Internal Penetration Testing
Assume the perimeter is already breached. We start from an internal foothold and test how far a real attacker could get — lateral movement, privilege escalation, Active Directory attack paths, and access to your sensitive data. Manual testing by OSCP-certified professionals, $985 per tester-day (US) · €849/day (EU), remote or on-site.
What an internal pentest covers
- Lateral movement — pivoting from one compromised host to reach higher-value systems
- Privilege escalation — local and domain, from standard user to administrator
- Active Directory attack paths — Kerberoasting, credential relay, delegation abuse, ACL misconfigurations
- Credential theft and reuse — the single most common route to full compromise
- Network segmentation validation — proving that PCI or sensitive zones are actually isolated
- Access to sensitive data — demonstrating real impact, not just theoretical risk
Pair internal testing with an external penetration test for full-perimeter coverage, or fold both into ongoing penetration testing as a service. New to pentesting? Start with our complete guide.
Internal Penetration Testing FAQ
What is internal penetration testing?
Internal penetration testing simulates an attacker who is already inside your network — a phished employee, a rogue insider, or a breached device. Rather than testing the perimeter, it starts from an internal foothold and attempts lateral movement, privilege escalation, credential theft, and access to sensitive systems and data. It answers the question: once someone is in, how far can they get?
How much does an internal penetration test cost?
Internal penetration tests are priced per tester-day: $985 per tester-day for US clients, €849 per day in the EU. A typical internal test runs 3–8 tester-days depending on network size and Active Directory complexity, so most engagements land between $3,000 and $8,000 — including the report and one free retest. Third-party guides commonly quote $5,000–$35,000 for internal testing; our published rate is on our Pentest Price Index.
What is the difference between internal and external penetration testing?
External testing looks at your internet-facing perimeter the way an outside attacker sees it. Internal testing assumes that perimeter has been breached and tests what an attacker can do from inside — lateral movement, privilege escalation, and reaching sensitive data. Most mature security programs run both; if you can only do one, choose the one that matches your biggest risk (external for exposed services, internal for assume-breach and insider risk).
How is an internal pentest performed remotely?
In most cases we deploy a lightweight testing device or virtual machine on your network that our OSCP-certified tester connects to over a secure channel — no on-site visit required. For environments that require it, on-site testing is available. Either way, the methodology is the same: assume-breach starting position, then attack paths mapped and exploited by hand.
Does internal penetration testing satisfy compliance requirements?
Yes — internal testing is frequently required or expected for SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS (segmentation testing), and NIS2. Every engagement is manual and reported with exploitation evidence, tester identity, and methodology mapping, which is the format auditors accept.