Finding your vulnerabilities before threat actors do is now essential for your business in an era of increasingly sophisticated and persistent cyberattacks.
This was first discovered by a mid-sized financial services company. The business hired a security team to perform a targeted penetration test with an emphasis on real-world exploitability in response to mounting regulatory pressure and worries about client data exposure. The outcomes? The company’s risk surface was greatly reduced, and its overall security posture was strengthened, as more than 100 critical and high-risk vulnerabilities were found and fixed in a matter of weeks.
The Challenge: Lack of Visibility, High Risk Exposure
Despite implementing standard controls, the company had:
- No real visibility into internal and external threat surfaces
- Multiple legacy systems with patch gaps
- Misconfigured cloud services and exposed APIs
- Weak internal access controls and privilege escalation risks
They needed a proactive approach — one that didn’t just scan but simulated how an attacker might infiltrate the environment.
The Solution: Focused Penetration Testing with Business Context
The engagement involved a customised penetration test, scoped to include:
- External infrastructure and cloud services
- Internal network segmentation and access controls
- Application-layer vulnerabilities
- Social engineering attack paths
The team aligned the testing strategy with the business operations and risk profile of the organisation while utilising industry frameworks such as OWASP and MITRE ATT&CK.
The Outcome: Over 100+ Critical Issues Closed
The test results uncovered:
- 27 critical vulnerabilities in externally facing systems
- 46 high-risk findings across internal networks and applications
- Multiple privilege escalation and lateral movement paths
- Insecure third-party integrations leaking sensitive data
All critical issues were remediated within 21 business days.
Additionally, the security team implemented compensating controls like improved segmentation, WAF rules, and logging.
Why Targeted Penetration Testing Works
Unlike basic vulnerability scans, targeted penetration testing:
- Simulates real-world attacks
- Prioritises findings based on business impact
- Helps validate incident response readiness
- Strengthens stakeholder confidence
Next Step: See the Report That Changed Their Security Strategy
Are you curious about the nature of these findings and how they influence business choices?
📥 Book a walkthrough of a real (anonymised) test report.
See what you should be testing, what attackers are exploiting today, and how to prioritise remediation.