White Knight Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of USPlate Glass Insurance Co.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We wanted to do penetration testing to test our cybersecurity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially engaged White Knight Labs to simulate a ransomware attack. They installed a virtual test machine to see our vulnerability to attacks. They also tested our cloud environment.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Gregory and John (Founders).

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

We searched for the top penetration testers and interviewed many vendors. We picked them based on the interview.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2022. They started testing in July 2022 and finished within two weeks. However, our relationship is ongoing. After the initial reports, we went to fix the issues they brought up. Later on, they’ll retest us and correct the problems.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We measured the success by what they found. We were very impressed with them — we’ve had other penetration testing companies in the past, but they were far superior. White Knight Labs sent us the reports that showed the vulnerabilities and how they went about finding them. Also, they gave us detailed results on how to fix these issues.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They gave us a fixed quote and were certainly on budget. Also, we set up a window of two weeks, and they delivered on time. They managed the project entirely by themselves. We communicated through Zoom meetings and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their background was outstanding. They had a military background doing penetration testing, and their detail and general knowledge were far beyond what we’d seen in other potential testers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had multiple Zoom interviews, and they were dense with information. White Knight Labs should record those meetings because it’s impossible to get through everything they say. Also, they should put a plan of action at the end of the report to give us the best bang for the buck.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to what they plan to do so you know what other services they offer.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I help manage the IT needs for a glass insurance company as a member of the IT steering committee.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire White Knight Labs?

As part of our ongoing IT security analysis and improvement strategy, we conduct routine penetration tests on both our internal and external infrastructure.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The initial phase of our selection task included significant research on various search engines, careful reading of reviews from reputable online sources, and contacting peers to gather first-hand information on previous experiences. Subsequently, we further refined the list through additional research, requesting and reviewing proposals, and video conferencing with candidates. Finally, we selected White Knight Labs based on our critera, such as experience with our specific technology, cost to perform the project, ability to effectively communicate, responsiveness to requests, and an advanced understanding of the latest cybersecurity issues.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Once awarded to White Knight Labs, the project began promptly and was completed within the scheduled timeframe. Having used multiple companies to perform penetration testing, it became immediately apparent that the team at White Knight Labs exceeded our expectations. This was demonstrated throughout the project: providing a compatible HyperV virtual machine, accommodating requirements to throttle testing to reduce impact on ongoing business operations, and checking security for firewalls, operating systems, networks and cloud services.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with two engineers during the penetration testing project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The findings were well documented and organized in multiple reports. In addition, recommendations and specific steps gave us the necessary information to quickly improve the security posture for our company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Throughout the process, the team at White Knight Labs was flexible to our specific preferred communication method and were very responsive both with requests and the project timeline.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

It is difficult to select one element that is most impressive. Their technical expertise, responsiveness, and reports were all excellent.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There was an initial slowdown on our network during the penetration testing, which was resolved after we brought it to their attention.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of an asset assurance company. Our specialty is taking care of inheritance and asset care of the clientele in our area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We approached them from a security standpoint. We’re still a startup, so we’re building our client base. Therefore, we wanted to ensure that our clients’ data was as protected as possible because the cybersecurity landscape is a challenge for many companies. In summary, we wanted to get rid of those problems in advance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we had a scoping meeting with White Knight Labs. We talked to them and discussed the services. They did external and internal penetration tests and tested the overall security of our email accounts and so on. The team made sure that hackers couldn’t get in to steal our emails and that our clients’ data was protected on the inside.

We have wireless internet at our home office, so we also did a wireless penetration test. Then, White Knight Labs looked over our Microsoft Active Directory and ensure it was following the least privileged access model so we’d be in good position to scale.

In the end, they delivered a report with recommendations on how to fix everything they found.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the two owners and a project manager. It was nice to talk to them even though they were a smaller team. We felt it was a more personal experience.

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

We’re a small company, so we had a limited budget. I shopped around on Google and stumbled upon White Knight Labs. The value they provided was outstanding, and once we started working together, we realized that we were actually getting more value for they offered.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking to them at the end of January 2022. Our testing was in February 2022, and it lasted a couple of weeks. Once the testing was done, we ended our engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They listed about 15–20 findings in the report, and that was the greatest measure of success. White Knight Labs brought a lot of knowledge and worked with us to ensure that our clients could trust their data is as anonymous as they want it to be.

