Penetration Testing That Goes Beyond Automated Scanning
Vulnerability scanners find the obvious. CyberGuards' penetration testers find the rest — the chained misconfigurations, logic flaws, and attack paths that lead to real compromise. Expert-led security testing for networks, cloud, and infrastructure from San Francisco.
Why Organizations Need Penetration Testing
Expanding Attack Surfaces
Cloud migration, remote work, SaaS integrations, and hybrid infrastructure have dramatically expanded your attack surface. Every new AWS account, VPN endpoint, and third-party integration is another potential entry point that automated scanners may not fully evaluate in context.
Compliance Requirements Are Tightening
SOC 2, PCI DSS v4.0, ISO 27001, and HIPAA all require or strongly recommend regular penetration testing. Auditors are asking for more detailed evidence of security testing, and generic scan reports no longer satisfy the bar. You need expert-led assessments with detailed findings and remediation guidance.
Comprehensive Infrastructure Penetration Testing
We offer multiple testing types to cover your entire infrastructure — from external perimeter to internal network, cloud environments, and wireless networks.
External Network Penetration Testing
We test your internet-facing infrastructure — firewalls, web servers, VPN gateways, mail servers, DNS, and exposed services — to identify vulnerabilities an external attacker could exploit to gain initial access. Includes port scanning, service enumeration, vulnerability identification, and manual exploitation attempts.
Internal Network Penetration Testing
Simulating an attacker who has gained initial access or an insider threat, we test your internal network for privilege escalation paths, Active Directory weaknesses, network segmentation failures, unencrypted protocols, and lateral movement opportunities. We identify how far an attacker could get once inside your perimeter.
Cloud Penetration Testing (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Specialized testing for cloud infrastructure covering IAM policy misconfigurations, overly permissive security groups, public storage buckets, serverless function vulnerabilities, container escape paths, and cross-account access issues. We test against the shared responsibility model for your specific cloud provider.
Wireless Network Penetration Testing
On-site wireless assessment targeting WPA2/WPA3 networks, rogue access points, evil twin attacks, captive portal bypass, wireless client attacks, and network segmentation between wireless and wired networks. Available for San Francisco Bay Area clients and nationwide with on-site travel.
Standards-Aligned Testing Methodology
Our penetration testing methodology combines three industry standards to deliver comprehensive, repeatable, and compliance-ready assessments.
OWASP
The Open Web Application Security Project Testing Guide provides our framework for web-facing infrastructure components, ensuring coverage of authentication, authorization, input validation, and cryptography testing areas.
PTES
The Penetration Testing Execution Standard defines our overall engagement workflow: pre-engagement interactions, intelligence gathering, threat modeling, vulnerability analysis, exploitation, post-exploitation, and reporting phases.
NIST SP 800-115
The Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment ensures our methodology meets federal and compliance requirements, covering review techniques, target identification, vulnerability validation, and planning considerations.
Authenticated vs. Unauthenticated Testing
We recommend combining both approaches for maximum coverage. Here is how they differ.
Unauthenticated Testing
Simulates an external attacker with no prior access or credentials. Tests your perimeter security, publicly exposed services, and the effectiveness of your external defenses. Answers the question: "Can an outsider break in?"
- Perimeter security validation
- Exposed service enumeration
- Default credential testing
- Public information leakage
- External exploitation attempts
Authenticated Testing
Provides testers with valid credentials to simulate a compromised account or insider threat. Reveals post-authentication vulnerabilities, privilege escalation paths, and internal weaknesses. Answers: "How much damage can a compromised account cause?"
- Privilege escalation paths
- Access control weaknesses
- Internal service exploitation
- Data exposure assessment
- Lateral movement opportunities
What You Receive
Executive Summary
A clear, jargon-free overview of findings and risk posture designed for leadership and stakeholders. Includes overall risk rating, key themes, and business impact assessment.
Technical Findings
Detailed vulnerability write-ups with CVSS v4.0 severity ratings, proof-of-concept evidence, affected systems, attack chains, and step-by-step remediation instructions for your engineering team.
Free Retest
Complimentary retest within 90 days to validate your remediations. We verify that each finding has been properly addressed and provide an updated report reflecting your improved security posture.
