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Control testing.
Grounded in your risks.

One completed assessment for audit readiness and better security decisions. We start with how your business operates, your existing controls and the risks they address. We examine the protections those controls should provide, including dependencies they share.

See what holds up, what needs attention and what remains unproven, with evidence prepared for audit. Built around your existing controls, evidence and workflows.

Plan my assessment
01 / Élucider

What must the control protect?

Start with the customer’s environment and the paths that could leave access open after departure.

The control

Withdraw central, application and session access within four hours.

The squirrel maps customer data, relevant access paths and the protection required from the control.
02 / Éprouver

One control. Separate examinations.

Examine central identity and application access against their own deciding records.

What the records show

Central disablement: 10–15 minutes. One application withdrawal: after the deadline.

The squirrel examines central identity and application sessions separately, each with its own records and timing check.
03 / Évaluer

What does the evidence establish?

Challenge both the examination’s coverage and the conclusions drawn from it.

Review remains on hold

Missing access history remains unresolved. Late withdrawal does not establish an attacker or data theft.

The squirrel challenges the evidence with a magnifying glass, missing-record question and review hold.
04 / Éclairer

Make the next action clear.

Separate the established finding from the evidence still needed for reassessment.

The next step

Address the late application withdrawal and obtain the missing access history. This result has not been released.

The squirrel presents bounded findings and separate next actions for fixing an exception and obtaining evidence.

This is one examination within an assessment. The engagement covers the full agreed audit scope; risk-driven depth does not remove required work.

Method illustration using one retained fictional result: three departures, archive-prod, June 2026. Scripted review, not independent professional validation. This run used fixed procedures; it does not demonstrate the newer contextual-planning implementation.

Inspect the evidence and method →

Put the findings to work.

Three views of the same assessment, connecting audit readiness with security decisions.

ILLUSTRATIVE ASSESSMENT DESIGN / NORTHSTAR LABS / SEPTEMBER 2026

Authored example states, not an executed engagement. All three views below share the same declared scope.

01 / FOR GRC

Your control coverage.
Your next priorities.

See which protections were examined, what they showed and where evidence is still missing. Open a control to inspect its parts.

The identity scenario touches seven controls. Backup recovery and change management remain visible in the assessment.

CONTROL COVERAGE01

9 controls. 18 protections.

10 examined5 partial3 not examined

Protection-level examination coverage. Examined does not mean supported.

IDENTITY SCENARIOAuthentication & credentialspartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C01

ILL-P01 / MFA enforcement
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated configuration checks enforce MFA on the standard workforce route.

ILL-P02 / Recovery & exceptions
Examination
partial
Outcome
unresolved
Evidence
incomplete

Recovery-route exception records are incomplete; alternate entry is unresolved.

IDENTITY SCENARIOSession managementpartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C02

ILL-P03 / Central session revocation
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated revocation checks invalidate central sessions.

ILL-P04 / Application token revocation
Examination
partial
Outcome
unresolved
Evidence
incomplete

Token inventory and revocation history are incomplete.

IDENTITY SCENARIOOffboardingpartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C03

ILL-P05 / Identity disablement
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated departure checks meet the disablement criterion.

ILL-P06 / Independent application access
Examination
partial
Outcome
unresolved
Evidence
incomplete

Local-account departure reconciliation remains incomplete. Relevant only if the compromised identity belongs to a leaver.

IDENTITY SCENARIOPrivileged accessexamined

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C04

ILL-P07 / Elevation approval
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated elevation records contain the required approvals.

ILL-P08 / Standing privilege boundaries
Examination
examined
Outcome
failure
Evidence
sufficient for this test

The stipulated support role retains an export-administration permission contrary to its approved role definition.

IDENTITY SCENARIOSensitive-data accesspartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C05

ILL-P09 / Standard effective permissions
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated standard-route checks enforce the approved data-access boundary.

ILL-P10 / Alternate API access
Examination
not examined
Outcome
undetermined
Evidence
not assessed

The alternate API route has not been examined.

IDENTITY SCENARIOExport restrictionspartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C06

ILL-P11 / Export authorization
Examination
examined
Outcome
failure
Evidence
sufficient for this test

The illustrative supplied export-test record describes a support-role export proceeding without required approval. This examination inspects the record; Épreuve performs no active export test.

ILL-P12 / Destination restrictions
Examination
not examined
Outcome
undetermined
Evidence
not assessed

Export destination enforcement has not been examined.

IDENTITY SCENARIOLogging & responsepartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C07

ILL-P13 / Export event coverage
Examination
partial
Outcome
unresolved
Evidence
incomplete

The export-event record is incomplete; detection coverage is unresolved.

ILL-P14 / Alert-to-response exercise
Examination
not examined
Outcome
undetermined
Evidence
not assessed

No response exercise has been examined.

OTHER SCOPEBackup recoveryexamined

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C08

ILL-P15 / Restore execution
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated restore checks meet the declared recovery criterion.

ILL-P16 / Recovery validation
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated restored-record comparisons match the sampled originals.

OTHER SCOPEChange managementpartial

ILL-ASMT-01 / ILL-C09

ILL-P17 / Production approval
Examination
examined
Outcome
supported
Evidence
sufficient for this test

Stipulated sampled production changes contain approval records.

ILL-P18 / Emergency-change review
Examination
partial
Outcome
unresolved
Evidence
incomplete

Emergency-change population reconciliation is incomplete.

02 / FOR SECURITY LEADERSHIP

Follow the risk
across controls.

Could a compromised workforce identity reach and extract sensitive customer data?

