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Secure Your Network and Protect Your Business
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Ready to see how your internal defenses hold up against real-world attacks? Fill out the form to share your needs and let our experts recommend the right penetration testing approach.
More Penetration Testing Services
- Internal Penetration Testing
- External Penetration Testing
- Physical Penetration Testing
- Social Engineering
- Vulnerability Scanning
- Web Application Penetration Testing
- Wireless Penetration Testing
An internal penetration test simulates a real-world attack from inside an organization’s network to evaluate the strength of its defenses. It assumes an attacker has already gained limited access to the network through a compromised user account or workstation and tests how effectively network controls prevent lateral movement, privilege escalation, and access to critical systems. The goal is to identify weaknesses in network design, configurations, and permissions before they can be exploited in a real attack.
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An external network penetration test simulates a real-world attack against an organization’s internet-facing systems and infrastructure. It evaluates how effectively perimeter defenses such as firewalls, VPNs, web services, and exposed hosts protect against unauthorized access. By identifying vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exploitable weaknesses visible to an outside attacker, an external penetration test helps reduce the risk of breaches before adversaries can gain an initial foothold.
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A physical penetration test evaluates an organization’s ability to prevent unauthorized physical access to its facilities, systems, and sensitive assets. It simulates real-world intrusion attempts including tailgating, badge misuse, or bypassing physical controls to identify weaknesses in locks, access controls, surveillance, and security procedures. By uncovering gaps in physical security, a physical penetration test helps ensure that facilities, personnel, and critical infrastructure are protected against threats that could bypass technical defenses entirely.
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A social engineering engagement evaluates how effectively an organization’s people and processes resist manipulation by attackers. It simulates real-world social engineering tactics including phishing, pretexting, and impersonation to identify weaknesses in awareness, training, and verification procedures. By testing how employees respond to these scenarios, a social engineering engagement helps organizations strengthen human defenses, reduce the risk of credential theft or unauthorized access, and reinforce security as a shared responsibility across the organization.
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Vulnerability scanning uses automated tools to identify known vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and outdated software across an organization’s systems, networks, and applications. It provides a broad, repeatable view of security weaknesses by continuously checking assets against up-to-date threat intelligence and vulnerability databases. While vulnerability scanning does not attempt exploitation, it plays a critical role in maintaining security hygiene by helping organizations quickly identify, prioritize, and remediate issues before they can be exploited by attackers.
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A web application penetration test evaluates the resilience of a web application against real-world attacks. It focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in application logic, authentication, authorization, input handling, and session management by simulating how an attacker would attempt to exploit the application. By uncovering issues such as injection flaws, broken access controls, and insecure configurations, a web application penetration test helps ensure your application protects user data, enforces proper access, and supports a strong overall security posture.
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A wireless network penetration test evaluates the strength of an organization’s Wi‑Fi and wireless infrastructure against real-world attacks. It focuses on identifying weaknesses in wireless configurations, encryption, authentication, and device management by simulating how an attacker could gain unauthorized access to the network. By uncovering issues such as weak passwords, insecure protocols, rogue access points, and improper segmentation, a wireless penetration test helps ensure your wireless network does not become an easy entry point into your environment.
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Our Approach
We go beyond automated scans and generic reports. With roots in education and hands-on training, our internal penetration testing engagements are designed to help your team understand not just what we find, but why it matters and how to fix it.
From day one, you’ll have direct access to our testers through a dedicated communication channel, where we provide ongoing updates and context around our findings. We also offer the option for your team to shadow our testers, giving firsthand insight into real-world adversary techniques and practical ways to strengthen defenses.
Activities performed during internal penetration testing include, but are not limited to:
● Vulnerability scanning and service enumeration
● Password and pass-the-hash attacks
● Shared resource enumeration
● Pivoting attacks
● Ticket attacks such as silver and golden tickets
● Man-in-the-middle attacks (LLMNR/NBT-NS poisoning, SMB relaying, LDAP relaying, IPv6 relaying, etc.)
● Hash cracking
● Kerberroasting attacks
● Other testing depending on specific customer content and footprint
At the conclusion of the engagement, you’ll receive a detailed report that clearly prioritizes security issues by risk level to support efficient remediation. We offer retesting to validate that fixes have been successfully implemented, and our reports also highlight areas where your security controls are performing well – giving technical teams, managers, and executives a balanced, actionable view of your security posture at the time of testing.
Our Methodology
All testing performed is based on the NIST SP 800-115 Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment, OWASP Testing Guide (v4), and customized testing frameworks.
Our penetration testing process includes the following steps:
Plan
Customer goals are gathered and clear rules of engagement are established to guide the engagement.
Discover
Perform scanning and enumeration to identify potential vulnerabilities, weak areas, and exploits within the environment.
Attack
Confirm potential vulnerabilities through exploitation and perform additional discovery upon new access.
Report
Document identified vulnerabilities, exploits, failed attempts, and key security strengths and weaknesses.
By the Numbers
Key Statistics
%
of exploits target Active Directory
Cygna Labs Minimizing Active Directory and Entra ID Attack Surface 2025
%
of customers impacted by incidents had “insecure Active Directory configuration.”
Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2024
%
of all data breaches were caused by abuse of valid credentials
Deloitte Annual Cyber Threat Trends 2024
%
of identity attacks are password spraying or brute force attempts
Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025
Why Network Security Matters
Strong network security is the foundation of an effective cybersecurity posture. Even the best perimeter defenses can fail, and when they do, attackers rely on weak internal segmentation, misconfigurations, and excessive trust to move freely through a network. An internal penetration test evaluates how well your network is designed, segmented, and protected by simulating real-world attacker behavior from inside the environment. By identifying gaps in network controls, privilege boundaries, and monitoring, internal penetration testing helps ensure your network limits attacker movement, protects critical assets, and supports the layered defenses required to prevent a single compromise from becoming a widespread breach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Internal Penetration Testing
How is an internal penetration test different from an external penetration test?
An internal pentest simulates an attacker who already has access to your network, focusing on lateral movement and internal vulnerabilities, while an external test targets internet-facing systems.
Does it assume the attacker already has access to the network?
Yes. Internal pentests start from a limited foothold to evaluate how far an attacker could move and what sensitive systems they could access.
What risks does an internal pentest uncover that scans don’t?
Internal pentests identify real-world exploit paths, privilege escalation opportunities, misconfigurations, and weak access controls that automated scans alone often miss.
What techniques are used during an internal pentest?
Techniques include vulnerability exploitation, password attacks, privilege escalation, lateral movement, and network reconnaissance to simulate realistic attacker behavior.
Will you attempt privilege escalation to Domain Admin?
Yes, we attempt controlled privilege escalation to identify high-impact risks, but it’s done safely to avoid disruption.
Do we need internal pentests for compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI, HIPAA)?
Many compliance frameworks recommend or require internal testing to demonstrate effective internal controls and risk management.
How long does an internal pentest take?
Typical engagements range from 1-2 weeks, depending on network size and complexity. During the scoping phase, we will determine the appropriate testing time.
Do you retest after fixes are applied?
Yes, we offer retesting to confirm that vulnerabilities have been successfully remediated.
Inside a Real Pentest Report
A Report That Fortune 500 Companies Trust
Get a firsthand look at a real penetration testing report and understand how our expert team communicates risk, impact, and remediation steps.
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