Picus unifies Breach and Attack Simulation, Automated Penetration Testing, and Exposure Validation, the three capabilities that together define Adversarial Exposure Validation

Picus Security - AEV Provider of the Year

Picus' breakthrough Autonomous Exposure Validation Platform proves what attackers can exploit in an environment and what security controls can stop. This turns every exposure into a defensible decision: whether to patch, mitigate, monitor, or accept.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Picus Security, a leading exposure validation company, today announced that it is the recipient of the "AEV (Adversarial Exposure Validation) Solution Provider of the Year" award in the 10th annual CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program. Conducted by CyberSecurity Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization, the annual program recognizes the most innovative companies, products, and technologies driving progress in the global information security industry.

Picus' breakthrough Autonomous Exposure Validation Platform proves what attackers can exploit in an environment and what security controls can stop. This turns every exposure into a defensible decision: whether to patch, mitigate, monitor, or accept. Beyond evaluating findings in isolation, Picus reveals how unrelated exposures chain into real attack paths, identifies where defenses hold, and pinpoints weaknesses that require action.

Adversarial Exposure Validation (AEV) requires more than a single testing technique. Automated penetration testing alone shows how an attacker might get in, but it cannot measure whether security controls detect and stop the attack, or whether an exposure is already mitigated. True AEV unites Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS), Automated Penetration Testing, and Exposure Validation in one platform, each answering a question the others cannot.

With Numi AI™, Picus turns threat intelligence, CVEs, and adversary tradecraft into production-safe attack scenarios in minutes, while Picus Swarm autonomously orchestrates those simulations across distributed enterprise environments, continuously validating controls, attack paths, and exposures without requiring teams to manually build or execute tests.

"Adversarial Exposure Validation is not automated pentesting with a new label," said H. Alper Memis, co-founder and CEO of Picus Security. "Pentesting proves an attack path exists; BAS proves whether your controls stop it; exposure validation ties both to all the assets your business depends on and validates all exposures in your environment. Only together do they turn findings into evidence. Picus built all three into a single platform so customers can prioritize remediation, safely deprioritize exposures their controls already mitigate, and measure progress. This recognition reflects our commitment to helping customers reduce risk and make better use of their security resources."

Picus is the only approach to AEV that runs breach and attack simulation, autonomous penetration testing, and exposure validation as one continuous loop: validate, decide, fix, revalidate. Each technique strengthens the others: Attack paths discovered by autonomous pentesting are validated against live controls through BAS, and a shared data fabric correlates the results with asset criticality, identity context, control effectiveness, and business risk, giving a continuously updated understanding of where attackers can succeed and why. Point solutions that automate only one stage of testing leave the loop open; Picus closes it.

"Picus Security enables teams to focus resources where they actually change the outcome. Security teams have visibility but not certainty. Collected data about vulnerabilities, identities, cloud assets, and security controls alone can’t answer whether an attacker can actually use these exposures to compromise an organization," said Steve Johansson, managing director, CyberSecurity Breakthrough. "Picus answers the question. By combining autonomous validation, AI-accelerated attack generation, and continuous exposure validation in a single platform, Picus is helping the industry adopt a new, autonomous approach to exposure validation."

Now in its 10th year, the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards recognizes innovation across the cybersecurity industry, including cloud security, threat intelligence, risk management, identity management, and more. The program consistently shines a light on the solutions and organizations redefining how to safeguard the digital world. The 2026 program received thousands of nominations from organizations in more than 20 countries, ranging from startups to established global enterprises. This year’s winners embody the cutting edge of cybersecurity technology, delivering next-generation protection and resilience in today’s increasingly complex threat landscape.

With 13 years of validation engineering and more than 300 million attack simulations in the last year, Picus provides unmatched depth and capability. Visit the website to learn more or schedule a demo.

About Picus Security
Picus Security, the leading exposure validation company, proves what attackers can exploit and what your defenses stop, then closes real gaps with ready-to-deploy fixes and revalidates to confirm at the machine speed today's AI threats demand. Delivering on the full definition of Adversarial Exposure Validation, the Picus Platform unifies Breach and Attack Simulation, Autonomous Penetration Testing, and Exposure Validation, unified by Picus Swarm, a swarm of AI agents that runs the whole validation loop continuously with human oversight. With 75+ integrations, it reaches across on-prem, hybrid cloud, and endpoint environments.

Trusted by many Fortune 500 enterprises, Picus was named a 2025 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for Adversarial Exposure Validation and is recognized as an Innovation Leader in the Frost Radar for Automated Security Validation.

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About CyberSecurity Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in information security and cybersecurity technology companies, products and people. The CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough information security companies and products in categories including Cloud Security, Threat Detection, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Web and Email Security, UTM, Firewall and more. For more information visit CyberSecurityBreakthrough.com.

Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Media Contact
Jennifer Tanner
Look Left Marketing
picus@lookleftmarketing.com

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