Expanding Attack Surface
Internet-facing systems, cloud services and remote-access infrastructure create new potential paths into the organization.
Infrastructure Penetration Testing
Find Exploitable Risk Across Your Critical Infrastructure
Synack tests external and internal infrastructure across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Expert security researchers identify and validate exploitable vulnerabilities, with AI pentesting extending speed and coverage on supported targets. Testing, findings, remediation and verification are managed through the Synack Platform.
Infrastructure risk, in one view
- 1Infrastructure assets in scope
- 2Validated vulnerabilities with evidence
- 3Severity and business impact
- 4Testing status and coverage
- 5Remediation and patch verification
One View of Infrastructure Risk
Continuous Pentesting at Scale
Test critical infrastructure as environments evolve. Track testing coverage, validated findings, remediation and verification through one platform.
Infrastructure Security Challenges
Your Infrastructure Changes Faster Than Traditional Testing Can Keep Up
Cloud adoption, remote access, new services and expanding external exposure continuously reshape the attack surface. Periodic assessments can leave exploitable gaps undiscovered between testing cycles.
Misconfigurations and Exposed Services
Configuration errors, unnecessary services and insecure protocols can expose critical systems and sensitive data.
Identity and Privilege Risk
Weak authentication, excessive permissions and privilege escalation paths can allow attackers to move deeper into the environment.
Segmentation and Lateral Movement
Poorly enforced network boundaries can turn one compromised system into a route to critical assets.
Scope and Coverage
Protect the Infrastructure Your Business Depends On
Your business runs on systems that reach far beyond the data center. Synack tests the environments around your operations, from internet-facing services to internal networks, cloud and the identity controls that hold it all together.
External InfrastructureInternet-facing systems, services and network devices
Internal NetworksInternal systems, segmentation and access paths
Cloud EnvironmentsCloud-hosted infrastructure and exposed services
Identity and AccessAuthentication, privileges and remote access
Human-led penetration testing across the infrastructure that keeps your business operating
Testing Aligned to Your Environment
Choose the Right Assessment for Each Environment
Infrastructure is scoped as distinct assessments. Each one is set up around a specific environment and its access requirements, so testing reflects how an attacker would actually reach those systems.
Host Assessment
Test internet-facing servers and infrastructure IPs for exploitable vulnerabilities, exposed services, insecure configurations and potential entry points. Internet-facing VPN gateways and remote-access services are assessed as part of this scope.
Internal Network Assessment
Evaluate internal systems, access controls, segmentation and lateral movement paths from an authorized position inside the network. Internal testing runs over a VPN and is scoped separately from external testing.
Cloud Security Test
Test cloud-hosted infrastructure within authorized environments, focusing on internet-reachable services and the access paths into them.
AI + Human Penetration Testing
AI Speed and Human Expertise for Infrastructure Testing
Infrastructure environments require different testing approaches depending on the target, risk and desired testing frequency. Synack combines AI penetration testing with expert human testing through one platform, helping organizations expand coverage while validating the risks that matter.
AI Penetration Testing
Test supported infrastructure targets at machine speed, expanding how much of the environment gets covered and surfacing potential vulnerabilities earlier.
Human Penetration Testing
Expert researchers investigate complex attack paths, privilege escalation, segmentation weaknesses and chained vulnerabilities that require human judgment.
One Synack Platform
Bring AI and human testing together with centralized visibility, coverage analytics, validated findings, remediation workflows and patch verification.
AI Finds More. Humans Prove What Matters.
The Synack Platform brings both together for continuous pentesting at scale.
Infrastructure Testing Compared with Vulnerability Scanning
Move Beyond Detection to Proven Exploitability
Scanning and penetration testing answer different questions. Scanning tells you what might be wrong across a lot of systems. Testing tells you what an attacker could actually do with it.
