Tabletop exercises tell you what you think would happen. Privilege Zero tells you what actually happens — running a controlled ransomware attack using real operator playbooks, safe simulation tooling, and zero data loss.
Most ransomware readiness programmes rest on three untested assumptions: "our EDR would catch it", "our backups are clean", and "the SOC would respond in time". Privilege Zero tests all three — simultaneously — in a controlled engagement that follows documented ransomware operator playbooks from initial access through lateral movement to payload deployment.
No actual data is encrypted. No systems are permanently altered. Every step is logged and documented. What you get at the end is empirical evidence of how your organisation performs against ransomware — not how you think it would perform.
Zero data loss, guaranteed. All simulation payloads use benign file operations — rename, create dummy note, log execution — with no encryption, deletion, or modification of real data. A written safe-conduct agreement is signed before any simulation activity begins.
Simulate the most common initial access vector for your industry profile: phishing payload execution, exposed RDP credential stuffing, or VPN credential spray — establishing the first foothold.
Follow real ransomware group post-compromise behaviour: enumerate domain controllers, file servers, backup infrastructure, and NAS devices — identifying high-value targets before moving laterally.
Move from the initial foothold to domain-privileged systems using techniques drawn from incident response reports of real ransomware incidents — SMB, WMI, RDP, scheduled tasks.
Simulate double-extortion staging: exfiltrate a sample data set to a controlled destination, attempt to disable VSS shadow copies, tamper with backup agent configuration — measuring what defensive controls stop.
Deploy simulation payload across agreed target systems: rename files with a .pz0 extension, create a ransom note, log execution. No encryption. No data damage. Measure whether EDR, SIEM, or SOC detects at this stage.
Validate backup accessibility and integrity. Measure actual time-to-recover against your stated RTO. Debrief with SOC on detection timeline gaps.
End-to-end narrative of the simulation with a detection timeline, annotated attack chain, response gaps, and recovery validation results.
Every attack phase that generated no SIEM or EDR alert — with specific detection engineering recommendations to close each gap.
Findings on backup accessibility, integrity under simulated tampering, and actual RTO achievability — versus your stated target.
Board-level communication of your ransomware readiness score, key gaps, and the business case for prioritised investment.
We work with your IT security and SOC team to design a safe, scoped simulation that answers the questions your cyber insurer is going to ask.
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