[email protected]
Call us : 1(800) 325-1874
Free Counsultancy
Your Partner in Cyber Defense and IT Compliance

External Penetration Testing

Find exploitable weaknesses on your internet-facing perimeter before adversaries do. A structured, manual assessment of your firewalls, VPNs, email infrastructure, remote-access services, and exposed servers — executed by certified offensive security engineers.

Request a scoping call See pricing

Find what scanners miss

Certified operators manually chain misconfigurations, weak credentials, and outdated services into real, exploitable attack paths.

Proof-of-exploit, not theory

Every finding includes a safe proof-of-concept, CVSS 3.1 score, business impact, and step-by-step remediation guidance.

Auditor-ready deliverables

Reports mapped to PCI DSS, SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and CMMC — accepted by Big Four auditors and cyber insurance underwriters.

Features

Test your perimeter the way a determined attacker would

Every external engagement is executed by OSCP/OSEP-certified operators and aligned to PTES, OSSTMM, and NIST SP 800-115 — not automated scanning rebranded as a penetration test.

Full attack surface discovery

Passive and active reconnaissance across DNS, WHOIS, ASNs, certificate transparency logs, and cloud metadata — surfacing shadow infrastructure your internal team may not know is exposed.

Service-level exploitation

Manual identification and exploitation of vulnerable services — unpatched VPN appliances, misconfigured email servers, exposed RDP/SSH, outdated firewall firmware, and default-credentialed devices.

Zero-disruption safety guardrails

Signed rules of engagement, production-safe exploitation techniques, change-freeze windows, and a 24/7 secure comms channel with immediate escalation for any high-risk finding.

Executive + technical reporting

Board-ready executive summary, engineer-level technical findings with CVSS 3.1 scoring and reproducible remediation steps, plus a compliance mapping appendix for your auditors.

How does it work?

iSECTECH scopes the engagement with your security leadership to confirm targets, rules of engagement, and exclusions. Our OSCP-certified operators then execute reconnaissance, vulnerability identification, manual exploitation, and post-exploitation analysis across your internet-facing perimeter — with daily status updates and immediate escalation of any critical findings.

External penetration testing is recommended annually for compliance-driven organizations, and after any significant perimeter change: new firewall deployment, VPN migration, cloud infrastructure rollout, or merger/acquisition.

Methodology

A structured, repeatable, auditor-accepted process

Aligned to PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard), NIST SP 800-115, and OSSTMM — the frameworks auditors, regulators, and cyber insurance carriers expect.

01

Scoping & ROE

Targets, IP ranges, exclusions, timing, and escalation protocols agreed in writing before any packet leaves our lab.

02

Reconnaissance

OSINT, DNS enumeration, certificate transparency, ASN mapping, and passive infrastructure discovery.

03

Enumeration

Port scanning, service fingerprinting, version identification, and exposed credential discovery.

04

Exploitation

Manual exploitation of confirmed vulnerabilities under production-safe conditions — every action logged and reversible.

05

Reporting & Retest

Executive and technical reports delivered, followed by complimentary retest of remediated findings within 90 days.

Scope

What we test — every exposed asset, every weak link

Comprehensive coverage across your internet-facing network perimeter. Web and API application testing are handled separately under our dedicated Web Application Penetration Testing service.

OSINT · Recon-NG · Shodan · Censys

Attack Surface & Shadow Infrastructure Discovery

Passive and active reconnaissance across DNS records, WHOIS, BGP/ASN data, certificate transparency logs, and cloud metadata. We surface the assets your internal asset inventory missed — forgotten subdomains, decommissioned-but-still-live servers, exposed management interfaces, and third-party integrations introducing unintended risk.

Talk to an expert
NIST SP 800-115 · CIS Benchmarks

Perimeter Services & Remote Access

In-depth testing of firewalls, VPN concentrators, RDP and SSH gateways, SMB/NetBIOS exposure, IPMI/BMC interfaces, and any other remote-management service reachable from the internet. We identify unpatched firmware, weak authentication, default credentials, and legacy protocol exposure — the exact attack vectors ransomware operators target first.

