What do penetration tests involve?

Penetration Testing: An IT Security Audit for Your Organization

An IT security audit conducted as a penetration test is a controlled, authorized simulation of a cyberattack that assesses the real resilience of IT systems against intrusion attempts. The result is a precise vulnerability map together with an assessment of how effectively the existing security controls work. Our penetration tests combine this methodology with the expertise of a team holding OSCP, OSWE, OSED, OSWP, GXPN, ECSA, and CEH certifications, ensuring that the security assessment reflects the techniques used by real-world cybercriminals.

Vulnerability Identification and Security-Control Effectiveness

Vulnerability identification is the systematic discovery of security flaws, misconfigurations, and software vulnerabilities that could lead to unauthorized access or data loss. Our team analyzes weaknesses in infrastructure, applications, and processes using the same methods a real attacker would use. This means the test results reflect the actual level of risk rather than a theoretical list of vulnerabilities. Each finding is classified according to its impact on the organization, making it possible to prioritize remediation work.

Assessing security-control effectiveness means checking whether implemented mechanisms—firewalls, detection systems, and access policies—actually work as intended. We verify this by:

• attempting to bypass or disable network and system controls,
• testing how IT teams respond to detected incidents,
• checking whether vulnerabilities identified in previous audits have actually been remediated.

This type of security audit gives management and the IT department a clear view of where the organization’s IT environment is resilient and where it needs to be strengthened.

Ethical Hacking and IT Systems Protection

Ethical hacking is the legal, authorized use of attack techniques associated with real-world cybercrime to identify security weaknesses under controlled conditions. Penetration testers work within a strictly defined scope and with the organization’s written authorization. This is what distinguishes their work from illegal hacking and makes it possible to test even critical IT systems safely. As a result, the company gains a realistic view of its infrastructure’s resilience without putting business continuity at risk.

Protecting IT systems requires an approach that goes beyond standard automated scanning. The cybersecurity of an organization processing sensitive data depends on whether its controls have been tested under conditions similar to a real attack. That is why we combine the knowledge of certified specialists with established OWASP, PTES, OSSTMM, and NIST methodologies. This approach identifies not only known technical vulnerabilities, but also logical and process flaws that automated scanners miss.

Types of Penetration Testing

Penetration tests can be divided into several types depending on the area being assessed—from network infrastructure to web and mobile applications and APIs. The right scope depends on which systems process sensitive data and have the greatest impact on business continuity. Technical testing should also be complemented by building employee awareness through a broader security awareness program. Our team tailors the test type to the client’s infrastructure and takes into account the regulatory requirements of sectors such as finance, electric power, and metal manufacturing.

Network and IT Infrastructure Penetration Testing

Infrastructure penetration tests cover servers, network devices, and firewalls, assessing them for vulnerabilities visible both to an external attacker and from within the organization’s network. Network penetration testing can reveal misconfigured services, open ports, and outdated software versions that could give a cybercriminal a foothold in the wider environment. We examine, among other things:

• the configuration of network devices and firewalls,
• the availability of services that should not be externally exposed,
• the resilience of network segmentation to an attacker’s lateral movement within the infrastructure.

The full range of penetration testing in the industry also includes wireless-network and IoT-device testing. These are part of broader infrastructure security assessments, although each requires a separately agreed scope with the client.

Web, Mobile, and API Penetration Testing

Web application penetration testing assesses a service’s resilience to vulnerabilities such as RCE, XSS, and SQL injection, as well as logic flaws arising from the way a particular application works. API security requires additional attention because application programming interfaces often process data without the full validation provided by an application’s visual layer, making them attractive attack targets. Whether the target is a web application or an API, application penetration testing requires analysis of both the code and the way it communicates with the backend.

Mobile application penetration testing covers:

• the application architecture,
• the technologies used,
• how the application communicates with servers on both iOS and Android.

Mobile application security depends largely on whether credentials and other sensitive information are properly protected in transit and at rest on the device. Our team verifies these mechanisms as thoroughly as it does for web applications. A complete information-security assessment treats mobile applications as a full-fledged part of the attack surface, not as an add-on to infrastructure testing.

Black-Box, White-Box, and Grey-Box Testing Methodologies

A penetration-testing methodology determines how much knowledge the testing team has about the target system before work begins. This directly affects the realism of the simulated attack and the range of vulnerabilities that can be identified.

