Operant AI Launches Woodpecker to Open-Source Automated Security Testing

Silicon Valley-headquartered Operant AI, has launched Woodpecker, an open-source, automated red teaming engine, that will make advanced security testing accessible to organisations of all sizes.

Woodpecker is designed to help organisations proactively detect and address security vulnerabilities across AI systems, Kubernetes environments, and APIs. 

“Security vulnerabilities don't discriminate based on an organisation's size or resources, we believe red teaming should not be a privilege for a few, it should be a foundational practice for all,” said Vrajesh Bhavasar, CEO and co-founder of Operant AI.

"With Woodpecker, we're leveling the playing field by providing enterprise-grade red teaming capabilities in an open source solution that any organization can deploy. Security testing at this depth should be a universal right, not a privilege reserved for those with the largest security budgets," he added.

According to the startup, Woodpecker is purpose-built to address these modern threats targeting AI applications, cloud APIs, and Kubernetes environments and is designed to mimic how real attackers operate across multiple layers of infrastructure.

Woodpecker provides automated red teaming capabilities across three critical domains:

1. Kubernetes Security: Identifies misconfigurations, privilege escalations, and vulnerable deployment patterns within container orchestration environments.
2. API Security: Simulate various attack scenarios to uncover vulnerabilities in API endpoints, authentication mechanisms, and data handling processes.
3. AI Security: Tests machine learning models and AI systems for prompt injection, data poisoning, and other emerging AI-specific attack vectors.

Key Features of Woodpecker:

• Red Teaming Across Kubernetes, APIs, and AI Workflows
  • Red Teams for K8s, APIs, and AI Models/Agents
  • Multi-layer Threat Simulation across runtime, APIs, and LLM integrations
• Automated LLM Red Teaming
  • Covers prompt injection, jailbreaks, model theft, sensitive data leakage and more
  • Uncover vulnerabilities by testing malicious prompts originating from both adversarial and typical users.
  • Test output manipulation and filtering evasion
• Compliance Mapping for regulatory Frameworks
  • Covers across threat vectors for OWASP top 10 for K8s, API and AI, MITRE ATLAS and NIST
• Open-Source and Free
  • Benefit from a powerful red teaming tool without licensing fees, fostering widespread adoption.
• Easy Integration
  • Seamlessly integrate Woodpecker into existing security workflows and CI/CD pipelines.