Cloud Penetration Testing
Manual testing of your AWS, Azure and Google Cloud environments by OSCP-certified testers, from one leaked credential to full account compromise.
Cloud breaches rarely involve a vulnerability in the provider. They involve over-privileged roles, secrets in environment variables, public storage, flat virtual networks and pipelines that can deploy anything to production. Configuration scanners list hundreds of such findings without saying which ones lead anywhere. Our cloud penetration tests do: a prioritised attack path per account, mapped to CIS benchmarks and to the compliance framework you report against, delivered by testers who break clouds for a living and explain the fix in your platform team's terms.
What is cloud penetration testing?
Cloud penetration testing is a hands-on assessment of your cloud environment from an attacker's perspective. We start where real incidents start: a credential found in a repository, a role that is too broad, a storage bucket that is readable, a management endpoint that is exposed. From there we chain identity permissions, network paths and service misconfigurations the way an attacker would, until we reach the data, the control plane or the on-premises link. Benchmarks tell you which settings deviate; we tell you which deviations matter, with evidence, and how to close them.
Key Capabilities
IAM and Identity Attack Paths
Over-privileged roles, assumable trust relationships, service principals, managed identities and the chains from one credential to administrator.
Network Exposure and Segmentation
Security groups, NSGs, peering, private endpoints and the management interfaces that should never face the internet.
Storage and Data Services
Bucket and blob permissions, database exposure, snapshot sharing, encryption and key management, backup access.
Kubernetes, Containers and Serverless
Cluster RBAC, pod security, secrets, images and registries; function permissions, triggers and environment variables.
CI/CD and Supply Chain
Pipeline permissions, secrets in build logs, deployment credentials and the route from a repository to production.
Hybrid and On-Premises Links
VPNs, directory synchronisation, hybrid identity and the paths between cloud and datacentre in both directions.
Who needs cloud penetration testing?
SaaS and platform companies running production in AWS, Azure or Google Cloud; organisations mid-migration or operating hybrid; teams preparing ISO 27001, SOC 2, DORA or NIS2 evidence for cloud-hosted critical systems; and anyone whose last cloud assessment was a benchmark report. If a leaked credential could reach your production data, this is the test that shows how.
How a Cloud Penetration Test Works
Scoping and Provider Policy
We agree accounts, subscriptions, services, test positions and the provider testing policies, and put exclusions in writing.
Inventory and Configuration Review
Automated and manual review against CIS benchmarks and provider guidance, to map the attack surface and the candidate misconfigurations.
Identity and Permission Analysis
Every role, policy and trust relationship is analysed for escalation paths and lateral movement between accounts.
Exploitation and Chaining
Candidate findings are exploited and chained from the agreed starting position toward data, control plane and hybrid links.
Workload and Pipeline Testing
Containers, serverless and CI/CD pipelines are tested as part of the same path, not as separate line items.
Report, Debrief and Retest
Attack path narrative, findings mapped to benchmarks and frameworks, a debrief with your platform team, and a retest after fixes.
How We Work
Manual exploitation by OSCP-certified testers with cloud-native tooling for inventory and coverage. We follow the provider testing policies, agree rules of engagement before any call is made, escalate critical findings the same day and reproduce every finding with evidence. Findings are mapped to CIS benchmarks and to the compliance framework you name, and explained in the terms your platform engineers use.
What you receive
Cloud Penetration Testing FAQ
The questions platform and security leaders ask us most often before commissioning a cloud assessment, answered straight.
What is cloud penetration testing?
Cloud penetration testing is a manual security assessment of your AWS, Azure or Google Cloud environment: the identity and access layer (IAM), network exposure, storage and database permissions, workloads (VMs, containers, serverless) and the links to your on-premises environment and CI/CD pipelines. We often start from a single compromised credential or a low-privilege role and show how far an attacker gets with it. Most cloud incidents are not zero-days but misconfigurations and over-broad permissions, and you only find those by trying them.
How is it different from a cloud configuration review or CSPM?
A configuration review or a CSPM tool compares settings against a benchmark (CIS, the provider's own recommendations) and produces a list of deviations. A penetration test validates which deviations are actually exploitable and chains them: a readable S3 bucket holding credentials, a role that can be assumed, a Lambda that logs secrets. We do both in one engagement: the review for coverage, the exploitation for impact and priority.
Are we allowed to have our cloud environment penetration tested?
Yes. AWS, Azure and Google Cloud permit penetration testing of your own resources without prior approval for the common test types, excluding denial-of-service and the provider's shared infrastructure. We follow each provider's policy and put what is in and out of scope in writing before testing starts.
Do you test Kubernetes, containers and serverless?
Yes. Cluster configuration and RBAC, pod security, secrets management, image vulnerabilities, the registry, and for serverless the function permissions, triggers and environment variables. We also include the CI/CD pipeline that deploys to the cloud where it is in scope, because a compromised pipeline is often the shortest route to production.
How long does a cloud penetration test take?
One account or subscription of average size typically needs two to five testing days; multi-account landing zones, Kubernetes platforms and hybrid environments need more. During scoping we put the day count in writing, including the retest.
Does the test align with ISO 27001, SOC 2, DORA and NIS2?
Yes. ISO 27001 A.8.8 and A.5.23 (cloud services), SOC 2 criteria CC6 and CC7, DORA Articles 24 and 25 for systems behind critical functions, and the NIS2 requirement to test the effectiveness of measures are all served by a cloud penetration test with a report that maps each finding to the framework.
How much does a cloud penetration test cost?
Every test is quoted on scope; there is no fixed price list. The drivers are the number of accounts or subscriptions, the services in use, IAM and network complexity, the test position (external, with a credential, with a role) and whether a retest is included. After a scoping call you receive a written proposal within a few working days with the day count and the named lead tester.
Ready to test your cloud environment?
Named, certified testers, a written scope per account and an attack path your platform team can act on.