Vulnerability Scanning
Breadth and frequency
- Identifies potential weaknesses
- Produces alerts based on known signatures
- Reviews vulnerabilities individually
- Often creates large volumes of findings
- Provides a point-in-time inventory
Infrastructure Penetration Testing
Proof and priority
- Validates whether vulnerabilities are exploitable
- Investigates real-world attack paths
- Connects weaknesses into potential attack chains
- Prioritizes validated risk
- Supports remediation and verification
Benefits of Infrastructure Penetration Testing with Synack
Validated Infrastructure Risk Your Teams Can Act On
Every finding you receive has been validated before it reaches your queue, with the evidence your teams need to act on it and the context your leadership needs to prioritize it.
Broad Infrastructure Coverage
Test external, internal, cloud and hybrid infrastructure through a coordinated engagement rather than separate assessments that never line up.
Expert Human Testing
Activate security researchers with infrastructure, network and cloud testing expertise, matched to the environment in scope.
Validated Exploitability
Receive findings supported by evidence, reproduction steps and clear remediation guidance, not alerts that still need triage.
Continuous Visibility and Verification
Track findings in real time, manage remediation and verify fixes through the Synack Platform as the environment keeps changing.
How Infrastructure Penetration Testing Works
Infrastructure Testing Through the Synack Platform
Four steps, from authorized scope to verified fix.
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Define the Environment
Establish authorized targets, testing boundaries, access requirements, exclusions and business priorities, so researchers work against the systems that matter under rules everyone has agreed.
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Launch AI and Human Testing
Apply the right testing approach to each authorized target. AI testing expands speed and coverage across supported infrastructure, while expert researchers investigate complex risks and attack paths.
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Validate Exploitable Risk
Investigate vulnerabilities, configurations, access controls and attack paths to determine real-world exploitability, with reproduction steps and evidence documented for each finding.
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Remediate and Verify
Deliver validated findings through the Synack Platform, integrate them into existing workflows and verify completed fixes through patch verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Infrastructure Penetration Testing Questions
What is infrastructure penetration testing?
Infrastructure penetration testing is authorized security testing of the systems, networks and services an organization runs, rather than the applications on top of them. Testers examine external and internal infrastructure, cloud environments, network devices and remote-access services, looking for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and access paths an attacker could use. The result is a set of validated, exploitable findings supported by evidence, not a list of potential issues.
What types of infrastructure can Synack test?
Coverage is agreed at scoping and can include:
- Internet-facing systems and services
- Internal networks and segmentation
- Cloud-hosted infrastructure and exposed services
- Network devices, VPNs and gateways
- Identity and access controls across these environments
Does Synack test both internal and external infrastructure?
Yes, and they are scoped as separate assessments. External testing assesses internet-facing systems for exposed services, insecure configurations and potential entry points. Internal testing evaluates systems, access controls, segmentation and lateral movement paths from an authorized position inside the network, and runs over a VPN. Because of that access difference, internal and external cannot be combined into a single assessment.
Can Synack test cloud infrastructure?
Yes. Cloud-hosted infrastructure can be tested within authorized environments, including internet-reachable services, access controls and the paths between cloud and on-premises systems. Testing follows the authorization requirements of the cloud provider and the agreed engagement scope. Organizations focused specifically on cloud can also look at cloud penetration testing.
How is infrastructure penetration testing different from vulnerability scanning?
Scanning identifies potential weaknesses against known signatures and produces a point-in-time inventory. Penetration testing investigates whether those weaknesses are actually exploitable, connects individual issues into realistic attack chains, and prioritizes what a researcher could genuinely use. Both have a place: scanning gives breadth and frequency, testing gives proof and priority.
Does Synack provide retesting after remediation?
Yes. Patch verification can be requested through the Synack Platform once a fix is in place, and the result is recorded against the original finding. That gives your team and your auditors a clear record that the issue is closed rather than assumed closed.
Can infrastructure testing be performed continuously?
Yes. Testing can be scheduled across the year rather than run once, so coverage keeps pace with an environment that changes. Findings, remediation and verification are tracked in one place, which turns a point-in-time assessment into continuous pentesting at scale.
Related Resources
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Find and Validate Risk Across Your Critical Infrastructure
See how Synack combines expert human testing, AI penetration testing and centralized platform visibility to help protect the infrastructure your business depends on.