The Netpicker Automation Platform supports a broad range of compliance frameworks, ensuring organizations can automate and continuously assess their infrastructure against industry standards and regulations. These frameworks provide structure for technical controls, reporting, and audit readiness.

• NIST SP 800-53: Widely used across U.S. federal agencies, NIST SP 800-53 offers comprehensive security and privacy controls for federal information systems and organizations.
• CIS Benchmarks: Community-driven, consensus-based best practices for securely configuring IT systems and cloud infrastructure.
• PCI DSS: Prescribes security practices for protecting cardholder data and maintaining payment security standards for any organization that handles credit card processing.
• HIPAA: Sets the foundational requirements for safeguarding protected health information (PHI) in healthcare organizations.
• ISO/IEC 27001: An international standard that outlines the criteria for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS).
• GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation governs data privacy and protection for organizations handling EU residents’ personal data.

Through automated assessment and reporting, Netpicker helps organizations demonstrate adherence to these frameworks and rapidly respond to evolving compliance needs.

The Netpicker Automation Platform employs a comprehensive, repeatable process to validate compliance across diverse network environments. Below is a step-by-step breakdown of the testing methodology adopted within the platform:

1. Device Discovery & Inventory: Network devices and infrastructure components are identified and added to the platform’s inventory, either through manual entry, automated discovery, or integration with sources like NetBox or CSV import.
2. Configuration Collection: The platform securely collects configuration data using SSH, API, or SNMP, backing up running configurations for analysis.
3. Automated Rule-Based Testing: Compliance checks are performed using automated tests written in Python (with pytest), assessing configurations and device states against industry standards (such as CIS benchmarks) or custom policy requirements.
4. Validation of Security Controls: Network controls—such as firewalls, access lists, and authentication settings—are evaluated to ensure required protections are properly enforced.
5. Continuous and Scheduled Assessments: Tests can be triggered on-demand or scheduled to run periodically, enabling ongoing verification of compliance posture and rapid detection of configuration drift.
6. Result Analysis & Reporting: Detailed outcome data is logged and available in real-time dashboards or downloadable reports, supporting both immediate remediation and historical audit tracking.
7. Exception and Remediation Handling: The platform allows exceptions to be documented and tracks resolved or risk-accepted findings, ensuring transparency and full audit traceability.

This methodology ensures the platform delivers accurate and actionable insights into an organization's compliance health, while supporting automation and scalability for large and complex networks.

The Netpicker Automation Platform streamlines the compliance process with robust reporting features, empowering organizations to visualize, export, and understand compliance status across their environments. Below is a step-by-step walkthrough of the available reporting capabilities:

1. Real-Time Dashboards: Monitor the live status of compliance checks, test outcomes, and risk areas for all network devices and environments through visual interactive dashboards.
2. Automated Report Generation: Export compliance findings and detailed audit data as downloadable PDF or CSV reports, simplifying documentation for internal reviews or regulatory audits.
3. Graphical Summaries: Visual charts and summary statistics make it easy to identify trends, compliance progress, and risk concentrations, especially within large-scale networks.
4. Alerting and Notification: Trigger custom notifications or alerts when compliance checks fail or when critical vulnerabilities are detected, ensuring swift attention and remediation.
5. Historic Tracking: Maintain an archive of past compliance states, supporting trend analysis, lifecycle management, and demonstrating ongoing adherence across audit cycles.
6. Exception and Remediation Tracking: Document risk-accepted findings and remediation actions directly within reports, supporting transparency and audit traceability.

These reporting capabilities help organizations maintain a strong compliance posture, demonstrate progress to auditors, and rapidly respond to evolving regulatory demands with meaningful, actionable insights.

