Ensign InfoSecurity and TrendAI have announced the outcomes of a joint security testing initiative aimed at validating and strengthening cyber defences against increasingly adaptive AI-enabled attacks.
The collaboration, used Ensign's proprietary AI assessment tool to test TrendAI TippingPoint, which employs advanced virtual patching to shield enterprise networks from exploits before vendor fixes are available.
Unlike conventional security testing that follows a predetermined attack path, Ensign used AI to adapt its approach when encountering defensive controls, testing whether alternative attack paths could overcome them.
During the assessment, Ensign identified opportunities to further strengthen TippingPoint as threat actors adapt their attack techniques in response to existing defensive controls. TrendAI worked closely with Ensign to validate the findings and rapidly introduced additional coverage to strengthen its TippingPoint virtual patching protection.
"AI is changing what effective security testing looks like," said Paul Tan, executive vice president of Government & Singapore Enterprises at Ensign InfoSecurity.
"Blocking the first attack is no longer enough if an AI-enabled attacker can adapt and try another route. Our testing showed why organisations need to continuously validate whether their security controls can stand up to this kind of adaptive behaviour." Paul Tan
"The value of this exercise was not simply in identifying where protection could be strengthened, but in how quickly Ensign and TrendAI were able to turn those findings into stronger protection," added Tan. "This continuous cycle of testing, validating and strengthening defences is what organisations will increasingly need as AI-enabled attacks evolve."
"Due to frontier AI, the speed and sophistication of cyberattacks is accelerating faster than most security teams can keep pace with," said David Siah, vice president, AMEA Channels at TrendAI.
"Adversaries are already using AI to probe, adapt and exploit weaknesses in real time. A reactive security posture is no longer good enough. This is why TrendAI is partnering with Ensign to bring proactive, continuous validation to our customers." David Siah
"By combining Ensign's threat discovery capabilities with TippingPoint's virtual patching, we are helping organisations close the gap between when a vulnerability is discovered and when it is actually protected, giving security teams the head start they need against frontier AI threats," said Siah.
The exercise demonstrates an increasingly important consideration for cyber defence: stopping one attack attempt may no longer be sufficient when AI can rapidly adapt, retry and explore alternative ways of reaching the same objective.
AI is changing the speed and economics of cyberattacks, enabling attackers to automate tasks, adapt techniques and explore alternative attack paths more quickly.
As attacks become more adaptive, security guardrails and controls remain essential, but organisations need to continuously validate that they remain effective as attack techniques evolve.Ensign uses leading AI models to test attack paths against an organisation's security environment, identifying where controls hold, where alternative paths may exist and where defences can be strengthened.
