Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT): The Key To Passing DORA’s Resilience Tests

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) has made advanced security testing a requirement, not a choice. For Web3 organizations managing millions of dollars in digital assets, Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT) offers a proactive and robust solution to safeguard operations and maintain trust in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

What is TLPT?

Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT) is a security practice designed to simulate real-world, advanced cyberattacks and identify vulnerabilities before malicious actors exploit them. 

Unlike conventional penetration testing, TLPT takes a holistic, adversarial approach that challenges not only technical systems but also organizational processes and incident response capabilities.

How TLPT Differs from Traditional Penetration Testing

Traditional penetration testing or code audits typically focus on well-known vulnerabilities and attack surfaces. TLPT takes a step further by assuming threats have already infiltrated the system. It tests the entire organization—technical controls, incident response, and resilience—by simulating sophisticated attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

Key differentiators:

Threat intelligence at its core: TLPT leverages threat intelligence to simulate sophisticated attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures, going beyond the static analysis of conventional penetration testing.

Risk-centric methodology: Traditional testing often focuses on predefined attack surfaces, while TLPT evaluates vulnerabilities in context, simulating scenarios where threats have already infiltrated the organization.

Comprehensive scope: TLPT examines not just code-level flaws but also the lateral movement of attackers, critical system control, and Web3-specific attack vectors such as smart contract vulnerabilities, API exploitation, and blockchain node misconfigurations.

Roles in TLPT

1. Red team: Conducts the simulated attacks, replicating real-world adversaries.

2. Blue team: Represents the organization’s defense, tasked with detecting and responding to simulated attacks.

3. Control team: Ensures the integrity and scope of the testing process.

4. Threat intelligence providers: Deliver insights into attacker methods and emerging threats.

Why DORA Requires TLPT

DORA addresses the increasing need for financial and fintech organizations—including those in Web3—to strengthen their ICT (Information and Communications Technology) resilience. Its key requirements include:

• Annual advanced threat-led testing: Regular TLPT ensures organizations keep pace with evolving threats.
• Independent security assessments: Tests must be conducted by external entities to ensure objectivity and quality.
• Risk-based scoping: DORA emphasizes focusing on high-value assets, such as critical smart contracts and blockchain nodes.

DORA’s goal is not just compliance but embedding resilience into organizational frameworks. For Web3, this means integrating TLPT to address unique decentralized technology risks.

Hacken’s Approach to Threat-Led Penetration Testing

At Hacken, we tailor our TLPT approach to address your organization’s unique challenges:

1. Scoping and preparation

Understanding the organization’s specific risk landscape, including mapping assets such as smart contracts, private key vaults, and RPC endpoints.

2. Threat intelligence collection

Gathering information about potential adversaries and their objectives to inform realistic attack simulations.

3. Attack simulation (Red Teaming)

Simulating adversarial actions to identify vulnerabilities, including:

• Reconnaissance: Analyzing public nodes, open-source repos, and deployed contracts.
• Vulnerability validation: Exploiting flaws such as reentrancy bugs and governance attacks.
• Impact assessment: Evaluating potential damage, such as draining token reserves or disrupting ecosystems.

4. Reporting and remediation

Documenting findings, severity ratings, and actionable remediation steps to strengthen defenses and meet compliance requirements.

Beyond Code: Testing Organizational Resilience

TLPT doesn’t stop at technical vulnerabilities. It evaluates:

• Technical controls: Are encryption methods, authentication protocols, and key management aligned with best practices? Are logs and monitoring tools capable of detecting subtle manipulations in real time?
• Organizational controls: How well can your team detect, respond, and recover from a breach scenario? Can incident response processes keep pace with a real-world attack, and are there communication plans to inform stakeholders? TLPT ensures that people, processes, and policies work together to protect your ecosystem under duress.

Addressing Web3-Specific Vulnerabilities with TLPT

Web3 is expensive and fast-moving. Tokens, NFTs, and digital assets all have tangible value. There’s no room for complacency. A single overlooked vulnerability can lead to thefts, protocol bankruptcies, and loss of user trust. TLPT provides the rigorous stress testing needed to safeguard your reputation and bottom line.

1. Smart contracts instead of legacy apps: In Web3, logic flaws can instantly drain liquidity pools worth millions. A minor bug can lead to catastrophic losses. TLPT (Threat-Led Penetration Testing) uncovers these subtle and complex logic flaws by simulating real attackers who know exactly which technical intricacies to exploit.
2. Front-ends: Vulnerabilities like malicious injections, session hijacking, or phishing attacks targeting end-user interfaces can facilitate unauthorized transactions. TLPT helps safeguard these entry points by simulating attack scenarios that test the robustness of front-end security.
3. Backends: APIs and middleware are often overlooked but remain critical attack vectors. TLPT ensures backend APIs, databases, and service integrations are resilient against data leaks or unauthorized access.
4. Blockchain nodes rather than traditional servers: Nodes that maintain consensus can be misconfigured or susceptible to network partition attacks. If these nodes are compromised, entire networks could be disrupted.
5. Infrastructure: Beyond blockchain nodes, ancillary components such as DNS servers, hosting environments, and cloud resources often have indirect vulnerabilities. TLPT evaluates these systems to ensure end-to-end resilience.
6. Wallets: Wallets, especially non-custodial ones, are prime targets for seed phrase leaks, private key theft, or transaction manipulation. TLPT mimics attacker methods to assess wallet security across storage, transaction signing, and recovery processes.
7. Market manipulation & MEV instead of simple DDoS: In decentralized finance (DeFi), frontrunning, Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) exploitation, and malicious cross-chain bridges represent a new class of risks. Standard tests don’t fully account for these.

Specialized Toolkits for Web3:

• Smart contract analysis: Smart contract tools like Foundry, Slither, Manticore e.t.c can spot code-level issues early, supporting TLPT efforts.
• Blockchain infrastructure Testing: Platforms like Hacken Extractor, Tenderly, OpenZeppelin Defender and Open source tools like Event Monitor can help continuously monitor smart contracts, while frameworks like TIBER-EU offer structured methodologies for threat-led testing.
• Bug Bounties and Community Audits: Services like Hackenproof incentivize the global security community to find and disclose flaws. Crowdsourcing can complement formal TLPT engagements, ensuring multiple layers of defense.

Follow @hackenclub on 𝕏 (Twitter)

Final Thoughts

Threat-Led Penetration Testing is essential for organizations striving to meet DORA requirements and protect their ecosystems from evolving cyber threats. It’s not a one-time solution—your threat landscape evolves with new contract deployments, governance updates, and interconnected blockchains. Regular testing, whether annual or more frequent for critical systems, ensures your defenses stay robust and aligned with regulatory standards. At Hacken, we turn compliance into opportunity, empowering your organization to build resilience and excel in the decentralized future.

FAQ