Real-World Cyber Attack Simulations, For Businesses of Every Size
Find out how your team, tools, and processes would really perform during a cyber attack — without breaking your budget or disrupting operations.
What Is a Cyber Attack Simulation?
A cyber attack simulation is a realistic, controlled way to test how your business would respond if a real attacker got in. It doesn’t just check your systems — it looks at how your people react, whether your alerts fire, and how well your processes hold up under pressure.
Where a penetration test focuses on technical flaws, a simulation explores the full picture. It shows you what happens after someone gets in, how far they can move, and whether anything or anyone stops them. You don’t need a massive budget to run one. Simulations are flexible — they can be small and focused, or more complex, depending on what you want to test.
- Test more than just your tech – Simulate real attacks like phishing, credential theft or lateral movement to see how your team and systems respond in the moment.
- Find gaps before attackers do – Spot the issues that slip through the cracks, from over-permissioned accounts to missed alerts or unclear response actions.
- Start small or go deep – You can begin with a single, focused scenario or design a more in-depth simulation.
Our team is CREST and OSCP certified, with deep experience in running realistic attack simulations that reflect how modern threats actually unfold.
Want to See How a Real Attack Would Play Out in Your Business?
Speak to an expert about running a cyber attack simulation. We’ll help you test your defences in a controlled environment, identify weaknesses, and improve your response before a real attacker strikes.
Are Breach and Attack Simulations Only for Large Enterprises?
Breach and attack simulations are often seen as something only large enterprises do, but they can be just as valuable for mid-sized businesses. You don’t need a huge budget or a dedicated security team. What matters is focusing on the risks that are most relevant to your organisation.
You can start with one targeted simulation based on your biggest concern. That could be a fake invoice sent to your finance team, stolen admin credentials used to access backups, or an old user account that’s still active and could be used to move across your environment without raising alarms. The goal is to test what matters most and build from there.
What Are the Benefits of a Cyber Attack Simulation?
See How a Real Attack Would Play Out
See what would actually happen if an attacker got inside. You’ll see how far they could go, what systems they might access, and whether your team would detect or respond in time.
Get Insights You Won’t Find in a Pen Test
Simulations reveal the things traditional reviews miss — like missed alerts, over-permissioned accounts or teams unsure how to respond. It shows how systems and people perform in the moment.
Test Your GDPR & ICO Reporting Readiness
Check whether your team could detect a breach, assess impact, and meet the 72-hour ICO reporting window. These simulations help validate your response process before a real incident forces your hand.
Get a Clear, Prioritised Plan for Improvement
You’ll receive a detailed report showing what failed, what worked and where action is needed. This helps you fix the right things first — from tightening access to updating response playbooks.
Choosing Your Attack Simulation Scenarios
Not sure where to start with a cyber attack simulation? That’s normal. The best place to begin is with what would hit your business hardest — whether that’s ransomware, stolen credentials, or exposed sensitive data. Below are some example scenarios you could simulate, but the right approach depends on your biggest risks. A quick threat modelling exercise can help shape the right plan.
IT Admin Credential Attack
Use an attack simulator to mimic stolen IT admin credentials. Test whether your detection tools flag unusual activity and whether your team can contain an insider-style threat.
Process & Playbook Breakdown Drill
Run a simulated cyber attack to see how your incident response plan works in practice. Discover if staff know their roles, who leads the response, and whether actions are taken quickly enough.
Legacy Account Compromise Test
Simulate an attacker using an old, forgotten user account to gain access. Useful for exposing inactive credentials, unpatched access routes, and potential vulnerabilities in identity management.
Finance Team Social Engineering Test
Simulate a targeted phishing email or fake invoice to your finance staff. See if sensitive information or credentials are handed over and assess reporting and escalation behaviour.
Lateral Movement Simulation
Simulate an attacker moving between systems after initial access. This adversarial attack simulation helps reveal how easily an intruder could escalate privileges, access sensitive information, and bypass existing security defences undetected.
Ransomware Attack Simulation
Simulate ransomware delivery and propagation within a network. Identify how quickly your systems detect and respond, and whether your backups and containment processes are ready.
What Is the Difference Between a Pentest and Attack Simulation?
