Conducting Internal Network Penetration Test

Overview

An internal network penetration test simulates an attacker who has already gained access to the internal network or a malicious insider. The tester operates from an "assumed breach" position — typically a standard domain workstation or network jack — and attempts lateral movement, privilege escalation, credential harvesting, and data exfiltration to determine the blast radius of a compromised endpoint.

When to Use

• When conducting security assessments that involve conducting internal network penetration test
• When following incident response procedures for related security events
• When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities
• When validating security controls through hands-on testing

Prerequisites

• Signed Rules of Engagement with internal network scope
• Network access: physical Ethernet drop or VPN connection to internal VLAN
• Standard domain user credentials (assumed breach model) or unauthenticated access