We didn’t experience any connectivity issues during our engagement. In fact, one of their initiatives was to ensure we didn’t have any disruptions. Overall, they did an excellent job to make it a valuable process and as non-intrusive as possible.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

White Knight Labs performed outstandingly —  they clearly laid out the scope of the engagement, labeled out what they’d need from us to meet the timeline, and stayed right on track. We got the final report exactly when we expected it.

When they needed us to plug in for the remote testing appliance, we took care of it. Also, they answered our questions right away. Only a couple of times they had to verify something to get back to us with the correct answer.

We typically communicated via phone. They used Slack or some instant messenger, but they accommodated to the option that worked best for me, which I appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their personal, tailored approach and personability set them apart. We looked around quite a bit, and many larger organizations only wanted to start engagements with more established companies. Therefore, we really appreciated that they were willing to take that holistic approach to security and give us an outstanding and personalized service. They tailored all their testings and findings specifically for our organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did an outstanding job, but they should probably add more people. Expanding their personnel would allow them to take on a lot more, although I’m not 100% sure this engagement could’ve been done in less time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just be honest — tell them exactly what you’re looking for, including your expectations and goals. The team is willing to tailor everything to best meet your needs. Therefore, be upfront and honest because it can help you get the best results. The worst thing you could do is lie about your security posture; they’re the professionals, they’ll figure it out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an oil company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We had a security breach incident around Christmas, so we needed a company to provide cybersecurity services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We set up a service offering with White Knight Labs to do an internal pen test. We had some propane tanks and oil tanks for pressure measurement connected to our internal network, so they also performed service testing on those. They also performed a breach analysis to determine if we’re still compromised.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the owners and someone else from their team.

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

Another client that used them referred them to us. We reached out to them on their website, and when we started discussions with them, the owners responded within a few hours. They were also very thorough, asked us multiple questions, and made us feel very comfortable. At that point, we signed their statement of work to have the testing begin. They were instantly available, so we chose them because of their cost and responsiveness.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $15,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–February 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They were fast, thorough, and able to address our security concerns. Also, their reporting was phenomenal because they kept us in the loop, solved my questions, and helped us assure us that we didn't have security breaches anymore.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were communicative, stuck to schedule and budget, and did an overall good job. In terms of communication, we used Slack and Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were responsive and interactive — it was great working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — I have no complaints, and they did a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Everybody should work with a company like them; they’re heart-welcoming to their clients and customers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director at a cloud hosting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We were deploying a new product and wanted to have a security assessment of the infrastructure that supported it and the product itself.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

White Knight Labs did penetration testing for our new product. The assessment was focused on a virtualized IT environment that allows for remote access to terminal services, involving systems like VMware, Linux, and Microsoft.

Internally, we do this type of assessment regularly. This engagement was a special instance because it was specifically for a new product; it’s a process we’re used to but with an out-of-sequence assessment. 

We worked with the White Knight Labs team to create a scope of work, talking through the environment, our security concerns, and the different methods by which it could be accessed and addressed. Their team built the scope of work based on the specifications we gave them. 

From there, we engaged with them for a week of full-time work and two weeks of part-time follow-up, during which they assessed this environment. They used the penetration testing methodology to try to break the system and demonstrate security weaknesses. 

During the testing, they communicated to us what was found. At the end of the engagement, White Knight Labs provided a thorough report documenting the strengths and weaknesses they discovered and their recommendations to remediate the issues they identified. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with two consultants from White Knight Labs, the owner and one of their principal security testers. 

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

I’d known teammates from White Kight Labs for a while, but they’d recently been doing more independent work, so we had the opportunity to work with them directly as consultants for our team. I knew them personally and by reputation before I became aware that they were offering these services. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Overall, we’re very happy with the work White Knight Labs provided. Their report had high-quality findings, and we were able to address security issues on our new platform thanks to the services. They’re super knowledgeable and have very in-depth expertise in penetration testing.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They did really well from a project management standpoint. The team kept us regularly updated on the overall status of the project and the scoped hours used during the engagement. We had regular communication through Slack and email. Overall, the project went really well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The testing staff at White Knight Labs has in-depth knowledge, especially on Microsoft Windows environments. One of the reasons we worked with them was because we knew we wouldn’t find anyone better when it came to breaking Windows domain environments, which were our focus. 

