Penetration Testing
A vulnerability scan tells you what’s theoretically exposed. A penetration test tells you what actually happens when a skilled attacker tries: which door opens, how far they get, and what they could take. It’s the difference between a smoke detector and a fire drill.
Pinnacle IT delivers penetration testing through our partnership with LMG Security, a nationally recognized cybersecurity firm whose testers assess organizations far larger than yours. Then our team handles what most pen-test vendors leave on your desk: the remediation.
Why we deliberately don’t test our own work
If the company that built your defenses also grades them, you don’t have a test — you have a homework check. Independence is the point. LMG’s testers approach your environment cold, the way a real attacker would, with no incentive to soften findings about anything we manage. When the report lands, you get an unvarnished picture and we get our own marching orders. We think that says something about how we like to be held accountable.
What gets tested
- External penetration testing — your internet-facing footprint: firewalls, VPNs, exposed applications, cloud services. What an attacker anywhere on earth can reach.
- Internal penetration testing — the "assume breach" scenario: what an attacker (or malicious insider) can do from a foothold inside your network. This is where flat networks and excess permissions get exposed.
- Social engineering — phishing, pretexting, and the human pathways that bypass technology entirely.
Scope is tailored to your environment, compliance requirements, and budget. A focused external test and a full red-team engagement are very different purchases, and we’ll tell you which one you actually need.
The part that matters: what happens after the report
Most pen-test reports die in a drawer, because the vendor who wrote them doesn’t fix things and the internal team doesn’t have the hours. Ours don’t. Pinnacle IT takes the findings, prioritizes them by real risk, and remediates — patching, segmentation, permission cleanup, control deployment — with the fixes verified. Then the next test starts from higher ground.
When organizations need a pen test
- A compliance framework or auditor requires one (PCI DSS, CMMC preparation, state audit findings)
- A cyber insurance application or major customer questionnaire asks for your last test date
- After significant infrastructure change — migration, merger, new public-facing application
- Leadership wants ground truth instead of assurances
Get ground truth. Scope a penetration test — we’ll help you define what to test, coordinate the engagement with LMG Security, and be standing by to fix what they find.
Penetration Testing FAQs
What’s the difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test?
A scan is automated and lists potential weaknesses; a penetration test puts skilled humans behind those weaknesses to see what’s actually exploitable and how far it goes. Scans are routine hygiene (we run them continuously for managed clients); pen tests are periodic ground truth. Auditors and insurers increasingly know the difference and ask for the second one.
How often should we get a penetration test?
Annually is the common baseline, plus after major changes to your environment. Some frameworks and customer contracts specify frequency; PCI DSS, for example, expects testing at least annually and after significant changes.
Will testing disrupt our operations?
Engagements are scoped with rules of engagement — what’s in bounds, what’s off-limits, and when testing runs. Production-sensitive systems get handled carefully, and destructive techniques are excluded. Most clients’ staff never notice the test happening. (Whether that fact is comforting is its own finding.)
Who is LMG Security?
LMG Security is a nationally recognized cybersecurity firm specializing in penetration testing, threat research, and incident response — the caliber of testing team usually reserved for enterprises. Our partnership brings that expertise to Arkansas organizations at mid-market scale, with Pinnacle IT as your local hands for everything the findings require.