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Offensive Security

Find the weakness
before they do.

Penetration testing is a controlled, simulated cyberattack that exposes weaknesses in your networks, applications, and cloud environments before real attackers can find them. You get a clear, prioritized roadmap of fixes so your team can strengthen defenses and protect sensitive data with confidence.

A real attack,
without the damage.

A penetration test is an authorized, simulated cyberattack on your systems. Our ethical hackers think and act like real adversaries using the same techniques, tools, and patience but with one difference: every finding goes into a report instead of onto the dark web.

That hands-on approach is why security teams trust pen testing over theoretical risk scoring. You see exactly how an attacker would move through your environment, and exactly what to fix.

  • 01Surfaces what scanners miss. Automated tools find known patterns. Our testers find chained logic flaws, broken trust boundaries, and the gaps that only show up under pressure.
  • 02Shows the threats specific to you. Generic risk lists don’t help anyone. You get the exact attack paths that lead to your data, in your environment, with your stack.
  • 03Builds defenses you can prove work. After remediation we re-test the fixes, so your next audit, board update, or customer security review has evidence behind it.
~ /engagement
$ scope --target prod.client.io
→ rules of engagement accepted
$ recon --passive
→ 14 subdomains identified
$ exploit --chain auth_bypass
→ pivot to internal admin panel
$ report --risk-rated
→ delivered to security@client.io
02  Service catalog

Eight engagements,
one philosophy.

Every environment has its own risk profile, so we run different tests for different threats. Each engagement below is scoped, executed, and reported against the asset it’s actually meant to protect never templated.

/01Network

Network Penetration Testing

We simulate external and internal attacks against your network infrastructure to uncover misconfigurations, exposed ports, and insecure protocols across critical services. You leave with a prioritized list of fixes that close the gaps an attacker would exploit first.

/02Application

Application Penetration Testing

We test web apps, APIs, and client-side code for OWASP Top 10 flaws, business logic errors, and authentication weaknesses using a blend of manual and automated techniques. The result is an application your customers can trust and your auditors will sign off on.

/03Wireless

Wireless Penetration Testing

We assess your Wi-Fi networks and connected devices for weak encryption, rogue access points, and unauthorized connections that quietly bypass the perimeter. You get a clear map of every wireless entry point and the steps required to lock each one down.

/04Social Engineering

Social Engineering Testing

We run controlled phishing, pretexting, and impersonation campaigns against your staff to measure how people respond under real attack pressure. You receive evidence-based metrics on human risk and a focused training plan that turns your team into a stronger line of defense.

/05Red Team

Physical Security & Red Team

Our red team blends physical intrusion, social engineering, and digital attack paths to simulate a determined adversary going after your most valuable assets. You learn exactly where badge systems, employee response, and detection controls break down before a real attacker tests them.

/06Cloud / SaaS

Cloud and SaaS Penetration Testing

We review AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud environments for misconfigured permissions, exposed data, and identity weaknesses that attackers regularly exploit. You walk away with a hardened cloud posture and clear guardrails to keep new deployments safe as your business scales.

/07Mobile

Mobile & Client-Side Testing

We test iOS, Android, and desktop applications for insecure local storage, weak API calls, broken session handling, and reverse-engineering risks. You ship apps that protect user data on the device and resist tampering once they leave your build pipeline.

/08Box Methods

Black, White & Gray Box Testing

We adapt the level of access we receive to match the threat you actually face: blind external attacks, full code-level audits, or a hybrid view that combines both. You get findings tuned to your real risk, not a generic checklist from a vendor template.

A repeatable
seven-step engagement.

Our methodology is built on the PTES, OSSTMM, and NIST SP 800-115 standards. The structure is rigorous; the execution is hands-on. You always know what we’re doing this week, what we did last week, and what comes next.

01
Phase

Scoping & Planning

We define the assets in scope, the objectives that matter to your business, the timeline, and the rules of engagement in writing, signed by both sides, before a single packet leaves our lab.

02
Phase

Reconnaissance

We gather external and internal intelligence to map your digital footprint the way an adversary would: exposed services, leaked credentials, employee surfaces, and the likely entry points worth pursuing.

03
Phase

Vulnerability Identification

Through targeted scanning, enumeration, and manual analysis we surface weaknesses across systems and infrastructure separating real exploitable flaws from the noise scanners typically produce.

04
Phase

Exploitation

We safely exploit confirmed vulnerabilities to demonstrate practical impact: what an attacker would actually reach, which data is at risk, and how far the compromise can be taken.

05
Phase

Persistence & Privilege Escalation

We emulate post-breach attacker behavior moving laterally, escalating privileges, and maintaining access to test how well your internal segmentation and detection layers actually hold up.

06
Phase

Post-Exploitation & Cleanup

We measure the full blast radius, then carefully roll back every artifact, account, and configuration change so your systems return to their original state with nothing left behind.

07
Phase

Reporting & Debrief

You receive an executive summary your board can act on, a technical report your engineers can fix from, risk ratings tied to business impact, and a live debrief to walk through every finding.

04  Toolchain

Industry standards,
custom craftsmanship.

We use the same tools attackers do backed by proprietary scripts and deep manual analysis. Automation gives us speed; experience finds the things automation never will.

Nmap
Network mapping and service detection across complex topologies.
Burp Suite Pro
Deep web application vulnerability discovery and exploitation.
Metasploit
Targeted exploitation and post-exploitation simulation.
Wireshark
Packet capture and traffic analysis at the protocol level.
Cobalt Strike
Advanced red-team operations and full adversary emulation.
Custom Scripts
Engagement-specific tooling written for one-of-a-kind environments.

