Physical Penetration Testing Services

Cybersecurity: Inside the Firewall

You’ve taken steps to secure your network from hackers. You’ve also implemented measures to protect your property from thieves. Now it’s time to combine those concerns into another risk management category: the cybersecurity threat posed by criminals who would physically enter your premises in order to access your critical network infrastructure. This is the world of physical penetration testing, and it’s a specialized form of security assessment that every organization should consider.

A physical penetration test, also commonly called a pen test, is an ethical hacking exercise in which a team of security experts attempts to gain access to an office building or facility through any means necessary, just as a real-world attacker would. The goal is to identify vulnerabilities in the physical security of the premises that could be exploited to gain access to sensitive data or systems. Physical penetration testing also validates security controls you already have in place so you know what’s working.

By providing the invaluable perspective of a threat actor, the white hat physical penetration test experts at TrollEye Security deliver tangible and actionable intel that your company can use. The application of the information provided by these tests can help you improve security, reduce risk, and make informed decisions about where to allocate your security budget.

Physical Penetration Testing: Identifying Internal Threats

While it’s tempting to assume that this type of threat is reserved for large companies with multimillion dollar secret formulas, the reality is more main street
and less spy novel. Criminals are increasingly targeting businesses of all sizes with sophisticated attacks that combine physical and cyber elements, including social
engineering attacks. Organizations that don’t take this form of security seriously are unfortunately making it much easier for these high-tech thieves to be successful.

Threats that include your physical business location can come from a variety of different sources. It could be an employee or former employee who is holding a grudge trying to sabotage your network. It could be a vendor or partner who feels slighted and returns with malicious intent. Competitors have also been known to engage in criminal activity to steal proprietary information or damage a company's databases to give themselves a boost in business. No matter the source, the goal is always the same: to gain unauthorized access to your critical systems and data.

By implementing physical penetration testing services into your overall cyber risk management strategy, you can take action ahead of criminals who seek to damage your property, your business, and your reputation. The information you'll get from the services of a skilled physical penetration tester from TrollEye Security can really be obtained no other way. Let us help you find and fix your location's physical vulnerabilities and keep a close watch on your data.

Learn More About Physical Penetration Testing

Use our latest resources, including articles, case studies, and white papers, to learn more about what physical penetration testing is and how it gives your security team the information they need to secure your physical perimeter.

Download Your Guide to Physical Penetration Testing

Learn how you can use physical penetration testing to identify gaps in your physical security, which is one of the most overlooked aspects of many cybersecurity strategies.

Cybersecurity

7 Compelling Benefits of Physical Penetration Testing

January 18, 2024 No Comments

Physical penetration testing is an essential component of any comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. Now is the time to add it to your risk management planning. Contact us today.

Our Reviews: The Inside Scoop

See what our customers have to say about what its like working with us to assess their physical security posture.

The physical penetration test was a standout success. Our employees demonstrated outstanding security awareness, and our physical controls effectively prevented the Red Team from achieving their objective of infiltrating our offices and planting a rogue device on our networks. This validated our investment in physical security measures and security awareness training for employees.

Our Physical Penetration Testing Methods

The most effective physical penetration tests are those that simulate real-world attack scenarios as closely as possible. To do this, our team of experts employ a
variety of tried-and-true methodologies. Here are some they may use when testing the strength of your property’s security.

Analyzing The Perimeter

The first step in a physical penetration test is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the entire perimeter, including all entrances, exits, and external barriers. Our team maps the building's layout to identify potential vulnerabilities that attackers might exploit like poorly secured doors, windows, or gates.

Conducting Surveillance

After mapping the premises, our testers conduct a thorough surveillance of the facility to observe daily operations. This involves watching for patterns of employee movement, behavior, and routine security practices. Through this process, our team will identify any gaps that exist in day-to-day security measures.

Identifying Targets

In a physical penetration test, potential targets go beyond just physical entry points. Our team evaluates entryways, security cameras, network access points, and personnel who may have valuable access and be unknowingly manipulated to grant unauthorized access.

Lock Picking

One of the most common methods of gaining unauthorized access is lock picking. Our testers will attempt to gain access to restricted areas by bypassing both manual locks and electronic systems that rely on keycards and passcodes, assessing how vulnerable your locks are to tampering.

Testing Physical Controls

Our testers simulate intrusion attempts by picking locks, bypassing access controls, and testing security guard responses. We also attempt to disable alarms and cameras to assess their effectiveness in preventing unauthorized access, evaluating the strength of your security measures against threats.

Testing Server Rooms

Our testers focus on accessing server rooms, which house critical systems and sensitive data. We attempt to bypass access controls and security measures to gain entry. Once inside, we evaluate the security of the room’s infrastructure to identify any vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit.

Testing Network Jacks

Network jacks provide attackers with a direct entry point into your organization's network infrastructure. Our testers will attempt to connect to jacks in various locations, including public or less monitored areas, to evaluate if unauthorized access to internal systems is possible.

Intercepting EM Waves

Our team attempts to capture Electromagnetic Waves to access unencrypted communications, revealing sensitive data like proprietary information or login credentials. By demonstrating how easily EM waves can be intercepted and decrypted, we highlight weaknesses in your data transmission systems.