The Netpicker Automation Platform enables organizations to tailor compliance testing according to unique business rules, regulatory requirements, or technical standards. The following step-by-step process explains how testing and policies can be customized:

1. Policy Creation: Organize tests into policies, with each policy acting as a targeted compliance or validation profile. Policies can be created for device groups, environments, or compliance standards.
2. Rule Development: Define individual rules using an intuitive UI or Python scripting. Rules enforce configuration standards, detect vulnerabilities, or validate best practices, and are mapped to specific device types or platforms.
3. Using Templates: Start with provided templates for common standards (such as CIS or CVE checks) and modify them to fit your enterprise environment. Create new templates from scratch for proprietary controls or emerging regulations.
4. Severity and Categorization: Assign severity levels to rules, helping prioritize remediation efforts and align findings with business risk.
5. Exception Management: Document risk-accepted findings within a policy, noting justifications and providing full audit transparency. Exceptions can be reviewed and adjusted as requirements change.
6. Extensibility: Extend tests by integrating with the platform’s APIs, supporting additional data sources, or leveraging custom Python logic. Advanced users can use the AI Network Test Creator to generate or refine tests quickly.
7. Policy Application and Review: Apply policies to targeted devices or environments. Run compliance checks, review findings in real time, and iterate policies as infrastructure or regulatory obligations evolve.

This customization framework empowers security and network teams to automate compliance at scale, adapt to operational changes, and ensure policies remain aligned with both internal governance and industry standards.

The Netpicker Automation Platform offers automated coverage for network device configuration based on CIS Benchmarks, designed to help organizations strengthen their infrastructure security. Here’s a step-by-step outline showing how typical tests are structured and executed for network devices:

1. Select Target Devices: Choose routers, switches, or wireless controllers from the device inventory to assess against CIS controls.
2. Run CIS Hardening Tests: Execute built-in automation tests that check device settings for compliance with CIS guidelines. These tests are mapped to specific standards for platforms like Cisco IOS, Juniper, or Arista.
3. Test Rule Execution: Evaluate configurations such as password policies, service enablement, access controls, and logging settings. Each rule checks for specific configuration lines or settings in device backups.
4. Result Collection: Gather and display results for each device and rule in a dashboard, showing whether each test passes or fails. Warnings are flagged for configurations that are partially compliant or could pose risks.
5. Remediation Guidance: Where a test fails, provide actionable recommendations to bring the device into compliance—such as disabling unnecessary services or updating firmware.

Through this structured approach, Netpicker provides detailed visibility into configuration weaknesses and actionable steps to maintain network hardening standards across diverse device fleets.

The Netpicker Automation Platform streamlines the process of addressing compliance issues by providing actionable remediation steps for discovered non-compliant devices and configurations. Here’s a step-by-step overview of the remediation support built into the platform:

1. Comprehensive Findings Review: Each compliance check returns a clear pass, fail, or warning result with precise information about what rule or configuration was violated.
2. Automated Recommendations: For every failed or warning result, platform-generated guidance offers detailed remediation steps, such as configuration lines to change, commands to run, or policy updates required.
3. Playbook Integration: Pre-built automation playbooks can be triggered directly from test findings to remediate common issues, such as disabling unused services, adjusting password policies, or updating firmware.
4. Manual and Assisted Remediation: For more complex findings, the platform provides manual step-by-step guidance. Detailed notes help engineers understand the risk and choose the appropriate fix.
5. Remediation Tracking: Changes and remediation actions are logged in the system for audit purposes, allowing teams to track what’s been fixed and which findings are still outstanding.
6. Ongoing Verification: After remediation steps are taken, automated re-tests confirm whether issues have been resolved and ensure compliance is restored.
7. Exception Handling: In cases where certain issues are risk-accepted or require delayed remediation, exceptions and justifications can be documented directly in the findings.

By embedding these remediation capabilities within the compliance workflow, Netpicker helps organizations rapidly address gaps, improve security posture, and maintain a strong audit record.

