Internal Assessment

Internal Assessment

The Internal Assessment is a comprehensive evaluation conducted by Coastline to analyze the vulnerability of assets within an organization that are susceptible to internal threats. Unlike destructive assessments, this non-destructive approach aims to provide the Client with valuable insights into the current security posture of their internal network. Coastline simulates the behavior of real-world threat actors by conducting blind penetration tests on the internal network, with the primary objective of identifying and exploiting the organization’s security weaknesses. Through this proactive and in-depth method, the assessment aims to determine how the organization’s security protocols function under attack.
penetration testing and cyber security consulting services

How We Do It

Coastline employs industry-standard tools and techniques to carry out the internal assessment. The process begins with a network topology discovery phase, where our experienced team scans all provided network addresses to identify open ports and services. 

Network Topology & Discovery Phase

Utilizing a variety of industry-accepted tools to scan all responsive hosts within the network, this phase gives the Coastline team a better understanding of the organization’s network structure and the ability to focus on identifying any known security vulnerabilities and services as a crucial step in the vulnerability assessment.

Penetration
Testing

  • Black Box Testing – tester assumes the role of an external hacker, focusing on vulnerabilities exploitable from outside the network.
  • White Box Testing – tester is given full access to environment, enabling a comprehensive assessment of both internal and external vulnerabilities.
  • Grey Box Testing – tester strikes a balance between black-box & white-box approaches by having only some internal knowledge of the organization. This test allows us to efficiently assess the network security by focusing on high value systems.

Vulnerability Exploitation

Systematical assessment of the weaknesses and security gaps recognized during the first two initial phases.  Our team attempts to exploit the identified vulnerabilities and assess their severity and potential impact on the organization’s infrastructure.

Following this, a discovery phase focused on network and hosts is conducted, utilizing various industry-accepted tools to scan all responsive hosts and identify any known security vulnerabilities. Once these initial steps are completed, Coastline proceeds with a variety of penetration tests, simulating the actions of a real-world hacker and attempting to exploit the vulnerabilities found within the systems on the target network.
penetration testing and cyber security consulting services

What To Expect

Throughout the internal penetration testing process, Coastline ensures transparency by providing the Client with a clear outline of the steps, processes, and methodologies employed. Our team meticulously documents and reports successful breach attempts, exploitable vulnerabilities, and other relevant data discovered during the assessment.

Upon completion of our internal assessment, we will provide you with a detailed report of the findings as well as best practice recommendations to enhance the security around your internal network. The deliverable will provide the Client with valuable information on the current state of the security that exists within the organization, the presence of vulnerabilities, and additional information on the level of risk each vulnerability represents.