Breaking RFID Encryption

Our testers attempt to break the encryption in RFID tags which are common in inventory tracking and access control systems. Compromised RFID tags can make it hard to track digital and physical assets, leading to theft or loss. This shows how attackers could alter data or steal items undetected.

Dumpster Diving

Dumpster diving may seem low-tech, but it can be a surprisingly effective method. Our testers sift through dumpsters and employee trash cans, looking for discarded materials that could reveal confidential data. This includes hard drives, USB sticks, disposed ID cards, access badges, physical keys, and more.

Tailgating

Tailgating happens when an unauthorized person follows someone with valid credentials into a secure area. Our testers will attempt to tailgate employees, visitors, or delivery personnel to access restricted areas. This helps identify weaknesses in your physical security and access control measures.

Shoulder Surfing

Shoulder surfing involves discreetly watching employees as they enter sensitive information, such as passwords, PINs, or other login credentials. Our testers will position themselves in such a way that they can observe and record critical information being entered into computers or security systems.

Social Engineering

Our testers will employ social engineering, posing as legitimate individuals—like maintenance workers, delivery personnel, and employees who misplaced their badges—to gain entry to secure areas. This assesses your staff’s ability to recognize social engineering attacks.

Infiltrating Offices

Our testers target offices and meeting rooms to access sensitive information. We attempt to bypass access controls and, once inside, we simulate accessing documents, computers, and conducting further reconnaissance, demonstrating how attackers could escalate their access and gather critical data.

These are just some of the methods a physical penetration tester from TrollEye Security will use to assess the security of your physical location. If agreed upon in the Rules of Engagement (more on that below), once our team has gained access to the premises, they will collect evidence to prove their findings. This includes photos, video footage, and any physical items that could be used as proof of the security breach.

After the physical penetration test has been completed, our team will debrief you on their findings and offer detailed recommendations on how to improve your security. This assessment includes actionable ideas for physical security changes and employee training opportunities.

How safe is your facility? Find out with TrollEye’s dedicated ethical physical pen testing experts.

TrollEye Security: Tested to Perfection

Cyberattacks are prevented from harming an organization by TrollEye Security using offensive cybersecurity techniques. Our strategy is simple: find the flaws so they can be fixed before the bad guys can use them. The implementation of that strategy is an exercise in diligence that demonstrates our passion for cybersecurity and our commitment to ethical testing.

The TrollEye Security family of solutions provides comprehensive, all-around security, and we're not satisfied with the temporary security provided by annual penetration testing. Instead, our approach to pen testing is continuous penetration testing. Cyber criminals never sleep. They are always devising new ways to beat your network defenses, infiltrate your web application, and steal your data. With our continuous services, we are constantly attempting to crack through your defenses, and when we find a problem, we notify you immediately in order to stay a step ahead of hackers.

To keep our arsenal updated with the most sophisticated tactics available to hackers, we scan hacker activity every day. In addition to our SnortCP (Snort Certified Professional) and GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) certifications, we also hold the HP ASE (Network Security) and HP Master ASE (Network Infrastructure) certifications and OSCP certifications. Besides our ongoing research and information gathering about cybercrime, we are also pursuing additional industry certifications such as the OSWE certification.

Our innovative and effective process

The TrollEye Security process has been carefully crafted over our two decades of cybersecurity experience, and it continues to be honed as the digital landscape changes. But there are three essential components that don’t change: preparation, execution, and post-execution.

We follow a similar process for all of our services, including our Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) offering which is a continuous and full coverage security solution, that incudes other services such as phishing assessments and attack surface management. Our physical pen testing services pair very well with our PTaaS offering, covering both physical and digital security.

The process that our services follow is innovative and effective, and it has been tested to perfection. We take the time to prepare for each test, and we execute it with precision. We take your trust very seriously, operating with the highest ethical standards as we help you guard against those who have none. Together, we can turn your facility into an impenetrable fortress against a real attack.

Preparation

At TrollEye, we consider preparation critical to the success of your physical pen test. We first take the time to completely understand your organization, the particular risks your industry faces, and establish your testing needs. Each physical pen test is uniquely customized; you won’t find any one size fits all solution. This is followed by establishing the ROE, or Rules of Engagement, which outline the parameters of the test. The timing, extent, and types of tactics that will be used are all covered in the ROE.

Execution

In the execution phase, we go to work getting to know your facility in every possible way, locating potential vulnerabilities, social engineering targets, and creating our plan of attack. Just as a real threat actor would do, we create a strategy covering every possible detail. We then implement the attack and see how far we can get into your facility, testing your security and seeing what works – and what doesn’t.

Post-Execution

In our post-execution assessment, you’ll get a complete debrief of what our tester discovered during the attack. You’ll learn what areas you should lock down on, what additional training needs to happen, and what new security features should be added.

Step Up Your Security Using TrollEye's Physical Penetration Testing

In today's digital world, it's not enough to just have a strong cyber defense. A business also needs to have a strong physical defense. TrollEye Security is a leading provider of physical penetration testing services, serving clients on location almost anywhere in the world. When you hire TrollEye, you're not just getting a physical security assessment. You're also getting the benefit of our intel. We have a wealth of knowledge and experience in both the digital and physical worlds that you can use to your advantage.

When it comes to your security, TrollEye Security means business. Get started today by calling our physical penetration testing team for a free consultation.