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Introduction:
In an era where cyber threats evolve faster than traditional defenses, organizations are moving beyond checklist compliance and automated vulnerability scans. The next frontier of cyber preparedness is Adversary Emulation, the practice of systematically mimicking the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of real‑world threat actors. OpenAEV emerges as a powerful, open‑source platform that structures this complex process, enabling security teams to plan, execute, and learn from holistic simulation campaigns that test people, processes, and technology in unison.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how to deploy and configure the OpenAEV platform for structured adversary simulation exercises.
- Learn to integrate real‑world threat intelligence from platforms like OpenCTI to drive realistic, threat‑informed scenarios.
- Master the creation and delivery of multi‑vector injects (email, SMS, alerts) to test organizational detection and response capabilities across technical and human layers.
You Should Know:
1. Foundation: Deploying Your OpenAEV Platform
OpenAEV provides the orchestration layer for your cyber exercises. Setting it up is the first step to moving from ad‑hoc testing to repeatable, measurable campaigns.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Prerequisites: Ensure you have a Linux server (Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 LTS recommended) with Docker and Docker‑Compose installed. Verify with:
docker --version && docker-compose --version
2. Clone the Repository: Access the OpenAEV GitHub project and clone it to your server.
git clone https://github.com/openaev/openaev-platform.git cd openaev-platform
3. Configure Environment: Copy the sample environment file and edit it with your specific details (e.g., server IP, admin credentials, SMTP settings for email injects).
cp .env.example .env nano .env
4. Launch with Docker: Use Docker‑Compose to spin up all necessary containers (web frontend, backend API, database, queue worker).
docker-compose up -d
5. Access & Verify: Navigate to `http://
- Intelligence Integration: Feeding OpenAEV with Real Threats from OpenCTI
The core differentiator of OpenAEV is its ability to leverage actual threat intelligence, moving beyond generic attack playbooks. This is achieved through integration with platforms like OpenCTI, an open‑source threat intelligence platform.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. OpenCTI Setup: Have a running instance of OpenCTI. You can deploy it similarly via Docker. Note its API URL and generate an API key from an administrator account.
2. Configure Connector in OpenAEV: Within the OpenAEV admin panel, navigate to “Threat Intelligence” > “Connectors.” Add a new OpenCTI connector.
3. API Configuration: Input your OpenCTI base URL (e.g., `http://opencti:8080`) and the API key. Test the connection to ensure OpenAEV can pull data.
4. Curate Campaign Data: In OpenCTI, you or your intelligence team should have structured data on threat actors (e.g., APT29), their malware, and associated TTPs (using MITRE ATT&CK IDs). OpenAEV will query this data to populate its library of realistic adversary profiles you can select for your exercises.
3. Campaign Crafting: Designing a Threat‑Driven Simulation
A campaign in OpenAEV is a container for a full exercise, outlining objectives, target systems, and the adversarial narrative.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Create New Campaign: Click “Campaigns” > “New Campaign.” Define a name (e.g., “Q4 Finance Dept. Phishing & Lateral Movement Drill”), description, and objectives.
2. Select Your Adversary: Instead of picking random attacks, choose from the threat actors imported via OpenCTI. For instance, select “FIN7” to emulate their specific TTPs like spear‑phishing with malicious documents and lateral movement via PowerShell.
3. Define Scope & Rules of Engagement (RoE): Explicitly list in‑scope IP ranges, target user groups (e.g., Finance Department), and critical systems. Document the RoE—this is a crucial legal and safety step to ensure testing does not cause operational disruption.
- The Art of the Inject: Simulating Multi‑Vector Adversary Actions
Injects are the simulated events or attacks delivered during the campaign. OpenAEV supports various types to test different detection and response channels.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Plan Your Inject Sequence: Map injects to your adversary’s kill chain. Start with a reconnaissance email, escalate to a malicious payload, and follow with lateral movement alerts.
2. Create an Email Inject:
In your campaign, select “Create Inject” > “Email.”
Craft a convincing phishing email using a template or custom HTML. Use the integrated mailer (configured via .env) to send it to target participants.
You can attach simulated malware files (e.g., a harmless document with a macro that logs execution).
3. Create a System Alert Inject:
Select “System Alert” as the inject type.
Configure it to simulate a specific SIEM or EDR alert. For example, generate a fake “Suspicious PowerShell Execution – Invoke-Mimikatz Command Line” alert in your SOC’s dashboard or ticketing system at a scheduled time.