Things we’ve found.
Before anyone else did.

Three short examples of the kind of finding that shows up in our reports and the kind of incident our clients didn’t have to deal with as a result.

/ Financial Services
Misconfigured cloud storage exposing client records.

An over-permissive S3 policy was leaking sensitive client documents to the public internet. We identified the exposure, traced it back to a deployment template error, and helped the team patch every downstream environment within a week.

/ Healthcare Provider
Weak passwords on an outdated VPN appliance.

A legacy VPN concentrator still accepted single-factor logins with reused staff credentials. We demonstrated a working brute-force path into the internal network, prompting an immediate MFA rollout and a full appliance refresh.

/ SaaS Company
Long-lived API tokens with backend access.

Internal API tokens checked into a public repository granted read-write access to production data. We responsibly disclosed the issue, helped rotate every affected credential, and built a secret-scanning pipeline to keep it from happening again.

06  A common confusion

Pen testing isn’t a
vulnerability assessment.

Both have a place in a mature security program, but they answer different questions. A vulnerability assessment tells you what could be wrong. A penetration test proves what actually is.

Penetration TestingVulnerability Assessment
DepthExploits real vulnerabilities and chains them togetherSurfaces known weaknesses from a signature database
AccuracyManually validated almost zero false positivesOften produces noise that requires triage
ContextShows actual business impact and attack pathsReports findings without environmental context
CustomizationScoped to your stack, threats, and crown-jewel assetsGeneric automated scan across a target list
Compliance ValueSatisfies the highest tier of audit and regulatory needsMeets baseline scanning requirements only

What a penetration
tester actually does.

A penetration tester is a specialist trained to think like an attacker without acting like one. The job is to find safely, repeatably, and with proof the things automated tools and routine audits miss.

Our testers come from offensive security backgrounds and hold the industry’s most demanding certifications. Each one specializes in at least one of the disciplines below, and most cross over freely.

  • Network infra
  • Web & mobile apps
  • APIs
  • Wireless
  • Cloud
  • Social engineering
  • Red team

They run both external simulations (modeling an outside attacker starting cold) and internal scenarios (modeling a compromised account or insider threat) so you see your risk from every realistic angle.

Simulate unauthorized access

Chain weak credentials, misconfigurations, and application flaws to demonstrate exactly how a real intrusion would unfold inside your environment.

Bypass security controls

Probe firewalls, EDR, intrusion detection, and MFA for blind spots: outdated rules, stale exceptions, or controls that look correct but aren't enforced.

Deliver tailored reporting

Translate technical findings into language two audiences understand an executive summary for leadership and a remediation guide engineers can act on tomorrow.

08  Why Hoplon

Penetration testing,
without the theatre.

We don’t deliver a thick PDF and disappear. We deliver findings you can act on, a remediation partner who answers when you call, and retesting that proves the fix worked.

Certified, working operators

OSCP, OSWE, CEH, CISSP credentials backed by years of live engagements, not classroom hours.

Sector experience that translates

Finance, healthcare, SaaS, public sector we've seen how these regulators read reports, and we write accordingly.

Scoping built around your risk

Every engagement is sized to your stack and compliance needs, never copy-pasted from a previous client.

Reports two audiences can read

An executive summary for the boardroom, a technical breakdown for the engineering team both in the same deliverable.

Remediation and retest support

We stay on the line while your team patches, then validate the fixes so the next audit has clean evidence.

Plain-English communication

No jargon-wrapped scares, no inflated risk scores. Clear findings, clear priorities, clear next steps.

Questions we get
before every engagement.

Short, honest answers. If you have one that isn’t here, send it to our team and we’ll add it.

What is penetration testing? +

It's a controlled, authorized cyberattack against your own systems, performed by specialists known as ethical hackers. The goal is to find weaknesses the same way a real attacker would but document them in a report instead of exploiting them for harm.

How often should pen tests be done? +

At minimum, once a year. In practice, you also want a fresh test after any significant change a new application, a major infrastructure migration, a merger, or a notable shift in your threat profile. Many regulated industries require this cadence by default.

What are the five stages of penetration testing? +

Most frameworks describe five core stages: planning and reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access, and analysis with reporting. Our engagements expand this to seven phases so that scoping and post-exploitation cleanup get the dedicated attention they deserve.

What's the difference between a pen test and a vulnerability assessment? +

A vulnerability assessment uses automated tools to surface known weaknesses. A penetration test goes further: it exploits those weaknesses to prove what an attacker could actually accomplish in your environment. The first answers "what might be wrong." The second answers "what actually is."

How long does a penetration test usually take? +

Most engagements run between two and six weeks end-to-end. A focused application test can take 1–2 weeks; a multi-vector red team engagement against a large environment may take six or more. We give you a firm timeline as part of scoping.

Can penetration testing be done on production systems? +

Yes and in many cases that's where it matters most. We work with your team to define safe windows, rate-limit aggressive checks, and pause anything that risks availability. For sensitive environments we run parallel testing in staging where appropriate.

Do you help with remediation and re-testing? +

Yes. Our deliverable isn't just a report. We walk your engineers through every finding, advise on remediation strategy, and re-test once fixes are in place so you have documented evidence that each issue has been closed.

Let’s see what an
attacker would see first.

A 30-minute call is enough to scope the right engagement. No sales deck, no checklist questionnaire just a conversation about what you’re protecting and where it hurts most if it breaks.

OfficeOak Brook, IL
Phone+1 (773) 904-3136
Emailinfo@hoploninfosec.com
HoursMon–Fri · 9–6 CT