Penetration Testing
Security Testing
MSP
External vs. Internal Pentesting: Why You Need Both
ThreatMate Team
Sep 14, 2023
4 min read
Two Perspectives on Security
External Pentesting Tests what an attacker can see and exploit from the internet: - Public-facing websites and applications - Exposed services and ports - Email and DNS configuration - Cloud service exposure
Internal Pentesting Tests what an attacker can do after gaining initial access: - Lateral movement opportunities - Privilege escalation paths - Internal service vulnerabilities - Active Directory weaknesses
Why External Matters
External pentests simulate the most common attack starting point. Most breaches begin with: - Phishing leading to credential theft - Exploitation of internet-facing vulnerabilities - Compromise of exposed remote access
Why Internal Matters
Once attackers get in (and they will), internal pentests reveal: - How far they can spread - What sensitive data they can reach - How difficult detection and response will be - Whether segmentation is effective
A Complete Testing Program
- External testing — Quarterly or continuous
- Internal testing — Annually or after significant changes
- Assumed breach testing — Start with valid credentials
ThreatMate's Approach
ThreatMate provides both external and internal testing capabilities in a unified platform.
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