CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Coalfire vs Halo Security

Coalfire sells advisory, audit and assessment services. Halo Security sells penetration testing and continuous visibility across an attack surface, bringing testing, discovery, and scanning together. CISO Tribune files both under Penetration testing and red team services. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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Up to four companies side by side.

  • Coalfire
  • Halo Security
Coalfire vs Halo Security: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CoalfireCoalfire sells advisory, audit and assessment services.coalfire.comHalo SecurityHalo Security sells penetration testing and continuous visibility across an attack surface, bringing testing, discovery, and scanning together.halosecurity.com
What it sells
  • Compliance Essentials[3]A SaaS platform that enterprises use to manage complex compliance programs and audit cycles.
  • Hexeon[3]A platform combining high-frequency offensive pen testing with strategic defensive risk management.
  • DivisionHex[3]A team of offensive, defensive and managed cybersecurity experts.
  • Advisory, Audit, and Assessment services[3]Services that cover the professional services layer of Coalfire.
  • AI Security and Trust Engineering[4]Services that help companies design, build and operate AI systems that meet compliance targets.
  • Penetration Testing[1][2][3][11]Halo Security tests web and mobile applications, APIs, external and internal networks, and wireless environments.
  • Attack Surface Management[1][2]Helps organizations discover and monitor the assets they expose to the internet.
  • Application Scanning[5]Scans web applications for vulnerabilities such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.
Categories
Headquarters
Chicago, United States[2]Not stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[7]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Coalfire states that it helps boards and C-level executives identify their critical assets, potential vulnerabilities and which risks to address. Coalfire offers responsible AI governance for healthcare and regulated organizations. Coalfire provides independent audit support for CMS-regulated entities. Coalfire's AI Security and Trust Engineering services are aimed at companies that design, build and operate AI systems.Not written yet
Last verified
November 2, 2026November 12, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Coalfire and Halo Security are both filed under Penetration testing and red team services.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Coalfire's primary category is Security consulting and advisory; Halo Security's is Penetration testing and red team services.
  • Coalfire is also filed under Compliance automation and MDR and managed SOC. Halo Security is also filed under External attack surface management, Vulnerability management and Digital risk protection.
  • Coalfire lists Compliance Essentials, Hexeon, DivisionHex, Advisory, Audit, and Assessment services and AI Security and Trust Engineering. Halo Security lists Penetration Testing, Attack Surface Management and Application Scanning.
  • Coalfire is headquartered in Chicago, United States.

What it sells: Coalfire

What Compliance Essentials does[3]
Compliance Essentials supports coordinated assessments for over 75 frameworks using Coalfire's proprietary controls mapping. Data is provided to Compliance Essentials by the organization's assessment users. Compliance Essentials carries the certifications ISO 27001:2022, ISO 27701 and SOC 2 Type 2.
What Hexeon does[3]
The Hexeon platform combines high-frequency offensive pen testing with strategic defensive risk management. Hexeon uses data collected by Coalfire offensive security teams, such as penetration testing findings, vulnerability data and other data concerning technical risk.
What Advisory, Audit, and Assessment services does[3]
Coalfire's Advisory, Audit, and Assessment services cover the professional services layer of the company. Coalfire's Advisory expertise specializes in GRC, AI cloud engineering, healthcare risk and FedRAMP. Coalfire assesses, simplifies and provides guidance across PCI DSS, HITRUST, ISO, FedRAMP and 85+ frameworks.
What AI Security and Trust Engineering does[4]
Coalfire's AI Security and Trust Engineering services help companies design, build and operate AI systems that meet compliance targets. The services deploy AI agents to enhance security and compliance operations. Coalfire has a framework to secure AI systems end-to-end for compliance and risk mitigation.

What it sells: Halo Security

What Penetration Testing does[1][2][3][11]
Halo Security's penetration testing service combines manual investigation with tools whose results are validated by testers. Halo Security tests web and mobile applications, APIs, external and internal networks, and wireless environments. Halo Security offers social engineering and red teaming. An included round of retesting lets customers verify their remediation work.
What Attack Surface Management does[1][2]
Attack surface management covers internet-exposed assets, including websites, APIs, servers, and cloud services. Halo Security continuously checks those assets for vulnerabilities and changes. Halo Security finds and inventories internet-facing assets, including unknown and forgotten websites, IPs, services, and applications.

