CLOUD PENTEST
Identify vulnerabilities within your cloud environments with CREST-approved penetration testing.
Trusted by leading organisations
What is cloud penetration testing?
SAFEGUARD YOUR CLOUD,
SECURE YOUR FUTURE
As organisations increasingly move data and applications to the cloud, it’s vital to ensure their cyber security efforts don’t stop at the network perimeter. Cloud penetration testing simulates an attack on a cloud environment to evaluate its defence mechanisms and find any vulnerabilities. It aims to discover weaknesses in the configuration of cloud services that malicious actors could use to compromise data or systems.
Cloud penetration testing can be performed manually or with automated tools. Manual testing is more time-consuming and requires more technical expertise. It can be more thorough.
Automated tools can be less expensive and gain significant coverage quickly. However, they may not find all potential security issues. Our approach includes a blend of manual and automated testing to ensure the most complete results.
You should conduct cloud penetration testing regularly to ensure the security of your cloud environment. It’s essential to work with a reputable and experienced company, such as Sentrium, that has the knowledge and tools to conduct these tests properly.
Why does your organisation need a cloud pentest?
Unveiling the gaps in
your cloud fortress
By conducting regular cloud penetration tests, your organisation can ensure its cloud data and applications are well-protected against the constantly evolving threat posed by cyber criminals. It provides the information necessary to perform a comprehensive risk assessment of your cloud infrastructure to highlight any configuration weaknesses.
It provides detailed technical insight into the configuration of your cloud environment. A cloud pentest can help ensure your organisation remains compliant with various industry regulations. These include GDPR, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials.
All cloud environments differ. There’s no standard assessment for cloud penetration tests. Instead, our skilled and experienced consultants will work with you to understand your cloud infrastructure and services and determine the best testing to use.
Due to the number of services offered in the cloud, a cloud penetration test can take many forms. Depending on your organisation’s utilisation of the cloud, testing may involve evaluating the following:
- Microsoft 365 environment
- Internal cloud virtual networks
- Externally available services such as web applications and APIs
- Functions as a Service (AWS Lambda / Azure Functions)
- Cloud-based virtual machines and containers
- Cloud-based storage
- User access permissions
Common cloud system vulnerabilities
Exposing weak links
in your cloud environment
Our cloud penetration testing services will assess your systems to identify and address a wide range of common cloud vulnerabilities, including:
Microsoft 365 misconfigurations
This assessment is focused on securely configuring your Microsoft 365 platform and ensuring your data and resources are robustly protected and secured. It involves an accurate appraisal of permissions roles, from users to applications. We’ll examine data management and storage policies to ensure that all data remains secure. We’ll also investigate the security configuration of Exchange to ensure it meets security best practices, such as blocking malicious files and phishing attempts.
Insecure configurations of virtual networks
Our consultants will probe for open ports and weak security group rules that may have unintentionally exposed sensitive services and ports. Frequent issues include inadvertently exposed remote administration ports such as SSH or RDP, or where the whitelisting of hosts with access to these ports is too broad.
External/public-facing infrastructure
External-facing cloud infrastructure often contains weaknesses seen in on-premise systems. These include unpatched and outdated software or inadvertently exposed services. Our consultants will scan open ports before probing deeper to pinpoint services and applications running on the hosts and any vulnerabilities they contain. This may involve different assessment types based on the infrastructure involved. For web applications, this may include testing features such as injection attacks or Server-Side Request Forgery. In other cases, this may resemble an external or internal network assessment.
Functions as a Service
Running code in the cloud without maintaining the underlying infrastructure has its advantages. However, the code and its configuration must be secure. Our team will assess functions and review code to check for weaknesses like hardcoded credentials and access keys.
We’ll also examine and analyse permissions granted to functions for any misconfigurations, as they scarcely run in isolation and instead connect to, and impact, several resources.
Virtual machines and containers
Our team will evaluate virtual machines and containers for common vulnerabilities. These include insecure credentials and permissions, networking misconfigurations, lack of encryption, and appropriate backup storage.
Cloud-based storage
Our team will assess your cloud-based storage to identify vulnerabilities like sensitive data exposure and weak encryption. We’ll also look at configuration issues that may be relevant to your organisation’s industry, such as data retention periods.
