Internal Infrastructure

Internal infrastructure forms the backbone of your organisation’s IT operations. While external threats often take priority, vulnerabilities within internal networks – such as unpatched systems, misconfigurations, or weak access controls – can leave your environment exposed to lateral movement and privilege escalation.

SilentGrid’s Internal Infrastructure Penetration Testing focuses on identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities within a defined scope to help organisations harden their internal defences. This service simulates insider threats and post-breach scenarios to identify paths attackers could take to compromise sensitive systems.

For a more realistic, objective-driven approach, we recommend our Assumed Breach Assessment. This service shifts the focus from simply listing vulnerabilities to simulating attacker behaviour with the goal of achieving high-value objectives such as data exfiltration, domain compromise, or privilege escalation. Along the way, we identify and report vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and gaps in detection that adversaries might exploit.

What Sets Us Apart

Vulnerability-Driven Testing for Defined Environments

Internal Infrastructure Penetration Testing targets specific systems, networks, or environments to uncover vulnerabilities that could lead to internal compromise. This vulnerability-focused approach ensures thorough testing without extending beyond predefined boundaries.

Simulated Insider Threats

By replicating the actions of malicious insiders or compromised users, we identify weaknesses in internal systems that could facilitate privilege escalation or lateral movement.

Advanced Manual Testing

We pair manual testing with automated tools to uncover complex attack paths, misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities that scanners alone often miss.

Assumed Breach for Objective-Based Testing

Our Assumed Breach service provides a broader, goal-oriented approach that tests your organisation’s resilience to advanced threats. This service mirrors real-world adversary behaviour – focusing on achieving objectives while exposing vulnerabilities along the attack path.

Methodology

SilentGrid’s internal penetration testing follows established frameworks, applying adversarial techniques to identify weaknesses across internal networks.

1. Network Mapping and Asset Discovery

   • Enumerating internal devices, systems, and services.
   • Mapping relationships between systems to understand trust paths and potential pivot points.

2. Vulnerability Analysis and Exploitation

   • Identifying misconfigurations, insecure services, and unpatched systems.
   • Exploiting vulnerabilities to simulate real-world attack scenarios.

3. Privilege Escalation and Lateral Movement

   • Escalating privileges through exploited systems.
   • Moving laterally across the environment to identify additional targets.

4. Credential Harvesting and Reuse

   • Extracting and testing stored credentials across the network.
   • Assessing password policies and credential management.

5. Reporting and Remediation Guidance

   • Providing a detailed report outlining vulnerabilities, associated risks, and recommended remediation steps.

Deliverables

SilentGrid’s internal assessments provide comprehensive technical insights and clear remediation paths to help IT teams strengthen internal defences.

You will receive:

• Detailed Vulnerability Report – Outlining identified misconfigurations, unpatched systems, and privilege escalation paths.
• Proof of Concept (PoC) – Demonstrations of vulnerabilities successfully exploited during the engagement.
• Remediation Roadmap – Actionable recommendations prioritised by severity and ease of exploitation.
• Executive Summary – High-level overview for leadership, highlighting key findings and risks.
• Consultation and Retesting – Post-assessment guidance and retesting to confirm successful remediation.

Why Choose Assumed Breach Assessments?

While internal penetration testing focuses on identifying vulnerabilities within a defined scope, Assumed Breach offers a holistic, adversary-driven approach that mirrors the behaviour of sophisticated attackers.

Key Differentiators:

• Scope and Focus

  • Internal Penetration Testing: Targets specific systems and environments.
  • Assumed Breach: Simulates a breach, moving laterally across the organisation’s infrastructure.

• Testing Objectives

  • Internal Penetration Testing: Aims to identify and report vulnerabilities.
  • Assumed Breach: Focuses on achieving goals (e.g., data exfiltration or domain compromise) while identifying vulnerabilities along the way.

• Operational Focus

  • Internal Penetration Testing: Evaluates system security at the technical level.
  • Assumed Breach: Tests defensive controls, monitoring, and incident response capabilities to provide a realistic assessment of how well internal teams detect and respond to threats.

Assumed Breach assessments provide actionable insights that extend beyond system vulnerabilities – exposing operational gaps, detection blind spots, and areas for improvement across security operations.

Get Started Today

Strengthen your internal defences by identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Contact Us to schedule an Internal Infrastructure Penetration Test or learn more about our Assumed Breach Assessments.