The three approaches—black box, white box, and grey box—differ in the level of access to documentation, source code, and infrastructure. The right choice therefore depends on the objective of the security audit. In our projects, we recommend an approach tailored to the client’s actual needs rather than imposing a single predefined variant.

Black-Box Testing: Simulating an External Attack

Black-box testing is a methodology in which testers have no prior knowledge of the systems being tested. They operate as a real cybercriminal would when attempting to breach the organization from the outside. Black-box testing therefore assesses the organization’s real resilience to an attack conducted without documentation, test accounts, or information from the IT team. It answers the question of what the organization looks like from the perspective of an anonymous attacker searching the internet for weak points.

White-Box and Grey-Box Testing: Comprehensive Security Assessment

White-box testing is based on the testers having full access to documentation, source code, or infrastructure, enabling an in-depth analysis of security mechanisms from the inside. White-box testing can uncover vulnerabilities that would remain invisible without knowledge of the system architecture, so it is used where maximum assessment accuracy is the priority.

Grey-box testing combines elements of both approaches. Testers have partial knowledge of the system, similar to what might be available to an employee with limited privileges or an attacker after initial reconnaissance. We consider grey-box testing an optimal compromise for most organizations: it is realistic enough to reflect an actual attack scenario while allowing testers to focus their time on the areas with the greatest security impact.

Penetration Testing Phases

Penetration testing follows a structured process that starts with planning the scope and priorities and ends with verifying the implemented fixes. Between these stages, penetration testers perform reconnaissance, testing and exploitation, and reporting. This ensures that every identified attack vector is documented and risk-rated. This structured process is what distinguishes a security audit from arbitrary vulnerability scanning.

Reconnaissance, Attack Vectors, and Attempted Access

Reconnaissance is the information-gathering stage. Testers identify open ports, software versions, and publicly available data that could facilitate a further attack across the organization’s systems, applications, and infrastructure. Based on this information, the team defines attack vectors—the specific paths that could lead to a security breach—while considering both technical weaknesses and configuration errors.

The next step is attempting to gain access to the system using the identified attack vectors, which verifies whether a theoretical vulnerability can actually be exploited. Penetration testers use the same attack techniques as cybercriminals, but within a clearly defined scope and without putting the continuity of production systems at risk.

Exploitation and Authorized Cyberattacks

Exploitation is the point at which testers conduct a controlled attack using identified vulnerabilities to verify the real impact of a weakness on the organization’s security. Authorized cyberattacks differ from actual breaches because they are conducted with the client’s written permission, within agreed boundaries, and without exposing the infrastructure to irreversible damage.

The full range of penetration testing is sometimes extended with red-team activities that simulate a prolonged, multi-stage attack using multiple vectors at once. This is a separate form of testing that requires its own scope and objectives to be agreed with the client.

Test Frequency and Effectiveness Verification

Penetration testing delivers the greatest value when repeated regularly rather than performed as a one-off exercise. Infrastructure, applications, and system configurations change faster than most organizations realize. Verifying the effectiveness of implemented fixes confirms whether previously identified security weaknesses have actually been removed rather than merely recorded in a report. We treat recurring testing as an integral part of a long-term security strategy.

Remediation and Configuration-Error Elimination

Remediation includes removing identified vulnerabilities—from misconfigured network devices and outdated software to logic flaws in applications. Priority is given to weaknesses that could give an attacker access to sensitive data or systems critical to the organization’s operations. That is why a penetration-test report includes both an executive summary and a detailed technical report for the IT team.

A complete picture of an organization’s resilience may sometimes require technical testing to be complemented by social engineering tests. Our social engineering assessment tests employees’ susceptibility to manipulation, not just system vulnerabilities. In some regulated sectors, physical penetration testing may also be worth considering, including attempts to gain unauthorized access to buildings or server rooms. This is a separate scope that requires its own arrangements.

Ongoing Risk Analysis and Cloud Security

Regular risk analysis helps an organization keep pace with the changing threat environment instead of reacting to incidents after the fact. Recurring penetration testing is particularly valuable where infrastructure changes dynamically—for example, as new services are deployed or an environment is expanded. This includes cloud-security areas, where configuration changes occur more frequently than in traditional on-premises infrastructure.

Technical security verification works best when combined with building team awareness. That is why many organizations complement penetration testing with recurring training, such as our Practical Anti-Phishing Training platform and its phishing-attack simulations. This combination reduces risk arising from both technical errors and human factors, which is particularly important for organizations subject to regulations such as GDPR, DORA, ISO 27001, or KNF requirements.