External Perimeter Breach
We simulate an external attacker with no prior access attempting to breach your internet-facing perimeter. This includes port scanning, service enumeration, vulnerability exploitation on exposed services, web application attacks, and attempts to pivot from a public-facing foothold into internal systems. The objective is to determine whether an outsider can gain initial access and how far they can reach from that entry point.
How we test it
Full external attack-surface mapping using passive OSINT and active enumeration, followed by targeted exploitation of identified services, web applications, and VPN/remote-access endpoints.
Privilege Escalation Chains
Once initial access is obtained, we attempt to escalate privileges from a low-level user to administrator or root. This involves exploiting misconfigurations in sudo rules, SUID binaries, scheduled tasks, service accounts with excessive permissions, and kernel or OS-level vulnerabilities. On Windows systems, we test for unquoted service paths, DLL hijacking, and token impersonation opportunities.
How we test it
Systematic enumeration of local privilege escalation vectors on each compromised host, combined with automated tooling (LinPEAS, WinPEAS, BloodHound) and manual verification of each escalation path.
Active Directory Compromise
Active Directory is the backbone of most enterprise networks, and its compromise typically means full domain control. We test for Kerberoasting, AS-REP roasting, unconstrained delegation abuse, credential relay attacks (NTLM relay, PetitPotam), GPO abuse, and DCSync. We map every privilege escalation path from a standard domain user to Domain Admin using BloodHound analysis.
How we test it
BloodHound enumeration of AD trust relationships, manual Kerberos ticket analysis, credential relay attempts, and exploitation of identified escalation paths from standard user to Domain Admin.
Cloud Account Takeover
In cloud-native environments, the attack surface shifts to IAM policies, instance metadata services, serverless function configurations, and cross-account trust relationships. We test for SSRF-to-IMDS credential extraction, overly permissive IAM roles, publicly exposed storage buckets with sensitive data, and misconfigured cross-account trust policies that allow unauthorized access from external accounts.
How we test it
Cloud-specific enumeration using Pacu (AWS), ScoutSuite, and manual IAM policy analysis. SSRF testing against metadata endpoints, storage enumeration, and privilege escalation through misconfigured roles and policies.
API Chain Exploitation
APIs often expose more functionality than intended. We chain together IDOR vulnerabilities, broken function-level authorization, mass assignment flaws, and injection points across multiple API endpoints to demonstrate realistic attack paths. A single low-severity information disclosure on one endpoint can be combined with a mass-assignment flaw on another to achieve full account takeover or data exfiltration.
How we test it
Full API endpoint enumeration, multi-role authorization matrix testing, parameter fuzzing, and systematic chaining of individual findings into multi-step exploitation paths.
Frequently Asked Questions About Penetration Testing Services
What is the difference between penetration testing and vulnerability scanning?
Vulnerability scanning is automated: a tool checks your systems against a database of known weaknesses and produces a list. Penetration testing goes further. A human tester takes those findings, chains them together, and attempts real exploitation to determine what is actually exploitable in your specific environment. Scanners report possibilities; penetration testers confirm realities. A vulnerability scan might flag an open port, but a penetration test will determine whether that port can be leveraged to gain unauthorized access to internal systems, escalate privileges, or exfiltrate data.
How often should an organization conduct penetration testing?
At minimum, once per year and after any significant infrastructure or application change. Compliance frameworks such as PCI DSS require annual penetration tests explicitly. Organizations with continuous deployment pipelines, frequent feature releases, or high-risk data (financial, healthcare, PII) benefit from quarterly or semi-annual testing cycles. We also recommend an ad-hoc test before any major product launch, merger-related system integration, or cloud migration.
Will penetration testing cause downtime or disrupt production systems?
Our rules of engagement are defined before any testing begins. We agree on testing windows, rate limits, and explicitly excluded actions such as denial-of-service or destructive write operations. Where possible, testing runs against staging environments. When production testing is required, we coordinate timing with your operations team, use throttled techniques, and maintain a direct communication channel throughout the engagement so any concern can be addressed immediately.
What standards and frameworks do your penetration tests follow?
Our penetration testing methodology is aligned to PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard) and NIST SP 800-115 (Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment). Findings are scored using CVSS 4.0 and mapped to OWASP Top 10, OWASP API Security Top 10, CWE, and MITRE ATT&CK where applicable. Reports are structured to satisfy evidence requirements for ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR audits.
Do you provide a retest after vulnerabilities are fixed?
Yes. Every penetration testing engagement includes one full retest cycle at no additional cost. Once your engineering team has remediated the findings, we re-verify each issue individually and issue a signed closure report confirming the fix status. This closure report is the document most auditors and enterprise customers request as evidence that identified risks have been addressed.
Social Engineering & Phishing
Technical controls mean little if an employee can be convinced to hand over credentials or execute a malicious payload. We design and execute targeted phishing campaigns using realistic pretexts based on OSINT gathered during reconnaissance. This includes credential-harvesting pages, payload delivery via email attachments, and vishing (voice phishing) calls where scope permits.
How we test it
Custom phishing infrastructure with tracking, realistic pretext development based on OSINT, and detailed reporting on click rates, credential submissions, and payload execution rates.