The Netpicker Automation Platform delivers comprehensive audit trail and evidence collection features to ensure compliance and audit readiness. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how the platform approaches these critical compliance activities:

1. Automated Evidence Collection: The platform gathers configuration snapshots, logs, policy states, and test outcomes automatically from connected network devices and systems. Evidence is consistently tagged with relevant metadata, such as collection time and device identity.
2. Centralized Storage: All compliance evidence—such as reports, logs, and supporting documents—is stored securely in a central repository. This enables fast retrieval and streamlined preparation for audits or regulatory reviews.
3. Detailed Audit Trails: Every action taken on collected evidence—such as collection, modification, access, or deletion—is logged with user attribution and timestamps. This complete record supports accountability and traceability.
4. Access Control: Only authorized users can access or modify compliance evidence, enforced through robust role-based permissions. This prevents unauthorized changes or access to sensitive information.
5. Integrity and Tamper Detection: The system applies integrity checks to evidence files and records any attempts at unauthorized alterations. This maintains the authenticity and reliability of all compliance documentation.
6. Rapid Retrieval and Reporting: The platform provides search and filtering tools, allowing users to quickly locate specific pieces of evidence by device, date, policy, or compliance control.
7. Retention and Lifecycle Management: Automated rules handle the retention, archival, and lifecycle management of evidence, ensuring only relevant and current documents are available for inspection.

By implementing robust audit trail and evidence management, Netpicker helps organizations simplify audits, demonstrate ongoing compliance, and reduce manual effort throughout the compliance process.

The Netpicker Automation Platform offers robust APIs and extensibility features that support advanced automation, integration with other tools, and custom network workflows. Here’s a step-by-step example of how its API and extensibility can be leveraged:

1. REST API Access: Use the platform’s RESTful API to automate device onboarding, configuration backups, test execution, compliance checks, and result retrieval—enabling integration with custom dashboards, management systems, or CI/CD pipelines.
2. Running Commands and Tests: Programmatically execute CLI show commands, run compliance tests, and restore configuration backups on devices directly via API endpoints.
3. Integration with External Systems: Connect with network source of truth platforms (such as NetBox or Nautobot), inventory tools, ticketing systems, or orchestration engines. Events and triggers can synchronize states or kick off automated workflows.
4. Python Scripting Engine: Develop custom test scripts or automation routines in Python. The platform provides resources and libraries to support writing, version-controlling, and scheduling scripts for advanced test and remediation logic.
5. Third-Party Tool Compatibility: Integrate with tools like Ansible, Nornir, and CI/CD systems for job orchestration, config deployment, and continuous validation.
6. Webhooks and Event Automation: Set up webhook notifications to push real-time compliance events, test results, or network changes to external systems for seamless, closed-loop automation.
7. Community-Driven Extensions: Utilize and contribute to open-source libraries, plugins, and test modules maintained by the Netpicker community to expand platform functionality without starting from scratch.

These extensibility mechanisms enable organizations to fully automate compliance and operations, ensuring the platform adapts to evolving network architectures and business requirements.

The Netpicker Automation Platform maintains a robust versioning and update process to deliver new features, security enhancements, and ongoing improvements. Here’s a step-by-step look at how versioning and updates are managed within the platform:

1. Release Management: Every new release is documented with detailed release notes outlining new features, enhancements, and bug fixes. Users can reference the release notes to understand what has changed and how to update their installation.
2. Simplified Update Process: Updating to the latest version is straightforward, typically requiring a simple set of commands executed in the Netpicker directory. This minimizes downtime and ensures updates can be applied efficiently.
3. Continuous Feature Delivery: Regular updates introduce new automation features, compliance checks, support for additional vendors, and interface improvements. Major releases may also bring foundational changes such as container support, multi-tenancy, or expanded API functionality.
4. Version Control Integration: The platform not only maintains its own internal versioning but also integrates with external Git repositories. This enables backup of configuration files, rule changes, and audit logs with full historical traceability.
5. Changelog Accessibility: Users can access a comprehensive changelog directly from the platform dashboard or online knowledge base, ensuring everyone stays informed of the latest developments.
6. Safe Migration and Rollback: Backup and versioning mechanisms allow for safe migration between versions. Users can roll back to previous stable states if needed, ensuring stability during upgrades.
7. Automatic Version Checks: The system can automatically check for new versions and notify administrators when updates are available, helping keep the environment up to date.

This versioning and update approach ensures that organizations using Netpicker always benefit from the latest security patches, features, and compliance checks, while minimizing operational risk and administrative overhead.