Talk to an expert
RFC 7208 · 6376 · 7489

Email Infrastructure & Spoofing Resistance

Validation of SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT, and DANE configurations. We confirm whether your domain can be spoofed in business email compromise campaigns, whether message confidentiality is enforced in transit, and whether DMARC reporting is actually producing actionable forensic data.

Talk to an expert
CVSS 3.1 · Remediation-first

Clear Reports & Compliance Evidence

Every engagement produces an executive summary for leadership, a detailed technical findings section for engineers, and a compliance mapping appendix covering PCI DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, ISO 27001, CMMC 2.0, and NY DFS Part 500. Reports are regularly accepted by Big Four auditors and major cyber insurance underwriters as evidence of required testing.

Request a sample report
Transparent Pricing

Fixed-scope, fixed-price — no hidden surprises

Pricing scales with the size of your external attack surface. Every tier includes scoping, execution, executive and technical reports, a live readout, and a complimentary retest of remediated findings within 90 days.

Essential

Small Perimeter

For small businesses, startups, or single-location offices renewing annual compliance (SOC 2, HIPAA, cyber insurance).

$5,500 – $9,500
Fixed fee · 1 week engagement
  • Up to 16 external IPs / 1 public domain
  • Perimeter services + remote access testing
  • Email authentication audit (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
  • Executive + technical report
  • Compliance mapping (1 framework)
  • 90-day remediation retest included
Request a quote
Most common
Professional

Mid-Market Perimeter

The standard engagement for mid-market organizations, multi-location businesses, and SaaS providers with distributed infrastructure.

$12,000 – $22,000
Fixed fee · 2 weeks engagement
  • Up to 64 external IPs / 3 public domains
  • Full attack surface & shadow IT discovery
  • Cloud infrastructure exposure review (AWS/Azure/GCP)
  • Compliance mapping (up to 3 frameworks)
  • Live executive readout (60 min)
  • 90-day remediation retest included
  • Auditor Q&A support
Request a quote
Enterprise

Large & Regulated

For regulated enterprises, financial services, healthcare systems, and organizations under DFS-500, CMMC, or FedRAMP obligations.

$25,000 – $45,000+
Fixed fee · 3–4 weeks engagement
  • Unlimited IPs / multiple domains & subsidiaries
  • Multi-region cloud perimeter coverage
  • Dedicated senior engagement lead
  • Full regulatory mapping (PCI, SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO, CMMC, DFS-500)
  • Board-level presentation included
  • Quarterly cadence pricing available
  • Optional continuous attack surface monitoring
Talk to sales
What drives the exact number within each range? Total external IP count, number of distinct domains, geographic distribution (single vs multi-region), cloud provider mix, compliance frameworks required, and reporting language (English, French, Spanish). We provide a firm fixed-price quote within 48 hours of our scoping call — no billable hours, no surprise invoices.
Overview

See how an iSECTECH external penetration test unfolds

A three-minute walkthrough of our methodology — from scoping through remediation retest — narrated by a senior iSECTECH engineer.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about external penetration testing. Need more detail? Talk to a senior engineer.