4. Schedule Delivery: Use OpenAEV’s scheduler to automate the delivery of these injects over days or weeks, mimicking a persistent adversary’s pace.
- Execution & Monitoring: Running the Exercise and Collecting Data
With the campaign live, the focus shifts to monitoring participant responses and system telemetry.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Activate the Campaign: Change the campaign status to “Active.” Injects will begin according to the schedule.
2. Monitor the Dashboard: Use the OpenAEV real‑time dashboard to track inject delivery status and, if configured, initial responses (e.g., link clicks from the email inject).
3. Correlate with Live Telemetry: This is critical. While OpenAEV runs the simulation, your SOC team should monitor actual security tools (EDR, SIEM, network sensors). The goal is to see if your real defenses detect the simulated activity. For instance, run a threat hunt for the TTPs you are emulating:
Example: Hunting for scheduled tasks created via PowerShell (a common lateral movement TTP) across Windows endpoints via EDR query Get-ProcessCreation | where (CommandLine contains "schtasks" and CommandLine contains "/create" and ParentImage contains "powershell")
- Analysis & Gap Identification: Turning Exercise Data into Action
The true value of an exercise is realized in the post‑campaign analysis, where security gaps are formally identified.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Gather All Data: Consolidate logs from OpenAEV (what was simulated), response logs from your ticketing system, and detection logs from your security stack.
2. Conduct a Hotwash Session: Immediately after the exercise, bring together red, blue, and management teams. Use OpenAEV’s timeline to walk through each inject and discuss: Was it detected? How quickly? Was the response effective?
3. Document Gaps & Create Mitigations: Formalize findings. Example Gap: “Email gateway did not flag spear‑phishing email with novel template. EDR detected malicious PowerShell but alert was not escalated for 4 hours.” Assign mitigation actions, such as updating email filtering rules and tuning SOAR playbooks for faster escalation.
- Iterative Hardening: Building a Cycle of Continuous Improvement
Adversary emulation is not a one‑time project. OpenAEV is designed for continuous cycles of testing and improvement.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Archive and Report: Finalize the campaign in OpenAEV, generating a report for stakeholders that details objectives, execution, and findings.
2. Implement Remediations: Work with relevant teams to close the identified gaps—patch systems, update detection rules, revise IR playbooks, and conduct targeted training.
3. Schedule the Next Campaign: Plan a follow‑up exercise in 3‑6 months. Use a different threat actor profile (e.g., shift from financially motivated to ransomware actor) to test the improved controls and ensure your preparedness evolves with the threat landscape.
What Undercode Say:
- Key Takeaway 1: OpenAEV operationalizes the “Threat‑Informed Defense” philosophy. It bridges the gap between abstract threat intelligence reports and actionable security testing, forcing organizations to defend against who is attacking them, not just what vulnerabilities they have.
- Key Takeaway 2: The platform’s focus on structured campaigns and multi‑vector injects provides a missing layer of realism, testing the human and procedural elements often overlooked by purely technical pentesting tools. It answers the critical question: “Does our process hold up under a sustained, deceptive attack?”
Analysis:
OpenAEV represents a significant maturation in the cybersecurity toolkit, addressing the chronic disconnect between threat intelligence and operational readiness. By providing an open‑source, integrated framework, it lowers the barrier to entry for sophisticated adversary emulation, traditionally the domain of well‑funded red teams. Its power lies not in exploiting single vulnerabilities, but in weaving together technical exploits, social engineering, and procedural triggers into a coherent narrative that stresses the entire organization. However, its effectiveness is directly tied to the quality of threat intelligence fed into it and the organization’s commitment to acting on the often‑uncomfortable gaps it reveals. It is a tool for building resilience, not just finding bugs.
Prediction:
Within the next 2‑3 years, platforms like OpenAEV will become central to regulatory compliance and cyber insurance frameworks. We will see a shift from “proof of penetration test” to “proof of resilient posture” demonstrated through continuous, recorded adversary emulation campaigns. This will drive deeper integration between simulation platforms, security orchestration (SOAR), and cyber risk quantification tools, creating a closed‑loop system where automated defenses are continuously tuned based on emulation outcomes, fundamentally changing security operations from a reactive to a proactively adaptive model.
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Reported By: Abdul Shareef – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
