Simulating Advanced Threats for Financial Sector Resilience

Service Overview

The Cyber Operational Resilience Intelligence-led Exercises (CORIE) framework represents the highest standard of adversary simulation for Australia’s financial sector. Developed by the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR), CORIE exercises simulate the techniques and tactics of sophisticated threat actors including nation-states, organised cybercrime, and advanced persistent threats (APTs).

SilentGrid conducts CORIE-aligned Red Team exercises to rigorously assess the resilience of financial institutions against these adversaries. Our engagements test the end-to-end security posture of your organisation, targeting technology, personnel, and incident response capabilities to uncover weaknesses before they are exploited by real attackers.

CORIE testing extends beyond technical vulnerabilities – it measures how well your organisation can detect, respond to, and recover from persistent, coordinated cyberattacks.

Why CORIE Matters

A Financial Sector Under Threat

The financial sector remains one of the most targeted industries globally, with cyberattacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and disruptive. CORIE provides a framework that ensures financial institutions are proactively strengthening their defences against these evolving threats.

Regulatory and Operational Significance

CORIE is not just a recommended exercise – for many financial entities, it is a regulatory requirement mandated by the Council of Financial Regulators. Even for organisations not directly mandated, CORIE-aligned exercises provide a proactive approach to achieving resilience against catastrophic cyber incidents.

Why Choose SilentGrid for CORIE Testing?

SilentGrid delivers bespoke CORIE engagements that go beyond compliance, providing real-world insights into your organisation’s defensive readiness. Our team of highly skilled consultants, certified professionals, and threat intelligence experts bring unparalleled experience in simulating the tactics of the most advanced adversaries.

Our Approach

• Advanced Adversary Emulation
  We simulate the methods used by the most dangerous actors targeting the financial sector, mirroring the tactics of ransomware groups, state-sponsored hackers, and insider threats.

• Industry-Specific Targeting
  SilentGrid tailors CORIE exercises to reflect the unique attack paths and threat profiles facing financial institutions, ensuring relevance to your business model and infrastructure.

• Identifying Critical Business Services
  As mandated by the CORIE framework, financial institutions are responsible for identifying and prioritising their Critical Business Services — those functions and processes that, if disrupted, would significantly impact confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the core financial systems.

  SilentGrid supports this effort by:

  • Collaborating with stakeholders to ensure business-critical functions and systemically important services are identified.
  • Helping define in-scope services for the exercise, ensuring alignment with CORIE’s objectives.
  • Focusing on areas of greatest risk to deliver actionable insights that enhance resilience across key operations.

• Collaboration and Transparency
  While our Red Team acts as the adversary, we maintain transparent collaboration with your security teams throughout debriefs and post-engagement phases to ensure continuous learning and uplift.

CORIE Engagement Lifecycle

SilentGrid follows the CORIE-mandated engagement lifecycle, which mirrors real-world attack chains while aligning with regulatory expectations.

1. Threat Intelligence and Reconnaissance

• SilentGrid currently does not conduct Threat Intelligence activities internally and relies on the client to provide the necessary information. This service is planned to be established in the near future.

2. Initial Compromise

• Simulating spear phishing, web application exploitation, and credential harvesting to establish initial access.
• Leveraging custom malware payloads to bypass security controls and gain a foothold.

3. Persistence and Lateral Movement

• Testing for Active Directory misconfigurations, privilege escalation, and credential reuse.
• Moving laterally through internal environments to escalate privileges and expand access.

4. Impact and Objective Execution

• Simulating data exfiltration, financial fraud, or disruption scenarios aligned with real-world adversary objectives.
• Testing the resilience of data loss prevention (DLP), monitoring tools, and incident response processes.
• Evaluating the resilience and continuity of Critical Business Services, ensuring that the most essential functions remain secure and operational during adversarial scenarios.

5. Post-Engagement Review and Uplift

• Comprehensive technical and executive debriefs to highlight findings, vulnerabilities, and response gaps.
• Detailed attack mapping to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, showcasing detection and containment blind spots.

Deliverables and Reporting

SilentGrid’s CORIE-aligned engagements provide comprehensive deliverables that go beyond technical findings – offering strategic insights for both operational teams and executive leadership.

• Attack Execution Report
  A comprehensive record of the Red Team’s activities during the engagement, documenting every action taken, deviations from the initial test plan, and the corresponding outcomes. This report serves as a step-by-step replay of the attack lifecycle, providing critical insights into the effectiveness of detection and response mechanisms. Additionally, it includes actionable recommendations to enhance your organisation’s cyber resilience.

• Executive Summary and Board-Level Insights
  A high-level overview of business risks, including potential financial impact and strategic recommendations.

• Tactical Uplift and Debriefing
  Post-engagement workshops and custom remediation roadmaps to strengthen your security posture.

Qualification and Expertise

SilentGrid’s team meets all technical and operational requirements set by the CORIE framework. Our consultants bring decades of experience in adversary simulation, penetration testing, and threat intelligence, with deep expertise in the financial sector.

• Certified Professionals – CREST, OSCP, OSCE, and GIAC certifications
• Sector-Specific Experience – Engagements across banks, insurers, and financial services
• Proven Track Record – Successful delivery of large-scale adversary simulations for critical infrastructure

Is CORIE Right for Your Organisation?

CORIE testing is ideal for:

• Banks, insurers, and payment providers mandated by the Council of Financial Regulators
• Financial institutions aiming to proactively enhance resilience against APTs and ransomware
• Organisations seeking real-world insights beyond standard penetration tests

Even if not mandatory, CORIE-aligned exercises provide invaluable insights for any financial entity prioritising resilience, compliance, and threat readiness.

Get Started with CORIE Testing

SilentGrid helps financial institutions meet the highest standards of operational resilience.
Contact Us to schedule a CORIE-aligned Red Team exercise and enhance your cyber defences against sophisticated threats.