Penetration Testing Explained
Types of Penetration Testing: Web, Network, Mobile & Cloud
The main types of penetration testing are network pentesting (targeting infrastructure and servers), web application pentesting (testing custom apps and APIs), cloud pentesting (assessing AWS/Azure/GCP configurations), and mobile application pentesting (evaluating iOS and Android apps).
Andreas Johansson · Chief Executive Officer
Senior IT management leader with 25 years of experience in Cloud, Security, and Datacenter infrastructure.
Network Penetration Testing
Network pentesting targets your organization's infrastructure — servers, firewalls, routers, switches, VPNs, and network services. Testers probe for exploitable services, weak authentication, unpatched systems, and paths for lateral movement.
- External network pentesting simulates an internet-based attacker targeting your perimeter. Testers identify exposed services, attempt to exploit publicly reachable systems, and evaluate firewall and IDS effectiveness.
- Internal network pentesting simulates an attacker who has already gained initial access — through phishing, physical access, or a compromised endpoint. This tests lateral movement, privilege escalation, and the effectiveness of network segmentation.
Key findings in network pentests include: default credentials on network devices, unpatched operating systems, weak SMB/LDAP configurations, insufficient network segmentation, and unencrypted internal communications.
Web Application Penetration Testing
Web application pentesting is the most commonly requested type, reflecting the critical role web apps play in modern business. Testers evaluate custom applications, APIs, and web services against the OWASP Top 10 and beyond.
Testing areas include:
- Authentication and session management. Can testers bypass login mechanisms, hijack sessions, or escalate privileges? Weak authentication is among the most critical web application risks.
- Input validation. SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), command injection, and other injection attacks remain prevalent. Testers attempt to inject malicious input through every available parameter.
- Business logic. Automated scanners miss logic flaws — price manipulation, workflow bypasses, race conditions. Manual testing by experienced professionals uncovers these application-specific vulnerabilities.
- API security. Modern applications rely on APIs extensively. Testers evaluate authentication, authorization, rate limiting, input validation, and data exposure across REST and GraphQL endpoints.
Cloud Penetration Testing
Cloud pentesting assesses security configurations in AWS, Azure, and GCP environments. Unlike traditional network pentests, cloud testing focuses on service-level configurations rather than network-level vulnerabilities.
- IAM and access control. Overly permissive IAM policies are the most common cloud security weakness. Testers evaluate roles, policies, and cross-account access for privilege escalation paths.
- Storage and data exposure. Publicly accessible S3 buckets, Azure Blob containers, and GCP Cloud Storage objects remain a leading cause of data breaches. Testers enumerate and attempt to access storage resources.
- Network configuration. Security groups, NACLs, VPC peering, and firewall rules are evaluated for overly permissive access. Testers identify paths between network segments that should be isolated.
- Serverless and container security. Lambda functions, Azure Functions, ECS/EKS clusters, and GKE deployments introduce unique attack surfaces that require specialized testing expertise.
Cloud providers have specific rules of engagement for pentesting. AWS allows pentesting without prior approval for most services. Azure and GCP have similar policies but may require notification for certain test types.
Mobile Application Penetration Testing
Mobile pentesting evaluates iOS and Android applications for security weaknesses that could compromise user data or backend systems.
- Data storage. Testers examine how the app stores sensitive data — credentials, tokens, personal information. Insecure local storage (plaintext files, unencrypted databases) is a common finding.
- Network communication. Certificate pinning, TLS implementation, and API communication security are evaluated. Man-in-the-middle attack simulations test whether data in transit is properly protected.
- Authentication and authorization. Client-side authentication bypasses, insecure token storage, and API authorization flaws are tested.
- Reverse engineering. Testers attempt to decompile the application to extract hardcoded secrets, API keys, and business logic.
Which Type Do You Need?
Most organizations benefit from starting with the type that covers their highest-risk assets:
- E-commerce or SaaS companies → Web application pentesting first
- Organizations with remote workforces → Network (external + internal) pentesting
- Cloud-native businesses → Cloud penetration testing
- Companies with mobile apps → Mobile application pentesting
How SeqOps fits
SeqOps doesn't do penetration testing; it complements it. Between engagements it keeps checking your cloud configuration and servers for known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, so each pentest can focus on what automated scanning can't find.