What's the difference between a vulnerability scan and an external penetration test?
A vulnerability scan is an automated process that identifies known weaknesses against a signature database — it produces a list of potential issues, often with significant false positives and no business context. An external penetration test is a manual, human-led engagement where certified operators attempt to safely exploit weaknesses, chain them together, and demonstrate real impact. Scans tell you what might be wrong. Penetration tests prove what actually is. Auditors, regulators, and cyber insurance carriers consistently require the latter.
What's included in an external pentest — and what's not?
External pentesting covers your internet-facing network perimeter: firewalls, VPN concentrators, RDP and SSH gateways, exposed SMB/NetBIOS, email infrastructure, DNS configuration, remote-management interfaces, and cloud infrastructure exposure. Web and API application testing are handled separately under our Web Application Penetration Testing service, because those engagements require different skill sets, tooling, and substantially more engineering time.
How long does a typical external penetration test take?
Essential engagements (up to 16 IPs) run one week end-to-end. Professional engagements (up to 64 IPs) typically take two weeks. Enterprise engagements (unlimited scope, multi-region) run three to four weeks. These timeframes include scoping, execution, report drafting, internal QA review, delivery, and the live readout session.
Will testing disrupt our production systems or customers?
No. Every engagement runs under written rules of engagement with defined out-of-scope assets, blackout windows, and production-safe testing techniques. We maintain a 24/7 secure communications channel with your team and pause immediately on request. Disruption avoidance is a contractual obligation, not a best-effort promise.
What certifications do your penetration testers hold?
Every engineer on the iSECTECH external testing team holds at minimum OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional). Senior leads additionally hold OSEP, CEH, and CISSP. All operators undergo continuous training on current vulnerabilities, attacker tradecraft, and emerging infrastructure platforms. We can provide redacted engineer CVs as part of your procurement process.
Will this satisfy our auditors or cyber insurance carrier?
Yes. Every report includes a compliance mapping appendix covering PCI DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, ISO 27001, CMMC 2.0, and NY DFS Part 500. Our reports are regularly accepted by Big Four auditors and major cyber insurance underwriters as evidence of required annual testing. If your auditor requests specific language or formatting, we accommodate it at no extra cost.
Why does pricing vary between vendors so much?
The penetration testing market has a wide quality gap. Quotes under $3,000 are almost always automated vulnerability scans marketed as pentests — the deliverable is a machine-generated PDF with hundreds of false positives and no manual exploitation. Genuine manual external penetration tests by certified operators start around $5,000 for small scope and scale with the complexity of your perimeter. iSECTECH publishes fixed-price tiers specifically so you can compare like-for-like against other reputable providers.
What happens after the test is complete?
You receive the executive report for leadership, a detailed technical report for engineering, and attend a live readout session. Every engagement includes a complimentary retest of remediated findings within 90 days so you can confirm fixes and update your compliance documentation with verified-closed status. Auditor Q&A support during your audit cycle is included at Professional and Enterprise tiers.
Resources & insights

Learn more about external penetration testing

Research, buyer guides, and anonymized case studies from the iSECTECH offensive security team.

Buyer Guide

External pentesting pricing in 2026: what you should actually be paying

A market analysis of external pentest pricing, what drives the numbers, and the red flags in vendor quotes that signal a vulnerability scan rebranded as a penetration test.

Read more
Case Study

From Shodan to domain compromise: a regional bank perimeter test

How we chained an exposed VPN management interface, a misconfigured RDP gateway, and a weak service account to reach domain admin in 41 hours — and how the client closed every gap within 90 days.

Read more
Checklist

Scoping an external pentest: a CISO's 15-point checklist

The fifteen questions you should answer before signing a statement of work — and the specific vendor responses that should raise red flags during procurement.

Read more

See your external perimeter the way an attacker would

Three ways to start the conversation — pick whichever fits your stage.

Request a scoping call

A 30-minute confidential conversation with a senior penetration testing engineer. You'll receive a firm fixed-price quote within 48 hours.

Request a sample report

See exactly what you receive — an anonymized executive summary, technical findings section, and compliance mapping appendix.

Explore all services

External pentesting is one pillar of our offensive security practice. Explore red team, internal pentest, and web application testing.

Stay Secure with the Latest Cyber Security News and Trends

Browse All Categories

Threat Landscape

IoT Security

Social Engineering

Zero Trust

Incident Response

Cloud Safety

Live Chat
Our Services

Get A Free Quote

Name

Office

80 BRICK HILL AV 
SOUTH PORTLAND ME,04106

Hours

M-F: 8am – 5pm
S-S: Closed

Call Us

+1(978) 592-3004