Internal Penetration Testing

Internal Penetration Testing simulates an insider threat scenario — where a user with physical or logical access attempts to compromise internal systems. This ethical hacking method helps organizations discover what vulnerabilities may be exploited by employees, contractors, or attackers who’ve breached the perimeter.

Purpose and Scope

Internal testing evaluates what an adversary with access to the internal environment (authenticated or not) can achieve. This includes exploring misconfigurations, privilege escalation paths, and lateral movement opportunities within the network.

Simulates malicious insiders or compromised internal accounts
Identifies weaknesses in internal access controls and segmentation
Uncovers how unauthorized users might move laterally across systems

Typical Assessment Includes:

Testing with both authenticated and unauthenticated user roles
Evaluating accessible systems, services, and shared drives
Reviewing group policies, patch levels, and configuration gaps
Scanning for misconfigured permissions and data leakage risks

Internal Testing Phases

Information Gathering: Enumerate users, devices, shares, and services.
Vulnerability Identification: Detect exploitable misconfigurations or outdated systems.
Exploitation: Validate the impact of discovered vulnerabilities (controlled environment).
Reporting: Document findings, impacted assets, and remediation guidance.

Why It Matters

Internal pentesting helps organizations validate assumptions about internal trust zones and highlights exposure in real employee or attacker scenarios. It's a proactive way to secure internal infrastructure before real threats arise.

Internal Penetration Testing

Purpose and Scope

Typical Assessment Includes:

Internal Testing Phases

Why It Matters

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