Mohamed Chahine Ghanem

PentestChain is presented, a ten-phase automated penetration testing framework that couples a curated, deterministic exploit map with a cost-aware AI cascade-a local Ollama model, kept off the critical path by a deterministic backbone, sustains end-to-end operation at zero measured paid-API cost.

The model is given a formal basis by transplanting the beta-factor model of common-cause failure from reliability engineering, a seven-step protocol whose outputs a third party can verify, a structural detectability analysis of a procurement-controls agent audited at three grades, and a Monte Carlo study of the model.

Covert collusion among LLMs can evade detection by exploiting black-box constraints, but a new steganalysis approach reveals the limits of current safeguards.