Penetration testing and attack simulations both help improve your security posture, but they answer very different questions. A pen test is designed to find technical weaknesses in your systems or applications. An attack simulation goes further by testing how an attacker could move through your environment, how far they could get, and whether your team would detect or respond.
Used together, they give you a complete picture of both your technical vulnerabilities and your ability to handle a real-world threat.
Simulated Cyber Attack
- Mimics real attacker behaviour across systems, people, and processes
- Tests how far an attacker could go once they’re inside
- Highlights gaps in detection, alerting, and incident response
- Shows how staff respond to phishing, social engineering, or lateral movement
- Reveals process breakdowns that wouldn't show up in a pen test
- Helps prioritise fixes based on realistic, high-impact scenarios
Penetration Testing
- Identifies technical vulnerabilities in systems, applications, or infrastructure
- Typically scoped and time-boxed for known targets. Can miss broader risks outside of this.
- Useful for answering “can someone get in here?” but not “how far could they go — and would we notice?”
- A solid technical test, but not as realistic as a full attack simulation
- Can be heavily compliance-focused, with testing shaped by standards rather than real-world attacker behaviour
How Our Attack Simulations Services Work
Our cyber attack simulations are shaped around your business, your risks, and your resources. We’ll work with you to design something that fits your budget and goals. If we see an opportunity to deliver extra value, like simulating an attack technique actively being used in your industry, we’ll recommend it.
- 1. Scoping: We start by understanding your business, your priorities, and how much ground you want to cover. If it’s your first attack simulation, we can help you shape something highly focused and manageable. We’ll look at where your critical data lives, how your team operates, whether you’ve had any close calls, and whether your incident response plan has ever been tested.
- 2. Threat Modelling: We help identify your most valuable assets and likely attack paths. This could include critical systems, sensitive data, or business processes. The goal is to build a simulation that reflects how a real attacker would behave.
- 3. Simulation Planning: We create a tailored scenario using relevant tactics and techniques. Everything is planned to run in a safe, controlled environment, with minimal disruption to your team or systems.
- 4. Execution: We run the simulation and observe how your people, processes, and technology respond. Whether it’s phishing, lateral movement, or a ransomware-style test, we track how the attack unfolds in real time.
- 5. Reporting and Review: You receive a clear, prioritised report explaining what happened, what worked, what didn’t, and where to improve. The focus is always on practical actions that help strengthen your overall security.
What Should You Do With the Results?
Once the simulation is complete, it’s time to act on what you’ve learned. You’ll know where the gaps are — now it’s about fixing them. That means improving your defences, training your team, and making sure your response plan actually works when it’s needed.
- Fix potential vulnerabilities – Resolve any technical issues revealed during the simulated cyber attack, like over-permissioned accounts, weak configurations, or detection blind spots.
- Improve your incident response plan – Test and refine how your team handles emerging threats, including roles, escalation, and meeting the 72-hour GDPR reporting deadline.
Hear From Our Customers
What stood out most was the clarity of information and the team’s clear, straightforward communication throughout the process. Equilibrium has given us greater confidence in our business continuity, and we would absolutely recommend them to others seeking Cyber Security services. They made the entire process simple, and their findings were clearly and effectively communicated.
Ryan Ginty
Managing Director, Auger Torque
Why Work With Equilibrium for Attack Simulations?
If you’re managing Cyber Security, it can be hard to know how well your team, processes, and tools would cope in a real attack. Maybe you’ve done a pen test or run a few phishing simulations — but those only show part of the picture. What happens if someone actually gets in? Would your team spot it? Would your response plan kick in? Would it work?
That’s where we come in. Our cyber attack simulation services are designed to be realistic, flexible, and built around your specific risks — not someone else’s checklist.
We don’t just run tests. We work with you to uncover the gaps that actually matter and help you strengthen your defences where it counts.
- Adversarial attack simulation tailored to your systems, risks, and business goals
- CREST-certified professionals who understand how real attackers operate
- Threat-led techniques based on proven attacker tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs)
- Built to improve your cyber defences – Everything is geared toward making you better prepared for the next emerging threat.
- Improved threat detection and response – See how quickly your team picks up alerts, escalates issues, and acts under pressure.