Amazon AWS
Penetration Testing

Identify insecure AWS configurations / exploitable vulnerabilities and get practical recommendations to fix them.

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Why is AWS Penetration Testing Important?

AWS penetration tests are different from regular assessments, as they have their own set of validations specific to the 90+ services offered by the platform. While some vulnerabilities are managed and mitigated by Amazon, the immense flexibility that is provided to the users in setting up the environment, their assets and their user permissions creates many vulnerabilities that can have a critical impact on your business. These assessments focus on your organization’s configurations of various assets and components within your infrastructure to identify potential misconfigurations and flaws that could lead, for example, to user privilege escalation, allowing attackers to gain administrative access.

Traditional Pentest vs AWS Penetration Test

Traditional security infrastructures and AWS have significant differences and diverge in many ways. From setup, configuration to user permissions, the technology stacks could not be more distinct both in the way they function and in the way the security is managed.

The AWS platform has a great deal of powerful APIs that are leveraged to access and process assets. Deeply integrated into the AWS ecosystem, our AWS certified specialists test for a range of AWS-specific misconfigurations, including the following:

Our AWS Cybersecurity Assessment Services

Whether it’s for infrastructure as a service (IaaS), a platform as a service (PaaS) or software as a service (SaaS), our specialists have contributed to secure AWS infrastructures of all kinds.

Types of AWS Exploits we Attempt

Our experts will attempt various types of attack scenarios commonly used by attackers to exploit your AWS infrastructure, including:

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Our Penetration Testing Process

What are the deliverables of an AWS penetration test?

At the end of the project, you will be provided with a detailed report that includes all the findings and recommended mitigations. The technical report includes the following:

Executive summary presenting the main observations and recommendations.
Vulnerability matrix prioritised by risk level.
Vulnerabilities details including the following:
- Risk Level based on potential impact and exploitability.
- Fixes & Recommendations to fix the identified vulnerabilities.
- References to external resources to facilitate the implementation of our recommendations.
- Technical details such as screenshots, system traces, logs, etc.
Appendix detailing complementary technical information.
Methodology used during the project. (based on recognized standards)

Depending on your context, you will also be provided with an attestation certifying that penetration tests have been performed by experienced professionals using recognized methodologies and standards. This document will allow you to meet compliance and regulatory reporting requirements efficiently and with minimal overhead.

More details regarding these 5 items you should find in a penetration testing report →

Do we need Amazon's permission to pentest our AWS?

As of 2019, Amazon’s authorization is no longer required in order to perform Penetration Tests within the AWS environment.

How do you test AWS infrastructures?

We have created a set of virtual images containing all the tools needed to assess the security of AWS environments. For example, we can easily create a virtual machine or provide an OVA / OVF file that can be downloaded with all of our preloaded tools, which avoids delays.

We then connect to the test virtual machine and evaluate the systems or applications within your AWS hosting.

Our specialists test the security of a variety of AWS-specific configurations, including the following:
• EC2 Instance and Application Exploitation
• Attempts to target and compromise AWS AMI keys
• Test of the S3 compartment configuration and authorization flaws
• Establish Private Cloud Access via Lambda Functions
• Cover tracks by obscuring CloudTrail event logs

What is the price of your AWS pentest services?

Our AWS pentesting services are customized based on the goal or outcome you want to achieve. Therefore, there is no standard price for a Cloud penetration test.

For each project, we will technically determine your requirements and set the time needed to complete the work. We will then provide a detailed proposal containing the necessary budget for the project and the efforts that will be made by our specialists within the project.

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Do you follow a work methodology ?

Our services are based on a complete methodology that we provide with each project proposal. This proposal describes the test steps and all the requirements to perform the test.

Our application penetration test methodology complies with OWASP standards, which is the industry standard for application security.

How often should AWS pentests be conducted?

It is recommended that you perform an AWS penetration test once a year as cyber threats and attack scenarios are constantly evolving. If major changes are made to the infrastructure or if new applications are developed, it is recommended to perform additional tests. This ensures that recent changes do not introduce new vulnerabilities into the environment. Some compliance standards, such as ISO 27001 or PCI DSS, require some test frequency to remain compliant. (For example, the PCI-DSS 11.3.x Requirements requires a penetration test to be performed each year or following each major change to the infrastructure)