Questions about Coalfire and Halo Security

What do Coalfire and Halo Security sell?
Coalfire sells Compliance Essentials, Hexeon, DivisionHex, Advisory, Audit, and Assessment services and AI Security and Trust Engineering. Halo Security sells Penetration Testing, Attack Surface Management and Application Scanning.
Are Coalfire and Halo Security in the same category?
They share Penetration testing and red team services. Coalfire's primary category is Security consulting and advisory and Halo Security's is Penetration testing and red team services.
Where are Coalfire and Halo Security headquartered?
Coalfire is headquartered in Chicago, United States.
Who are Coalfire and Halo Security sold to?
Coalfire states that it helps boards and C-level executives identify their critical assets, potential vulnerabilities and which risks to address.

About Coalfire

Coalfire sells advisory, audit and assessment services.[1][3]

Coalfire's Advisory, Audit, and Assessment services cover the professional services layer of the company. Coalfire's Advisory expertise specializes in GRC, AI cloud engineering, healthcare risk and FedRAMP. Coalfire assesses, simplifies and provides guidance across PCI DSS, HITRUST, ISO, FedRAMP and 85+ frameworks.[3]

Compliance Essentials supports coordinated assessments for over 75 frameworks using Coalfire's proprietary controls mapping. Data is provided to Compliance Essentials by the organization's assessment users. Compliance Essentials carries the certifications ISO 27001:2022, ISO 27701 and SOC 2 Type 2.[3]

The Hexeon platform combines high-frequency offensive pen testing with strategic defensive risk management. Hexeon uses data collected by Coalfire offensive security teams, such as penetration testing findings, vulnerability data and other data concerning technical risk.[3]

Coalfire's AI Security and Trust Engineering services help companies design, build and operate AI systems that meet compliance targets. Coalfire's AI Security and Trust Engineering services deploy AI agents to enhance security and compliance operations. Coalfire has a framework to secure AI systems end-to-end for compliance and risk mitigation. Coalfire's Secure Agent Construct maps to AWS services to implement proper isolation, permissions, and feedback loops.[1][4]

For healthcare and federal programs, Coalfire offers end-to-end advisory for entities within the CMS environment, including readiness assessments and System Security and Privacy Plan development. Coalfire provides independent audit support for CMS-regulated entities, helping organizations demonstrate compliance with ARC-AMPE-AE and related federal security and privacy requirements. Coalfire conducts Privacy Impact Analyses for CMS entities and their contractors. Coalfire delivers automated and manual accessibility testing that meets federal standards. Coalfire provides HITRUST support across the full lifecycle, including gap assessments, policy development, remediation guidance, interim assessments and recertification. Coalfire delivers a workshop-based vendor risk program design built on three pillars: vendor criticality categorization, policy and procedure enhancement, and an SCRM tabletop exercise.[5]

Coalfire offers a unified approach to AI compliance across HITRUST and ISO 42001. The unified AI compliance offering combines readiness assessments, documentation development, remediation support, coordinated assessments, and continuous AI compliance monitoring. Coalfire provides responsible AI governance for healthcare and regulated organizations. Coalfire vCISO services provide program oversight, roadmap development, executive and board reporting, risk leadership, and incident readiness support. Coalfire advisors lead executive tabletop exercises, conduct business impact analysis, and build downtime continuity plans. Coalfire training offerings include incident response training, compliance and privacy training, and executive and board tabletop exercises.[5]

Coalfire helps boards and C-level executives identify their critical assets, potential vulnerabilities, and what risks to address based on business objectives. Dr. Adrian Mayers, Global CISO at Premera, is a Coalfire client. Coalfire released a SOC2 Type 2 report covering the examination period of 3/1/2025 to 2/28/2026. The Coalfire Cybersecurity team and DivHex are finalizing certification to the CyberEssentials Plus standards.[1][3][5][6]

Coalfire on the record

Sources

Coalfire full record

  1. [1]coalfire.comCoalfire · coalfire.com · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Coalfires managed and transformation services will deliver security at scaleCoalfire · coalfire.com · published August 4, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Coalfire Trust Center | Powered by ConveyorCoalfire · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Coalfire AI Security and Trust Engineering™ | CoalfireCoalfire · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Healthcare Advisory Services | CoalfireCoalfire · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Cybersecurity and Compliance Services | CoalfireCoalfire · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Coalfire Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

Halo Security full record

  1. [1]halosecurity.comHalo Security · halosecurity.com · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Trusted, US-Based Penetration Testing | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]12 Questions to Ask a Pentesting Company | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Attack Surface Management Features | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Assess security program effectiveness | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Achieve PCI Compliance | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]PCI Compliance Scanning from an ASV | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Integrations | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Halo Security + Brinqa: EASM Meets CTEMHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Security Review | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Customers | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]About Us | Halo SecurityHalo Security · undated page, accessed November 12, 2026 · Tier A

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