Penetration Testing Services

Penetration testing is an authorised cyberattack performed by ethical hackers to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in your organisation's networks, systems, and applications before real attackers do. Unlike automated vulnerability scanners that flag theoretical weaknesses, penetration testers manually exploit them to confirm what is genuinely exploitable in your environment, then deliver a prioritised report with remediation guidance your team can act on immediately.

Our penetration testing covers four core attack surfaces - web applications, infrastructure (networks, servers, databases), cloud environments, and APIs - with each engagement scoped to your specific risk profile and compliance drivers rather than templated against a generic checklist.

You typically need penetration testing when your organisation handles sensitive data, runs internet-facing applications, must satisfy compliance obligations such as PCI DSS, ISO 27001, APRA CPS 234, or the ACSC Essential Eight, is preparing for a customer security audit, has launched a new application or cloud environment, or has recently undergone a significant infrastructure change.

For most organisations, penetration testing should be part of an ongoing security program rather than a one-off compliance exercise. Updates, configuration changes, and evolving attacker techniques continuously introduce new vulnerabilities that automated scans miss - only manual testing by skilled humans uncovers what an actual attacker would exploit.

Our OSCP-certified team delivers 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 leakage. 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. Engagements follow CREST-aligned methodology and are delivered by senior consultants, not junior staff running automated tools.

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.

Every engagement starts with scoping - understanding your environment, attack surface, business risk, and any compliance drivers behind the test. From there, our testing team performs reconnaissance, identifies vulnerabilities, attempts manual exploitation to confirm impact, and documents the attack chain end-to-end.

Findings are delivered as a prioritised report ranking each vulnerability by business risk, with technical evidence and remediation guidance specific to your environment. Every engagement also includes a debrief - a technical session for your engineering team and an executive briefing for leadership. The objective is not just to identify issues, but to give your team the information needed to fix what matters most, in the order it matters.

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 their Risk Management Program. Every engagement we deliver is mapped to your applicable framework so the report supports your audit, certification, or regulatory submission directly - not as a separate document your compliance team has to re-translate.

For most Australian organisations, the sensible baseline is at least annually, plus additional testing after significant changes - major infrastructure updates, cloud migrations, new application launches, or post-incident remediation. High-risk environments, internet-facing financial platforms, or organisations subject to APRA CPS 234 or PCI DSS often justify more frequent testing, including quarterly or continuous testing for critical assets.

Required frequency also depends on your compliance drivers. PCI DSS mandates annual external and internal testing. APRA expects a systematic testing programme proportionate to asset criticality. ISO 27001 requires regular testing under Clause A.12.6.1. We help organisations build a risk-based testing cadence aligned to their specific obligations, rather than defaulting to a once-a-year tick-box exercise.

Every penetration test is delivered by senior, certified ethical hackers - not junior consultants running automated scans. Our team holds industry-recognised credentials including the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), with engagements led by consultants who have conducted testing across infrastructure, cloud, web, and mobile applications for clients ranging from SMBs to government entities.

Spartans Security is also an approved MITRE CVE Numbering Authority (CNA), meaning our team has been independently validated to discover, assess, and assign CVE identifiers to new vulnerabilities - a level of technical capability held by very few Australian consultancies. Engagements follow CREST-aligned methodology and OWASP standards, and every penetration test is performed by Australian-based consultants with full security clearance where required.

The three approaches differ in how much information the tester has about the target before testing begins. Black box testing simulates an external attacker with no prior knowledge - the tester gets only the scope (e.g. a URL or IP range) and must perform full reconnaissance themselves. It's the most realistic simulation of an external threat, but can take longer and may miss issues hidden behind login walls.
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Grey box testing gives the tester limited information - typically user-level credentials, a brief network diagram, or basic system context. This simulates a compromised user or insider threat and balances realism with coverage. White box testing gives the tester full access - source code, architecture documents, admin credentials - to find vulnerabilities at maximum depth. We help clients choose the approach based on what they're trying to test: external attacker simulation, insider threat modelling, or maximum coverage before going to production.