Infrastructure Pentest: Protect Your Network Against Cyber Threats
- Douglas Leal
- May 13
- 4 min read
A company's IT infrastructure is the foundation of its operations and contains numerous critical systems that keep data and processes secure. However, vulnerabilities in this infrastructure can be exploited by cybercriminals, leading to significant financial losses and damage to the organization’s reputation. An infrastructure pentest (penetration test) is one of the most effective ways to identify security flaws and protect your digital assets from attacks.
In this article, we’ll explore the importance of performing infrastructure pentests and how these tests help safeguard your network, servers, and other essential IT components.
What Is an Infrastructure Pentest?
An infrastructure pentest involves assessing the security of all components within a corporate network, including servers, firewalls, switches, access control systems, and more. The goal is to identify and fix vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit to compromise the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of company data.
Infrastructure Components That Should Be Assessed During a Pentest
Servers: Physical or virtual machines that store essential data and applications.
Networks: Communication between systems, including the network infrastructure and internet connections.
Access Control Systems: Tools that manage user authentication and authorization across the network.
Security Devices: Firewalls, IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems), VPNs, and other devices that protect the network from external threats.
Why Conduct an Infrastructure Pentest?
1. Protection Against External Threats
External threats pose some of the greatest risks to IT infrastructure. Cybercriminals are constantly trying to exploit network vulnerabilities such as misconfigured firewalls, open ports, or outdated services. A pentest helps identify these weaknesses before attackers can use them to gain access to the internal network.
🔐 Example vulnerability: An unsecured and unauthenticated FTP service can serve as an easy entry point for hackers seeking to access sensitive data or install malware.
2. Strengthening Proactive Security
Conducting regular pentests allows your security team to adopt a proactive approach to infrastructure protection. Instead of waiting for a security breach to occur, you stay ahead by fixing vulnerabilities and applying security patches before they can be exploited.
🔒 Example: Keeping operating systems and software updated with the latest patches is one of the best ways to prevent zero-day attacks.
3. Identifying Internal Risks
While most cyberattacks originate externally, internal threats are also a growing concern. Malicious employees or simple configuration errors can be exploited to harm the infrastructure. A well-executed pentest can uncover gaps in access controls or internal security flaws that need to be addressed.
⚠️ Example: Excessive admin permissions or weak passwords can be leveraged by an insider to compromise sensitive data.
4. Compliance With Security Regulations
Compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS requires companies to implement strict security measures to protect sensitive data. Pentests help organizations identify and fix vulnerabilities that could result in compliance violations and fines.
📜 Example: PCI DSS mandates that companies perform regular network pentests to ensure that customer payment information is adequately protected.
How to Perform an Infrastructure Pentest
An effective infrastructure pentest involves several steps, each aiming to test the resilience of different components within the network. Here are the key steps to ensure a comprehensive infrastructure security assessment:
1. Network Mapping and Vulnerability Identification
Before any testing begins, it's essential to map the corporate network to understand its topology, identify all connected devices and systems, and pinpoint critical assets like servers, routers, and firewalls. During this phase, the pentester will:
Scan the network to identify devices and open ports.
Identify known vulnerabilities in services and operating systems.
Check firewall configurations to ensure unauthorized traffic is properly blocked.
🌐 Example: A network scan may detect an insecure service port (such as Telnet), which could serve as an entry point for an attacker.
2. Exploiting Vulnerabilities
Once vulnerabilities have been identified, the pentester will attempt to exploit them to determine the actual impact of a potential breach. The aim is to understand how easily an attacker could leverage the flaws to gain access to internal systems.
Test for weak or unencrypted passwords on critical services.
Exploit unpatched or vulnerable services that could serve as access points.
Target weaknesses in network protocols like DNS, SMTP, FTP, etc.
⚠️ Example: A pentester might use tools to test the strength of admin passwords and exploit outdated systems.
3. Evaluating Access Controls and Authentication
Another crucial part of an infrastructure pentest is checking the access controls and authentication mechanisms that protect internal systems. The pentester may test:
Access controls to ensure unauthorized users cannot reach sensitive systems or information.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) to verify whether systems require additional layers of protection.
Privilege management to confirm that user permissions are correctly assigned.
🔑 Example: Poor access control could allow a standard user to access administrative areas of the network and make unauthorized changes.
4. Testing Resilience to Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks
Infrastructure resilience against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks is vital for business continuity. During the pentest, it’s important to assess how the infrastructure handles large volumes of malicious traffic. This might involve:
Stress testing network traffic to simulate a DDoS attack.
Reviewing existing mitigation strategies for such attacks.
🌐 Example: A misconfigured load balancer can make the infrastructure vulnerable to DDoS attacks, potentially taking systems offline.
Conclusion
Conducting infrastructure pentests is essential for securing an organization’s networks, servers, and internal systems. These tests help identify and address critical vulnerabilities, protecting the company from both external and internal threats, while also ensuring compliance with security standards.
By performing regular pentests, you're building a proactive defense for your IT infrastructure, mitigating risks, and ensuring that your company’s critical data and systems remain protected.