User access permissions
We’ll review and assess your user access permissions and their scope to determine if they comply with the principle of least privilege. Upon receipt of user permissions, our team will explore how these could be escalated. We’ll also examine if they can be used to grant access to additional or unintended resources.
Other types of penetration testing
CREST-approved
penetration testing services
As well as cloud pentests, our team provides the following penetration testing services:
Network penetration testing
Our network and infrastructure penetration testing assesses your networks and systems for vulnerabilities. It simulates exploitation safely to show the potential impact. We have extensive knowledge of enterprise environments, networking and security technologies.
Website penetration testing
Assesses your web applications and APIs for security vulnerabilities that may be exploited to compromise your applications. We use comprehensive OWASP testing methodologies and leading tools to provide assurance that your applications are secure.
Mobile application penetration testing
Mobile application pentesting provides an in-depth review of your applications’ security to ensure data is protected. Our team has deep experience in assessing iOS, Android and Windows platforms, and many mobile development frameworks such as React Native, Flutter and Xamarin.
Vulnerability assessment
Our vulnerability assessment service evaluates your systems to identify, categorise and prioritise security weaknesses across your organisation. By analysing your infrastructure at scale, we ensure vulnerabilities are identified and addressed before they can be exploited.
IoT penetration testing
Internet of Things (IoT) penetration testing uncovers vulnerabilities in IoT devices, networks, and ecosystems, protecting against cyber threats. Simulating real-word attacks, we assess firmware, protocols, and configurations. This ensure secure, resilient IoT implementations.
All penetration testing services
Our penetration testing services are ideal for businesses who have commercial or regulatory requirements to complete testing, as well as businesses who prioritise cyber security and need independant technical assurance.
Frequently asked questions
What will be tested?
Cloud testing scenarios vary widely depending on how your organisation uses the cloud. An accurate and detailed scope is vital. Our consultants will work with you to lay down the rules of engagement. We’ll be guided by your requirements to determine the scope and methodology that will work best for you.
How long does a cloud pentest take?
Due to the broad nature of cloud assessments, this can vary based on the number of resources present in the environment and its complexity. As a general guide, authenticated tests are granted access to more resources and may take longer but yield more comprehensive results.
Do I need permission from my cloud provider?
All cloud providers differ in terms of what testing is allowed. Some may restrict some forms of testing that could affect other customers. Our experienced consultants can work through this and help advise you.
Will my services be disrupted?
Our skilled testers follow strict guidelines and legal and technical standards to ensure minimal disruption to your business while performing a cloud penetration test. With years of experience testing mission-critical workloads, you can rest easy. Denial of service attacks are generally out of scope when dealing with cloud assessments.
How do I know what type of cloud pentest I need?
The first step of any assessment is to discuss your needs and requirements. Our experienced consultants will work with you to determine your principal security concerns. Once established, we can tailor a testing scenario designed to assess your environment and give you confidence and assurance that your problems are thoroughly evaluated and addressed.
What is CREST?
CREST is an international not-for-profit accreditation and certification body representing and supporting the technical information security market. Companies can become a CREST member and apply for CREST-accredited services. The application requires a rigorous assessment of companies’ processes, data security and service methodologies to ensure they adhere to a best practice standard.
Is Sentrium a CREST-approved provider?
Yes! Sentrium has achieved the standards set by CREST and is a CREST-approved penetration testing service provider. We’re proud to offer services that achieve CREST’s extremely high standards of quality and professionalism, which are recognised internationally.
Why should I use a CREST-approved pentesting company?
Working with a CREST-approved penetration testing provider ensures you’re in safe and experienced hands. You should have the confidence that your penetration test is thorough and comprehensive. Your provider must conduct a technically comprehensive test adhering to CREST’s information security and quality assurance requirements.
What happens after a cloud pentest?
Our team will deliver a comprehensive and detailed report outlining all your environment’s weaknesses. This report is triaged based on the issue severity and the level of risk posed by exploitation. Every weakness holds detailed remediation steps that will allow your teams to quickly and efficiently resolve any issues found during testing.
Can I speak to anyone about the findings?
Absolutely. Following any assessment, our team will be available for debriefing to discuss the issues shown. This is a fantastic opportunity for members of the wider team to pose questions and discuss methods to remediate any problems.