A global telecommunications company recognised that traditional security testing approaches — vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, and even red teaming — weren't providing complete assurance about their security controls' effectiveness.
Chaleit offered expert controls validation, which helped the company uncover and address critical gaps in its security infrastructure.
The challenge
Despite having comprehensive security programs, including vulnerability management and red team exercises, the organisation needed to validate its security controls' actual effectiveness beyond surface-level testing. They wanted to drive next-level maturity and knew that even small “gaps” or “misconfigurations” could lead to severe consequences.
Key issues included:
Limitations of traditional vulnerability scanning
Need to identify misconfigurations not caught by standard tools
Difficulty in finding "needle in the haystack" security gaps
Complex security infrastructure with multiple controls
Need to validate effectiveness across 250+ applications
"Traditional vulnerability management tools find individual issues but miss the mechanisms that allow sophisticated attacks to succeed," noted Chaleit’s VP of Technical Services.
The solution
Chaleit implemented a collaborative approach that helped the organisation achieve a better security posture.
Strategic assessment
Analysed existing control implementations
Developed targeted threat models
Created collaborative testing scope
Identified critical control areas
Technical validation
Conducted comprehensive email gateway testing
Validated SSO implementations
Assessed security control configurations
Identified bypass opportunities
The outcome and aftermath
The controls validation process revealed significant findings.
Control gaps
Found 20% of applications lacked proper SSO implementation
Identified critical email security bypass methods
Discovered multiple control misconfigurations
Validated actual control effectiveness
Implementation impact
Successfully remediated identified gaps
Improved control configurations
Enhanced security architecture
Established ongoing validation processes
This project's exceptional results came from its focus on practical validation rather than theoretical testing. By working collaboratively with the client to identify and address control gaps, we achieved real security improvements.
Key takeaways
Standard security testing often misses critical control gaps.
Strategic scope collaboration maximises control validation effectiveness.
Real security improvement requires hands-on remediation support.
Continuous validation ensures sustained control effectiveness.
Partnership-driven solutions enable lasting security improvements.
Collaborative validation eliminates the greatest risk: uncertainty.
The engagement demonstrates how organisations can move beyond standard security testing to achieve genuine protection. Through systematic assessment and collaborative improvement, the client achieved measurable security enhancements.
