External Network Penetration Testing
Your Internet-Facing Attack Surface. Tested Like an Adversary Would.
An attacker targeting your organization does not start inside your network. They start where you are visible — your public IP ranges, your cloud assets, your remote access infrastructure, your email gateway. External network penetration testing maps that exposure and attempts to exploit it, exactly the way a real threat actor would.
Evaluris conducts external penetration tests from a zero-knowledge, unauthenticated adversary position — no internal access, no prior briefing on your architecture, no assumptions. The engagement begins where your attacker would begin, and follows every viable path it can reach.
Why External Testing Is Not Optional
Your external attack surface is larger than you think. Shadow IT, forgotten subdomains, exposed development environments, misconfigured cloud storage, legacy remote access services, and third-party integrations all extend the perimeter your security team is responsible for — whether they know about them or not.
Regulatory frameworks across every major financial jurisdiction now mandate documented external penetration testing. DORA requires annual testing of all internet-facing ICT assets. PCI DSS requires external testing of the cardholder data environment annually and after every significant change. CBUAE, SAMA, and VARA mandate annual VAPT for licensed institutions. The question is not whether you will be tested — it is whether you test yourself before your adversary does it for you.
In 2025, the median time from initial external access to domain compromise in real-world breaches was under 48 hours. External exposure is not a theoretical risk.
Methodology
Passive Reconnaissance
OSINT collection against your organization's digital footprint: DNS enumeration, certificate transparency log analysis, ASN and IP range mapping, exposed credential databases, LinkedIn and job posting intelligence, and third-party data source aggregation. No traffic touches your infrastructure at this stage.
Active Reconnaissance & Attack Surface Mapping
Port scanning, service fingerprinting, web technology identification, subdomain enumeration, cloud asset discovery (S3 buckets, Azure Blob, exposed APIs), and email infrastructure analysis (SPF, DKIM, DMARC configuration).
Vulnerability Identification
Manual analysis of discovered services for exploitable vulnerabilities. This goes beyond automated scanner output — operators analyze version information, configuration, and service behavior to identify realistic exploitation paths.
Exploitation Attempts
Controlled exploitation of confirmed vulnerabilities to establish what an attacker could achieve. Includes VPN and remote access service exploitation, web application attacks against public-facing platforms, credential stuffing against exposed authentication endpoints, and email security control bypass.
Post-Exploitation & Pivot Assessment
Where initial access is established, operators assess what is reachable from that position — internal network visibility, credential material, sensitive data accessible from the external foothold.
Reporting
Full technical report with attack path narrative, evidence, CVSS scoring, and compliance-mapped remediation guidance.
What We Test
- Public IP ranges and ASN-associated infrastructure
- Internet-facing web applications and APIs
- Remote access services (VPN, RDP, Citrix, SSH, Jumpboxes)
- Email infrastructure and mail gateway security
- Cloud storage and exposed cloud service endpoints
- DNS configuration and subdomain security
- SSL/TLS configuration and certificate management
- Third-party and supplier-facing integrations
- Development and staging environments accessible from the internet
Compliance Alignment
| Framework | Requirement |
|---|---|
| PCI DSS v4.0.1 | Req. 11.4.1 — annual external penetration test; retest after significant changes |
| DORA Art. 25 | Annual ICT resilience testing for all internet-facing systems |
| CBUAE | Annual VAPT mandatory for licensed financial institutions |
| SAMA | Biannual penetration testing with management evidence |
| VARA | Testing required before every new system or product launch |
| NIS2 Art. 21 | Network security and vulnerability management obligations |
| ISO 27001:2022 | A.8.8 — technical vulnerability management |
Deliverables
- Attack Surface Inventory — complete map of discovered assets, services, and exposure points identified during reconnaissance
- Executive Summary — risk-rated findings with business impact context
- Technical Report — full exploitation evidence, CVSS v4.0 scores, and remediation steps per finding
- Remediation Priority Matrix — findings ranked by exploitability, impact, and regulatory exposure
- Retest Window — post-remediation verification included
Ready to scope this engagement?
Tell us about your environment, regulatory drivers, and timeline. We will align methodology, scope, and evidence requirements before testing begins.