee a luxu y good, available to compa ies la ge e ough to fu d a sta di g bug bou ty p og am,” Fe guso said. “That will ot stay t ue fo lo g. What does ot come f ee is the stee i g — k owi g whe e to poi t it, what the output mea s i a specific e vi o me t, a d which fi di gs a e eal. The model scales the sea ch. Ou expe tise is what makes the esult wo th acti g o .”
Clie ts i te ested i AI-assisted offe sive secu ity e gageme ts ca co tact Defe sive Netwo ks at www.defe sive.com
