The birth of White Knight Labs (WKL) was a bold response against the increasing malicious cyber activities affecting the network security of organizations. ‘Offensive Security’ is a proactive security strategy that deploys the exact techniques used by hackers in real-world scenarios to strengthen network security, not for damaging it. WKL emerged as a pioneer in offensive cybersecurity management with an ambition to excel in this antagonistic method of ensuring cybersecurity. As it continues to leave its mark as a reputable cybersecurity company, its exemplary work has won the title of Most Influential Companies of the Year 2025 by The CEO Views.
A Long-Nurtured Idea
WKL nourished the idea of becoming the offensive cybersecurity company that co-founders John Stigerwalt and Greg Hatcher always wanted to work for but never found. This ambition led to the foundation of White Knight Labs in 2021. It is a small yet focused organization that brings together top-tier offensive security engineers from around the world.
“Our goal is to simulate real, sophisticated malicious actors and help clients find and fix vulnerabilities before the bad guys do,” articulates John Stigerwalt.
Overcoming Initial Hurdles
White Knight Labs was actually founded by John alone in 2016. At the time, he had been an experienced penetration tester but soon realized that he needed more experience in the business aspect before taking off on his own. John continued to work for various offensive security firms while learning how to run his own business. During that time, he met Greg, and they joined forces to create White Knight Labs, a global cybersecurity consultancy specializing in Offensive Cyber Engagements.
A Sneak-Peek of White Knight Labs
WKL operates with extreme precision and dedication. It is similar to an elite military unit where each engineer specializes in their respective fields. John proudly states, “Our extensive technical experience spans various industries, federal agencies, and military units, including the NSA, Army Special Forces, CISA, and several Fortune 500 companies.”
The company has specialized teams dedicated to covering virtually all aspects of offensive information security. They also offer advanced training for individuals with a strong foundation in cybersecurity and a willingness to push their boundaries whenever required.
Service Offerings
White Knight Labs delivers offensive security services, including Web Application, Mobile Application, Network, Embedded Systems, Ransomware Simulation, Cloud, Physical, Social Engineering, and more. The company has dedicated experts for each engagement, and they work closely together to ensure a holistic view of the client’s attack surface. It also provides advisory services and staff augmentation to support teams looking to increase their security posture. For those looking to improve their own skills in offensive security operations, WKL offers a variety of courses designed to empower established professionals and bring them to the next level.
In the Face of the Storm
WKL focuses on delivering the best services possible. It has a strategy that aims to bring together the best experts in the field and support them to stay at the top of their game. Where other offensive security firms will put a junior penetration tester on an engagement to run an automated scan, WKL ensures its clients get experienced, hands-on testing. It ensures all reports are actionable and understandable by all stakeholders, giving a clear understanding of the risks involved and step-by-step instructions on fixing the issue.
Live Training and On-Demand Certification
As a cybersecurity expert, WKL is also investing in offering advanced training courses to craft skilled security professionals. It takes pride in giving back to the community and helping to train up engineers to be the best they can be. Unlike other training organizations that start with beginner-level courses, WKL prioritizes advanced training, since this is where its teams shine.
The current courses include Advanced Red Team Operations, Offensive Development, Offensive Azure Operations, Attacking & Securing CI/CD Pipelines, and Offensive Active Directory Operations. WKL also offers smaller training courses through its Dev Dojo, designed to teach the fundamentals of malware development in CSharp and Golang. Presently, the company is developing an entry-level penetration tester certification. This training aims to deliver a more realistic experience for entry-level testers at a very competitive price.
The Differentiating Factors
The prime competitive advantages of WKL are hiring only elite talent and tailoring the engagement to meet the client’s needs. The company assesses client needs to determine their security posture when discussing a potential engagement. A client going for a first penetration test is not upsold a full-scale red team engagement. WKL gets a complete understanding of the attack surface they are interested in, the types of threats, and what matters to them as a business. Receiving domain administrator-level access and calling the engagement done are not WKL’s thing. They demonstrate impact by revealing what it can access that could harm the business, to display risk and consequences.
Harnessing Advanced Technology
White Knight Labs explores a mix of open source, commercial, and custom tools to conduct its engagements. It prefers using in-house-built technology tools because of the depth of knowledge its engineers have. However, with its team’s passion for the field, the cybersecurity provider always monitors the benefits and drawbacks of outside tools and incorporates them accordingly.
Why an Influential Company?
WKL pushes the standard away from rigid penetration testing frameworks that are heavily focused on compliance checkboxes and instead focuses on what attackers are actually doing to better help defenders prepare for such attacks. It always aims to be at the cutting edge of cybersecurity and push others to follow.
Vision for the Future
WKL is always interested in staying at the top of its game and honing its skills through more training offerings. By working to strengthen its skills and the cybersecurity industry at large, WKL makes the internet a safer place for everyone.
“We are dedicated to ensuring that the individuals working on your network are truly masters of their craft and will give you usable results unique to your business needs.”