I was impressed by their overall tenacity in going after vulnerabilities — they got in super deep and found bugs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing they need to improve comes to mind; we were happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise that if you’re looking for someone skilled in Windows penetration testing, White Knight Labs has top-tier quality in that area specifically. Virtualization is also a good area of expertise for them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief information security officer at a real estate company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We needed their team to address our security concerns through application testing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We discussed our testing needs to White Knight Labs’ team through a kickoff meeting. They then conducted in-depth internal and external penetration testing to access our intel network and identify the vulnerabilities that compromised our system security.

After concluding the testing stage, they submitted a report of their findings.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and their owners.

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

We chose White Knight Labs among their competitors because of their fair price point, comprehensive planning methods, and professionalism.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $14,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from November 2021–January 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

White Knight Labs delivered a comprehensive security report that allowed us to identify solutions that strengthened our security system. Our team was highly impressed with their team’s industry-standard screening and penetration methods.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via Slack and Microsoft Teams. White Knight Labs pivoted our testing operations with their quick turnaround times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

White Knight Labs took ownership of the project — they offered their knowledge and expertise to us within a highly reasonable price point.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to my mind at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come up with a clear vision and project scope to help them understand your needs and deliver those.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of Frost Ridge Maple Farm, a large maple syrup producer based out of Pennsylvania. We make about 7,000 gallons per year, and we have 13–15 people working for us.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We had to be Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant due to the bank APIs we were linked with. When we participated in farm shows, we brought devices that allowed us to process payments through card processing transactions. Since we were storing information and were using embedded devices connected with the APIs, we needed to make sure our system was tested well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

White Knight Labs performed application testing and internal and external penetration testing in order to ensure that our system had a secure environment. At the end of the partnership, they submitted a final report containing all the findings about our system.

What is the team composition?

I worked with their owner and two project managers.

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

Their pricing was a big factor, and their knowledge about the project was impressive. Overall, those were the two main things why we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $18,900.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2021–January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The report they delivered had good findings, and they did a great job of producing what we needed. Our IT department was also impressed with their thoroughness. As a result, I’d recommend them to anybody.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fast, professional, and communicate. We kept in touch through Slack and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d work with them again next year because of their high-quality work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Tell White Knight Labs what you want because they’ll ask a lot of questions about your project. Their team will help you understand what you’re really looking for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a family-owned real estate LLC. We invest in properties, renovate them, and add value.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with White Knight Labs?

We used rental platforms like Zillow, Avail, Cozy to onboard tenants, screen for criminal and eviction history, and collect rent. We weren’t happy with any of these platforms, so we built our own site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

White Knight Labs took the first look at our site and did a source code review and internal and external testing for our active directory. However, the most important thing they did was the web application penetration test because we didn’t know what to look for.

They delivered a detailed and thorough report that walked us end-to-end through the attack test. White Knight Labs found a deserialization bug, a critical vulnerability in the application. Basically, they showed us how we could’ve gotten social security numbers stolen from us. Since we collect all kinds of tenants’ information, there’s a lot of data that could be housed in the app. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with one person from their team. He was good at testing and developing; he did pretty much everything.

How did you come to work with White Knight Labs?

We just searched on Google for penetration testing companies. We got quotes from some big companies, but they were all out of our price range. White Knight Labs was cheap, which was a significant deciding factor for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $17,000 for everything, including internal, external, and web app poking.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October–December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They found some significant software vulnerabilities within the customer. As far as success metrics, one of the biggest ones for the internal penetration test was that they could crack most of the passwords. It was a big deal for us, so we implemented password policies. Overall, we’re in a much better place than before we started working with White Knight Labs.

How did White Knight Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were never late for a meeting, and the engagement started and ended on time. They used Slack for everything, so they had a customer channel for us. While they tested, we could chat and ask questions on how it was going. Once the job ended, we got off email altogether and did everything on Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their depth of technical expertise was incredible. Also, some engineers can be deeply technical, but they might not have the capacity to convey technical information to non-technical people. However, White Knight Labs did a great job explaining the bugs they found in the software and understanding that not everybody is a wizard.

Moreover, they asked us what we were most afraid of so they could focus all their engineering work on pounding that part of the web application. For instance, we were most afraid of information getting leaked, so they spent a lot of time testing that area.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t have any complaints; they were very formal. Also, the work was fantastic, and they did everything on time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep the conversation flowing on Slack, have clear and concise communication, and expect the deliverables. Also, focus on what you want to accomplish to make a more efficacious test.