Alternatives to 42Crunch for M&A due diligence audit

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What middleBrick covers

  • Black-box API scanning with no agents or code access
  • Risk grading A–F with prioritized findings
  • Coverage of 12 OWASP API Top 10 categories
  • OpenAPI 3.x and Swagger 2.0 parsing with $ref resolution
  • Authenticated scanning with header allowlisting
  • LLM adversarial probe testing across multiple tiers

Purpose built for M&A due diligence API review

During mergers and acquisitions, teams must validate the security posture of a target organization without disrupting production environments. This scanner is a black-box solution that requires no agents, SDKs, or code access. Provide a URL and receive a risk grade from A to F with prioritized findings within one minute, using only read-only methods such as GET and HEAD, plus text-only POST for LLM probes.

Detection scope aligned to recognized standards

The scanner evaluates 12 security categories aligned to the OWASP API Top 10 (2023), covering authentication bypass, JWT misconfigurations, BOLA and IDOR, privilege escalation, property authorization, input validation, rate limiting, data exposure, encryption, SSRF, inventory issues, and unsafe consumption. It also maps findings to PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10 controls, helping you prepare for audits against these frameworks.

OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 files are parsed with recursive $ref resolution, and definitions are cross-referenced against runtime behavior to identify undefined security schemes, sensitive field exposure, deprecated operations, and missing pagination.

Authenticated scanning and safety controls

For endpoints that require authentication, the scanner supports Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and cookies. Domain verification is enforced through DNS TXT records or an HTTP well-known file, ensuring only the domain owner can submit credentials. Allowed forwarded headers are limited to Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers.

Safety measures include blocking private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints at multiple layers. All requests are read-only, with destructive payloads never sent. Customer scan data can be deleted on demand and is purged within 30 days of cancellation, and it is never sold or used for model training.

LLM and AI security testing

The scanner includes specific testing for LLM and AI security through 18 adversarial probes across three scan tiers: Quick, Standard, and Deep. These probes assess system prompt extraction, instruction override, DAN and roleplay jailbreaks, data exfiltration, cost exploitation, encoding bypasses such as base64 and ROT13, translation-embedded injection, few-shot poisoning, markdown injection, multi-turn manipulation, indirect prompt injection, token smuggling, tool abuse, nested instruction injection, and PII extraction.

Operational integrations and reporting

Results are delivered through a web dashboard that displays scans, report histories, score trends, and downloadable compliance PDFs. The CLI allows on-demand scans with JSON or text output, and a GitHub Action can gate CI/CD pipelines when scores fall below a defined threshold. An MCP Server enables scanning from AI coding assistants, and a programmable API supports custom integrations. Continuous monitoring options provide scheduled rescans, diff detection, email alerts, HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks, and Slack or Teams notifications.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can this replace a human pentester for an M&A audit?
No. The tool identifies technical findings and provides remediation guidance, but it does not detect business logic vulnerabilities or replace the judgment required for high-stakes audits.
Does the scanner perform intrusive tests like SQL injection or command injection?
No. It avoids destructive payloads and does not perform active SQL injection or command injection testing, which fall outside its scope.
How are compliance claims handled for frameworks such as HIPAA or GDPR?
The tool aligns with security controls described in PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10. For other frameworks, it helps you prepare for audits and surfaces findings relevant to those controls without asserting certification or compliance.
What happens to scan data after cancellation?
Customer data is deletable on demand and permanently purged within 30 days of cancellation. It is never sold or used for model training.

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