Penetration Testing - Web, API, Mobile & Infrastructure
Uncover Vulnerabilities To Strengthen Your Defences
Penetration testing is regularly used by organisations as part of their ongoing cyber security strategy/program. It is a security exercise that involves our ethical hacking team launching up to date real world attacks against either your infrastructure, web, and/or mobile applications. We report back on the findings and how to remediate any identified vulnerabilities, this will allow you to better understand your security gaps, current cyber security risk profile and practical steps for improvement.
Testing can be conducted either externally (as an outsider threat) and/or internally (as an insider threat) to help you in determining exactly how effective your existing system defence mechanisms are, and evaluating whether or not your organisation is following cyber security best practice.
Kaon Security have wide ranging experience with complex architecture designs, the latest attack techniques, exploits and security flaws. This allows us to combine complex penetration testing attacks with exclusive techniques to achieve better outcomes.
Depending on the test targets Kaon Security follow a custom methodology based on industry standards such as Penetration Testing Execution Standards (PTES), Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM), and Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
During the penetration testing exercise Kaon Security provides a unique real life simulated hacking campaign experience, the highly experienced penetration test team go beyond the point of initial access or security gap discovery, allowing us to locate additional hidden risks or threats.
Contact us to discuss your testing requirements.
See how one NSW council strengthened its security with our Penetration Testing service.
Types of Penetration Testing
Penetration testing is generally categorised into three primary testing approaches. In order to deliver the outcome you wish for we recommend discussing your key objectives, budget and time frame with our consultants who will work with you to identify the most suitable testing approach.
- White Box Penetration Testing: allows the team to carrying out extensive penetration testing because it is carried out from a position of full knowledge of the target, in many cases this includes a source code and architectural review. This approach is typically suited to scenarios where you wish to assess every aspect of compromise, whether originating from an internal, external, or privileged attacker.
- Grey Box Penetration Testing: allows the team to focus on areas we think may be of more risk to you, and value to a hacker, because it is carried out from a position of limited knowledge of the target. This approach is typically suited to scenarios where you wish to assess a combination of your defensive controls, their effectiveness, and the overall security weaknesses of the target, whether originating from an internal or external attacker.
- Black Box Penetration Testing: allows the team to enact an anonymous penetration test because it is carried out from a position of almost no knowledge of the target. However, unlike a real-life hacking campaign this exercise is limited to agreed time and budget constraints which therefore means it will be less comprehensive. This approach is typically suited to scenarios where you wish to assess your defensive controls and their effectiveness from an external attacker.
Furthermore, web application penetration testing includes options for either authenticated or unauthenticated testing:
- Authenticated: used for comprehensive test scenarios where our team are supplied with credentials to be able to extend the scope of testing to include complex tasks, such as verifying the impacts of different authentication levels and associated data security risks. This approach guarantees full testing coverage and is typically suited to scenarios where you wish to assess every aspect of compromise, whether originating from an internal, external or privileged attacker.
- Unauthenticated: used for basic test scenarios, this approach is typically suited to scenarios where you wish to assess only the public areas of your target.
Frequently Asked Questions
Penetration testing can seem complex if you haven’t been through the process before. Here are some of the questions we’re most often asked about Penetration Testing, with clear answers to help you understand what’s involved and why it matters.
Penetration Testing (Pen Testing) is a controlled and ethical cyberattack on your organisation’s systems, applications, or network. The goal is to identify and safely exploit vulnerabilities in these areas before a real attacker can. This process provides valuable insight into your current security posture and helps create a clear set of remediation steps for strengthening defences.
Penetration Testing helps uncover weaknesses that could be exploited in a real cyberattack. It allows you to detect and fix critical vulnerabilities, validate your existing security controls in real-world conditions, meet industry standards from bodies such as such as OWASP, ISO, PCI DSS, or NIST, and ultimately reduce the risk of costly breaches, downtime and reputational damage.
Vulnerability Scanning uses automated tools to flag known issues. Penetration Testing goes further by using manual techniques to actively exploit those weaknesses. This demonstrates the real‑world impact of an attack, giving you a much clearer understanding of the risks to your organisation.
We offer:
- External Testing – internet-facing systems and services
- Internal Testing – internal network security
- Web Application Testing – vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS
- Wireless Testing – Wi-Fi network security
- Cloud Testing – Microsoft 365, AWS, Azure environments
- Social Engineering – phishing or other human-targeted attacks
No. Penetration testing is designed to be safe and non‑disruptive. Tests are scheduled at agreed times to minimise impact. Our experienced testers follow strict ethical standards and robust procedures to protect your data and prevent any loss or disruption.
If we discover a critical or high-risk vulnerability during testing, we notify you immediately so you can begin mitigation while we finalise the report.
Once testing is complete, you’ll receive a detailed report showing any vulnerabilities or security issues detected during testing with recommendations for remediation.
These terms describe how much information a penetration tester has before the assessment begins.
Black Box Testing - the tester has no prior knowledge of the systems - just like an external attacker would.
Grey Box Testing - the tester is provided with limited information, such as user level credentials or basic architecture details, to simulate an insider threat with partial access.
White Box Testing - the tester has full knowledge, including system documentation, source code, or admin access, allowing for a deep assessment of security from the inside out.
Authenticated Testing involves logging into a system or application with valid credentials, simulating what a legitimate user (or a compromised account) could do once inside. This helps uncover issues like privilege escalation and access to sensitive data.
Unauthenticated Testing is performed without login credentials. It focuses on what an attacker could see and exploit from the outside, testing your perimeter defences and exposed services. Most penetration tests include a mix of both to provide a complete view of risk.
Penetration Testing is a targeted assessment designed to identify and exploit vulnerabilities within a defined scope, providing clear findings and remediation steps.
Red Teaming is broader and more realistic. It simulates a full scale attack using a variety of tactics such as phishing, social engineering, and stealth techniques to test not only technical vulnerabilities, but also how well your people, processes, and security controls detect and respond to a live threat.