Organizations That Benefit from Penetration Testing
Startups Preparing for SOC 2
San Francisco and Bay Area startups pursuing SOC 2 certification need penetration testing to satisfy Trust Services Criteria CC7.1 and CC7.2. We help you pass your first audit with confidence.
Enterprises Managing Hybrid Infrastructure
Organizations running a mix of on-premise, cloud, and SaaS infrastructure need testing that covers the entire attack surface and validates the security boundaries between environments.
Healthcare Organizations
HIPAA requires regular security assessments. Our penetration tests evaluate ePHI protections, network segmentation, medical device security, and access controls to safeguard patient data.
Financial Services Firms
PCI DSS Requirement 11.3 mandates regular penetration testing. We deliver assessments that satisfy PCI QSA requirements and test the specific controls protecting cardholder data environments.
Compliance Framework Mapping
SOC 2
CC7.1 — Detection and Monitoring. CC7.2 — Monitoring for Anomalies. Our reports map directly to Trust Services Criteria.
ISO 27001
Annex A.12.6 — Technical Vulnerability Management. Annex A.18.2 — Compliance Reviews. Supports certification and surveillance audits.
PCI DSS
Requirement 11.3 — Regular penetration testing of cardholder data environments. Our methodology meets PCI DSS v4.0 testing standards.
HIPAA
Security Rule §164.308(a)(8) — Evaluation. Technical safeguard assessment supporting ePHI protection and access controls.
Penetration Testing FAQ
What is the difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test?
A vulnerability scan uses automated tools to identify known vulnerabilities across your systems. A penetration test goes further — our security engineers manually exploit vulnerabilities, chain findings together, and simulate real attack scenarios to demonstrate actual business impact. Penetration testing uncovers logic flaws, misconfigurations, and chained vulnerabilities that scanners miss.
How long does a penetration test typically take?
The duration depends on scope and complexity. A focused external network test typically takes 1 to 2 weeks. An internal network assessment runs 2 to 3 weeks. A comprehensive engagement covering external, internal, cloud, and wireless can take 3 to 5 weeks. We provide a detailed timeline during the scoping phase.
What is the difference between authenticated and unauthenticated penetration testing?
Unauthenticated testing simulates an external attacker with no valid credentials, testing your perimeter defenses and publicly exposed services. Authenticated testing provides our engineers with valid user credentials to simulate an insider threat or post-compromise scenario, uncovering privilege escalation, access control flaws, and post-authentication vulnerabilities that external testing cannot reach.
Will penetration testing cause downtime or disrupt our systems?
Our testing methodology is designed to minimize risk to production environments. We establish clear rules of engagement, maintain real-time communication with your team, and avoid denial-of-service techniques unless explicitly authorized. In our experience, production disruptions during testing are extremely rare. We can also schedule high-risk tests during maintenance windows.
Do you test cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP?
Yes. Cloud penetration testing is a core specialty. We test IAM configurations, storage permissions, network security groups, serverless functions, container orchestration, and cloud-native services across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Our engineers hold cloud security certifications and understand the shared responsibility model for each provider.
What penetration testing methodology do you follow?
We follow a hybrid methodology incorporating PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard), OWASP Testing Guide, and NIST SP 800-115 (Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment). This ensures comprehensive coverage that satisfies compliance requirements while going beyond checkbox testing to find real vulnerabilities.
How are penetration testing findings rated and prioritized?
Every finding is rated using CVSS v4.0 (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) with contextual risk factors specific to your environment. We classify findings as Critical, High, Medium, Low, or Informational, with each rating considering exploitability, impact, affected assets, and your specific business context. This prioritization helps your team address the most impactful issues first.
Do you offer retesting after we remediate the findings?
Yes. Every penetration testing engagement includes a complimentary retest within 90 days. After your team remediates the identified vulnerabilities, we verify that fixes are effective and have not introduced new issues. You receive an updated report confirming the remediation status of each finding.
Ready to Uncover Your Infrastructure Vulnerabilities?
Our San Francisco penetration testing team is ready to assess your network, cloud, and infrastructure security. Get a free scoping call.
Book a Discovery Call