This scenario is one view into the scope. The branches are hypotheses to examine, not a demonstrated exploit chain.

IDENTITY EXPOSURE / ILLUSTRATION02
Identity exposure and control dependenciesTwo entry routes: stolen credentials face MFA and unresolved recovery exceptions; stolen sessions face central revocation and unresolved application tokens. Dashed paths indicate unproved access to the support role. The role has two illustrated failures: standing export privilege and missing export approval. Reaching customer data, export destinations and response coverage remain unresolved. No complete attack path is established.Workforce identityCredentials✓ MFA enforced? Recovery exceptionsExisting session✓ Central revocation? Application tokensCan it reach the support role?Not established! Standing privilegeExport permission exceeds role! Export approvalNo approval in test recordTWO FAILURES · SAME ROLE? Data route · destination · responseDOTTED CONNECTIONS = UNRESOLVED PATH
Inspect the contributing controls

ILL-SCN-01 · authored assessment states

01 / Obtain access

Stolen credentials still face authentication. A stolen session is a separate entry route.

MFA enforcementILL-P01 · supportedRecovery & exceptionsILL-P02 · unresolved
Credential route
Authentication first
Stolen session
Entry bypasses sign-in

02 / Retain access

Central session revocationILL-P03 · supportedApplication token revocationILL-P04 · unresolved
If the identity belongs to a leaverIdentity disablementILL-P05 · supportedIndependent application accessILL-P06 · unresolved

Offboarding matters only for this actor context. It is not a necessary stage for every compromised identity.

Existing permissions
Can already reach data?
Elevated permissions
Elevation approvalILL-P07 · supportedStanding privilege boundariesILL-P08 · failure

03 / Reach customer data

Standard effective permissionsILL-P09 · supportedAlternate API accessILL-P10 · undetermined

04 / Export & respond

Export authorizationILL-P11 · failureExport event coverageILL-P13 · unresolved
Destination and response checksDestination restrictionsILL-P12 · undeterminedAlert-to-response exerciseILL-P14 · undetermined
PRIORITY IN THIS ILLUSTRATION

The support role is assumed to be unable to export without separate approval. The illustrated permission and export-record findings challenge that assumption. Prioritize restoring the role boundary and approval requirement.

Not examined: alternate API access, destination restrictions and the response exercise. Evidence incomplete: recovery routes, application tokens, application accounts and export-event coverage.

Complete the outstanding examinations and obtain the missing records before drawing a wider conclusion. Component failures do not establish a complete attack path or data theft.

✓ Supported · ! Failure in this illustration · ? Open question

03 / FOR AUDIT

Inspect the basis
of the conclusion.

Start with assessment scope and coverage. Follow a finding into its criterion, procedure, records and review determination.

ASSESSMENT RECORD03

Scope & examination

ILLUSTRATIVE
NOT ISSUED

1–30 September 2026
Workforce IdP, customer-vault and the export service

10 examined5 partial3 not examined
01
Declared scope

Nine controls across identity protection, backup recovery and change management.

02
Review held

Application accounts, recovery records and export-event coverage remain unresolved.

Population, accuracy and scope notes

ILL-ASMT-01 · illustrative inventories contain 12 workforce identities and four role definitions. Workforce and IdP lists reconcile; independently managed application accounts remain unresolved.

Two sampled role assignments agree with their source records. This does not establish the accuracy of every inventory field. Seven controls relate to the identity scenario; backup recovery and change management complete the declared scope.

Inspect the export finding

ILL-P11 · export authorization

Criterion
Every support-role export requires approval by a separate authorized owner before execution.
Period & population
1–30 September 2026. Four illustrative role definitions; this examination selects the support role and one supplied export-test record. It is not a census of historical exports.
Procedure
Compare the supplied support-role permission record with its approved definition. Inspect the supplied export-test record for execution, approval and role details. Épreuve performs no export attempt in this example.
Illustrative evidence
ILL-E01 role inventory; ILL-E02 approved role definitions; ILL-E03 supplied export-test record. These IDs describe authored fixtures, not collected customer records.
Stipulated observation
The illustrative supplied record describes a support-role export proceeding without the required approval. The record is assumed authentic and sufficient for this selected examination only; those assumptions require validation in a real assessment.
Reviewer determination
Proposed failure for ILL-P11; accountable review pending. No real reviewer has approved this illustration. Overall review remains held.
Separate reproducible example / retained D2 run

Alder Works, June 2026, archive-prod. This earlier offboarding fixture is a different case and period. Its results are not evidence for Northstar Labs or this identity scenario.

Run risk-run-bd1b55121121. Release held. Scripted synthetic review, not independent professional approval.

Its reconciled departure population does not establish enterprise completeness. Source authority is stipulated; the digest identifies file bytes, not information accuracy.

Read the retained D2 examination →
Download retained D2 JSON

Northstar Labs is an authored illustration of assessment outputs. It does not demonstrate executed examinations, independent review or dynamic test planning. The separate retained D2 example has its own provenance.

What the assessment includes →

Our conclusions need testing, too.

The assessment method requires accountable human review of the evidence, examination coverage and conclusions. Unresolved questions stay visible.

Founded by Ayoub Fandi, who started the GRC engineering programme at GitLab and co-authored the GRC Engineering Manifesto.

Founder experience informs the method. It is not independent validation of the prototype.

Start with your programme.

Bring your audit timeline, full audit scope and the security questions the assessment should answer. The first conversation establishes fit, evidence access and a practical scope.

Proposed service in development. Discovery conversations are open.

Plan my assessment