The modern organizations are working in a digital world where internal and external boundaries are constantly shifting. The hackers do not rest with the firewall that they scan both the external systems and internal networks on the vulnerabilities. To overcome this, companies are forced to conduct internal network penetration testing and external network penetration testing. These tests, combined, show all the weak points at all the levels of infrastructure, giving a full picture of the extent to which your organization is secure.
What Is External Network Penetration Testing?
External network penetration testing is concerned with your organization perimeter that is all that the public internet can see. Ethical hackers feign real attacks in the world to determine the weak areas that may be used by unauthorized access.
Key objectives include:
• Port and obsolete service scanning
• Assessment of VPN and firewall settings
• Testing web servers, DNS, and SSL certificates
• Detecting maladjusted cloud or email gateways
An effective external test will assist you in knowing how the outside world views your network and what they might be tempted to take advantage of.
Internal network penetration testing
Internal network penetration testing accepts that a breach has already happened with the help of the phishing technique or malware or the insider threats. Testers mimic the activities that will occur after an attacker gets his way into your internal environment.
They investigate:
• Poor domain credentials and password reuse
• Poor departmentation or interactive barriers between servers
• Opportunities of privilege escalation and lateral movements
• Devices that have not been patched or configured poorly
The findings demonstrate the extent to which an intruder may travel in your systems and the rate at which they may breach valuable information.
Why Co-locate the Two Forms of Testing?
External testing alone will make you unaware of the risk of insiders, and internal testing only will not consider perimeter exposures.
Combining both delivers:
• 360-Degree Visibility: Identify both entry and internal weaknesses
• Better Incident Response: Experts: Tested detection and containment
• Compliance Guarantee: ISO 27001, PCI DSS and GDPR
• Limited Breach Impact: Get the attackers stopped before they cause huge damage
The Methodology of Aardwolf Security
In Aardwolf Security, our certified testers adhere to organized standards like NIST SP 800-115 and OSSTMM to provide adequate, safe and repeatable outcomes.
We have a five-stage process of:
1. Planning and Scoring – Determining in-scope systems and access levels
2. Reconnaissance and Discovery – Mapping all assets of the network
3. Vulnerability Assessment – Automated and manual
4. Exploitation and Escalation – Risk validation by controlled attacks
5. Reporting and Remediation Support – Proving prioritized fixes
Benefits of Dual Testing
• Enhances the perimeter and internal security
• Develops trust in the stakeholders in terms of provable security
• Shortens downtime through the early detection of problems
• Facilitates the ongoing IT governance and policy advancement
Conclusion
Hackers use any available external and internal entry point. Performing internal penetration testing and external penetration testing of networks enables organizations with a complete situational awareness and the ability to withstand complicated attacks. The two-layer testing implemented by Aardwolf Security will make sure that your systems are strengthened at all angles to keep trust, compliance, and business continuity.
