Specter OPS

Specter Ops, Inc. (SpecterOps) is a computer and network security company headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the creator of BloodHound, originally free and open-source software used by penetration testers and red teamers to identify attack paths in on-premises Active Directory environments, and it describes its core discipline as Identity Attack Path Management. In 2021 the company launched BloodHound Enterprise, a commercial platform that continuously maps and quantifies identity attack paths across Active Directory and Azure (Azure Active Directory/Entra ID and Azure Resource Manager) and supports automated removal of attack paths within existing architectures. By 2026 the platform's coverage had been extended to Entra, AWS, Okta, GitHub, and Mac environments in addition to Active Directory.

Alongside the platform, SpecterOps sells adversary-focused services and training: security assessments, red team engagements and adversary simulation, detection assessments, hunt operations, breach assessments, Active Directory security work, and security program development. Its training business covers red team operations and identity-driven offensive tradecraft, and in July 2026 it launched the SpecterOps Tradecraft Academy, an on-demand training platform at academy.specterops.io. The company also maintains BloodHound Community Edition and other open-source tooling, and has published projects including Covenant, Mythic, Merlin, and Ghost Manager.

The product line is positioned around continuous graphing of identity relationships and privilege escalation paths, prioritization via "choke points" intended to remove large numbers of paths with a single fix, step-by-step remediation guidance, enterprise-wide identity risk reporting, and access "zones" for enforcing least privilege and preventing lateral movement across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. Use cases marketed by the company include mergers and acquisitions, where BloodHound Enterprise is used to assess an acquisition target's domain or tenant before establishing a trusted connection.

Founding story

The company was founded in 2017 on the belief that only with true knowledge of how adversaries operate can organizations defend themselves against modern attacks; its first product was BloodHound, free and open-source software for identifying Active Directory attack paths.

Business model

SpecterOps combines a commercial software platform (BloodHound Enterprise, sold to enterprises with support) with professional services — offensive/red team engagements, adversary simulation, detection assessments and security program development — and paid training, including an on-demand academy and live training events. A free open-source BloodHound Community Edition serves the practitioner community.

Revenue comes from enterprise subscriptions/licences for the BloodHound Enterprise platform plus fees for consulting and assessment services and for training programs and courses.

Traction

BloodHound Enterprise customer acquisition grew roughly 600% through 2022 and adoption increased 100% year over year in 2024 to nearly 200 customers. As of 2023 the company reported over 400 security community contributions, 93 open-source security tools created, more than 6,900 students trained, and more than 185 customers served with adversary simulation and detection assessments. A third-party profile estimated approximately 289 employees as of July 2026.

Latest developments

In December 2025 SpecterOps announced an integration and partnership with Tines for AI-assisted identity risk workflows. In February 2026 it announced a partnership with Cisco adding BloodHound Enterprise to the Cisco Solutions Plus Marketplace, and Don Landers, director of global partners, was named to CRN's 2026 Channel Chiefs list. In March 2026 the company added support for Okta, GitHub and Mac environments to BloodHound Enterprise along with integrations for Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR, Microsoft Sentinel and ServiceNow VRM, demonstrated at RSAC 2026. In July 2026 it launched the SpecterOps Tradecraft Academy on-demand training platform. The company has also been selected for OpenAI's Trusted Access for Cyber program and works with the UK AI Security Institute, and it publishes 2026 SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001/27017 reports through its trust center.