Testing and securing an organization’s IT infrastructure to ensure it is resilient to attacks and compliant with security standards, including networks, servers, and databases.
As organizations increasingly adopt cloud technologies, securing cloud infrastructure is paramount. Our cloud security assessment service provides comprehensive testing of your AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud environments, identifying vulnerabilities in critical configurations and containerized platforms like Docker and Kubernetes. We ensure your cloud deployments adhere to industry security standards, such as the CIS Benchmarks, minimizing your risk exposure and protecting your valuable data in the cloud.
Modern organisations rely on APIs to power digital services, enable integrations, and facilitate seamless data exchange. However, each additional endpoint can expand your attack surface and introduce new vulnerabilities—especially when security measures are overlooked. Our API Security Assessment ensures these risks are addressed head-on, empowering you to protect critical data and maintain trust in your digital ecosystem.
Penetration testing involves simulated cyberattacks performed by ethical hackers to identify vulnerabilities in an organisation's networks, systems, and applications, enabling proactive security enhancements before attackers exploit them. Findings are delivered as a prioritised report with remediation guidance, so your team knows what to fix and in what order.
Penetration testing covers web applications, infrastructure (networks, servers, databases), cloud environments, and APIs. Unlike automated vulnerability scanners, penetration testers manually exploit weaknesses to confirm what is actually exploitable in your environment — not just what theoretically might be.
You typically need penetration testing when your organisation handles sensitive data, runs internet-facing systems or applications, must satisfy compliance obligations (PCI DSS, ISO 27001, APRA CPS 234, the ACSC Essential Eight), is preparing for a customer security audit, has launched a new application or environment, or has recently undergone significant infrastructure or cloud change.
Most organisations should incorporate penetration testing into their ongoing security program rather than treating it as a one-off compliance exercise. Regular testing reveals new vulnerabilities introduced by updates, configuration changes, and evolving attacker techniques — issues that automated scans typically miss.
Spartans Security offers four core types of penetration testing covering the most common attack surfaces. Web application penetration testing identifies vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and data leaks. Infrastructure penetration testing assesses the resilience of networks, servers, and databases against attack and verifies compliance with security standards.
Cloud security testing covers AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud environments, identifying misconfigurations across services and containerised platforms like Docker and Kubernetes, with assessment against industry standards such as the CIS Benchmarks. API penetration testing addresses the expanded attack surface created by digital integrations and data exchange, identifying misconfigurations, insecure endpoints, and data exposure risks.
A vulnerability assessment uses automated scanning to identify known weaknesses across a broad attack surface. A penetration test uses manual exploitation by ethical hackers to confirm which of those weaknesses are actually exploitable in your specific environment. Vulnerability assessments are broader and faster; penetration tests are deeper and more accurate.
Use vulnerability assessments as an ongoing baseline to detect known vulnerabilities at scale. Use penetration tests when you need confidence that controls actually hold up under attack — typically for compliance audits, before launching new systems, after significant changes, or as part of an annual security program. Most compliance frameworks, including PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and APRA CPS 234, require penetration testing specifically, not vulnerability scanning alone.
A Spartans Security penetration test begins with scoping — understanding your environment, attack surface, business risk, and any compliance drivers behind the test. From there, the testing team performs reconnaissance, identifies vulnerabilities, attempts manual exploitation to confirm impact, and documents the attack chain.
Findings are delivered as a prioritised report: each vulnerability is ranked by business risk, with technical evidence and remediation guidance. The engagement also includes a debrief — a technical session for your engineering team to walk through the findings, and an executive briefing for leadership where appropriate. The objective is not just to identify issues, but to give your team the information needed to fix what matters most.
Penetration testing is required or strongly recommended by most Australian compliance frameworks, including PCI DSS, ISO 27001, the ACSC Essential Eight (particularly at Maturity Level 2 and above), APRA CPS 234, and the SOCI Act for critical infrastructure operators. Required frequency is typically annually, after significant change, or both.
PCI DSS explicitly mandates annual external and internal penetration testing for any organisation handling cardholder data. APRA-regulated entities must conduct regular testing under CPS 234. SOCI Act operators have enhanced obligations under the Risk Management Program. Spartans Security maps each penetration testing engagement to your applicable framework so the report directly supports your audit, certification, or regulatory submission.
