What is DataComm Penetration Testing?
DataComm Penetration Testing Services simulate real-world cyberattacks against your environment to identify and safely validate exploitable weaknesses—before attackers do.
We focus on two core areas:
- External Penetration Testing – testing internet-facing systems and services from an attacker’s perspective
- Internal Penetration Testing – testing from inside your network, assuming an attacker or malicious insider has a foothold
Rather than just running automated scans, our penetration tests combine manual techniques, tools, and attacker-style thinking to show:
- How vulnerabilities can be chained together
- What an attacker could actually access or impact
- Which remediation actions will reduce risk the fastest
The result is a clear, prioritized remediation roadmap backed by concrete evidence.
Why do organizations invest in penetration testing?
Modern defenses are layered and complex—but so are attacks:
- Vulnerability scans flag issues, but don’t show what’s truly exploitable
- Misconfigurations and logic flaws often slip past checklists
- Remote work, cloud services, and complex networks introduce new attack paths
- Regulators, customers, and cyber insurance carriers increasingly expect regular pen testing
DataComm Penetration Testing helps you:
- See your environment the way a real attacker would
- Validate whether current controls (firewalls, EDR, authentication, segmentation) are effective
- Prioritize remediation based on impact, not just count of findings
- Provide evidence of due diligence to auditors, customers, and leadership
How DataComm Penetration Testing works
We follow a structured, repeatable process aligned with industry best practices, tailored to your environment.
Scoping & Rules of Engagement
We start by making sure the test is safe, authorized, and focused:
- Define scope (IP ranges, domains, applications, locations, and in-scope systems)
- Decide which tests are needed (external, internal, or both)
- Confirm testing windows, notification procedures, and escalation paths
- Agree on “do not touch” systems, if any, and testing constraints
- Document rules of engagement and obtain written authorization
This ensures no surprises for your team or critical systems.
External Penetration Testing
We emulate an attacker on the internet targeting your public footprint.
Typical activities include:
- – Reconnaissance to identify in-scope public hosts, services, and technologies
- Vulnerability discovery using scanning tools plus manual validation
- Manual exploitation attempts of identified weaknesses where safe and agreed
- Testing for misconfigurations, weak authentication, outdated software, and insecure services
- Attempting to pivot between internet-facing components where applicable
The goal: determine what an external attacker can realistically do with what they find exposed.
Internal Penetration Testing
We simulate an attacker who has gained a foothold inside your network—through phishing, a compromised device, or an insider.
Typical activities include:
- Network discovery to map internal hosts, services, and trust relationships
- Credentialed and uncredentialed probing of servers, workstations, and infrastructure devices
- Testing for weak passwords, shared local admin credentials, and poor segmentation
- Attempting privilege escalation and lateral movement
- Identifying paths to critical systems, data stores, and domain controllers (where in scope)
The goal: understand how far an attacker could go once inside and what controls limit their progress.
Analysis, Risk Rating & Prioritization
After testing, we:
- Correlate external and internal findings to identify realistic attack paths
- Assign severity ratings based on likelihood and impact
- Distinguish between exploitable issues and lower-risk hygiene items
- Identify “quick wins” and strategic fixes that reduce multiple risks at once
You get a risk-focused picture, not just a list of vulnerabilities.
Reporting, Readout & Remediation Support
We deliver results in a format both technical and non-technical stakeholders can use:
- – Executive summary – business-level view of risk and key themes
- Technical details – step-by-step descriptions of findings, evidence, and exploit paths
- Remediation guidance – concrete recommendations, not just references to CVEs
- Optional remediation workshop to help you plan and prioritize fixes
- Optional retest to validate your remediation and close the loop
Our objective is to help you improve security, not just pass an audit.
Key capabilities of DataComm Penetration Testing
We’ve designed our service around four core pillars.
External Penetration Testing
- Realistic simulation of attacks against internet-facing systems
- Combines automated scanning with manual validation and exploitation where safe
- Focus on exposed services, misconfigurations, and weaknesses that matter most
- Clear demonstration of what an outsider could see and do
Internal Penetration Testing
- Assumes a compromised endpoint or insider threat to test internal defenses
- Evaluates segmentation, privilege escalation, and lateral movement resistance
- Highlights weak credentials, insecure protocols, and poorly protected systems
- Shows potential access to sensitive data and crown-jewel systems
Safe, controlled testing
- Carefully scoped and authorized
- Testing windows aligned with your operations to minimize risk
- Clear communication protocols for any critical findings discovered mid-test
Real-world, manual techniques
- Attack paths crafted by human testers, not just automated tools
- Ability to chain multiple “medium” issues into a “high” or “critical” risk
- Context-aware findings that reflect how your environment is actually used
Actionable, prioritized remediation
- Severity ratings and business context for each finding
- Practical fixes, workarounds, and compensating controls when full remediation isn’t immediate
- Support for retesting to demonstrate progress over time
What you get with DataComm Penetration Testing
A typical engagement includes:
Who DataComm Penetration Testing is for
Penetration testing is a strong fit if:
- You have regulatory, contractual, or cyber insurance requirements for regular pen tests
- You want validation that existing controls are effective against realistic attacks
- You’ve recently made significant changes (cloud migration, mergers, new apps, remote work)
- Leadership wants a clear, independent view of how exposed the organization truly is
- You already run vulnerability scans but need deeper validation and prioritization
USE CASES
Explore the Possible Applications of a Risk Assessment
External Penetration Test for Internet-Facing Assets
You expose VPN, web applications, email gateways, and other services to the internet:
- DataComm conducts an external pen test against defined IP ranges and domains
- We identify exploitable weaknesses and misconfigurations on public-facing systems
- You use the report to harden your perimeter and demonstrate due diligence to stakeholders
Internal Penetration Test for Lateral Movement Risk
You’re concerned about ransomware or insider threats:
- DataComm assumes an internal foothold and tests how far an attacker could move
- We identify paths to critical systems and data, plus weaknesses in segmentation and identity controls
- You use the results to improve containment, monitoring, and incident response readiness
Combined Internal & External Penetration Test
You want a comprehensive view:
- Both external and internal perspectives are tested within the same engagement
- We correlate findings to show complete attack paths from internet into internal systems
- Leadership and IT gain a full-picture understanding of risk and remediation priorities
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common questions
Scanning identifies potential issues; penetration testing goes further by attempting to safely exploit and chain those issues to show real-world impact.
Tests are designed to be safe and controlled. While any testing carries some risk, we use conservative approaches, communicate actively, and schedule higher-risk activities during agreed windows.
Many organizations perform full internal and external pen tests annually, with additional tests after major changes or when required by regulations, contracts, or insurance.
Yes. We can scope tests to specific networks, applications, locations, or segments based on your priorities and constraints.
We provide detailed remediation guidance and can support planning, prioritization, and retesting. Implementation can be handled by your internal teams, DataComm, or a combination.
Next steps
To tailor DataComm Penetration Testing to your organization, we recommend documenting:
- The external assets (domains, IP ranges, VPNs, web apps) you want in scope
- Key internal networks, sites, and systems you’re most concerned about
- Any regulatory, contractual, or insurance requirements related to testing
Ready to harden your network against active threats?
Schedule a Penetration Testing discovery call with DataComm to design an internal and external testing engagement that gives you an honest, evidence-based view of your security posture.