Your Controls Block Known Attacks. What About the Behavior?
Picus Security's Blue Report 2026 highlights that security controls often miss quieter attack variants despite blocking
Picus Security's Blue Report 2026 reveals that while overall prevention effectiveness has risen to 69%, this average masks significant gaps. Security controls are adept at blocking well-known attack tools but frequently miss less conspicuous methods achieving the same objectives. The report emphasizes the need for behavioral (TTP-based) testing over solely IOC-based testing to uncover these vulnerabilities, as artifacts are easily changed while core behaviors are more persistent.
AI summary of the linked source. Not reviewed by an editor. How this works
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The lesson from this incident
Full lessonOrganizations have become proficient at blocking known attack tools and indicators of compromise (IOCs), but adversaries routinely achieve the same objectives using lesser-known or custom methods that bypass signature-based controls. Picus Security's Blue Report 2026 highlights that a 69% average prevention rate masks critical gaps where TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) go undetected simply because the artifact — not the behavior — changed. This matters because attackers can trivially swap out tools and IOCs, while the underlying behavior remains consistent and persistent. Relying solely on IOC-based detection creates a false sense of security, leaving organizations vulnerable to the majority of real-world intrusions that use stealthy or novel variations of well-known attack patterns. Shifting to behavioral, TTP-based testing and detection is essential to closing this gap.
What helps against this
How we list vendors
- Vulnerability scanning and prioritisation
You know which systems are vulnerable, and which ones to fix first.
- Breach and attack simulation
You only find out whether your security tools stop an attack when a real attacker tries.
- Endpoint detection and response (EDR and XDR)
Malware and hands-on-keyboard attackers on laptops and servers get spotted and stopped.
Indicators of Compromise
Extracted by AI from the linked source. Not reviewed by an editor. How this works
- malware — Mimikatz