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Cloud penetration testing
Testing cloud accounts and services for weaknesses, within the provider's rules.
What it means
Cloud penetration testing is a security test of what you run in a cloud provider: accounts, identity and access settings, storage, networks, containers, serverless functions and the applications on top. The tester looks for weaknesses and tries to use them, with permission.
It differs from testing your own servers in one important way: the provider owns the platform underneath. You test your configuration and your workloads, not the provider's hardware or shared services, and you do so inside the provider's published rules.
Why it matters
Most serious cloud incidents come from configuration, not from the provider being broken. A storage bucket left public, a role that grants far more than needed, a key committed to a repository. These are quick to create and easy to miss, and attackers scan for them continuously.
A test shows how they chain together. A small flaw in a web app can lead to a stolen credential, which can lead to a wide cloud role and then to all your data. Seeing the whole path makes it clear which fix matters most, and it speaks directly to the shared responsibility model.
How it shows up
Look first at identity: overly permissive roles, long-lived keys and the ability to escalate. Then at exposed storage, public endpoints, metadata services and weak network rules. Review what a compromised workload could reach, and where secrets are kept, since a single exposed key often opens the rest.
Before testing, read the provider's policy. Major providers publish what you may test without approval, and what is forbidden, such as denial-of-service attacks. The mistakes repeat: testing outside the permitted list, scoping only one account when the estate has several, and testing once while the setup changes weekly.
Questions people ask
Cloud penetration testing, answered
Do we need the cloud provider's permission to test?
Check the provider's policy. Several major providers allow testing of your own resources for listed services without prior approval, but forbid things like denial-of-service. Rules differ and change, so read the current page.
Who is responsible for cloud security, us or the provider?
Both, with a split. The provider secures the underlying platform. You secure your configuration, identities, data and applications. This is the shared responsibility model, and pentesting covers your side only.
What do cloud pentests usually find?
Overly broad roles, public storage, exposed secrets, open management ports and weak separation between environments. Most are configuration issues instead of software bugs, which is why they are quick to fix once found.
Is cloud pentesting different from a configuration review?
Yes. A review checks settings against good practice. A pentest tries to use the weaknesses and shows what an attacker could actually reach. Both are useful, and they complement each other.
Which parts are in scope for a test?
Whatever you own and agree in writing with your tester: accounts, services, applications and the connections between them. The provider's own infrastructure is never in scope, and neither is anyone else's account.
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Terms that sit next to this one
Cloud misconfiguration
A cloud setting left unsafe, such as open storage or an overly broad permission.
Shared responsibility model
The split between what your cloud provider secures and what you must secure yourself.
Overly permissive IAM
Cloud permissions broader than a job needs, so one leak reaches far.
Network penetration testing
Testing the servers, services and network paths around your applications.
Cloud privilege escalation
Using a small cloud permission to gain a much larger one inside the same account.
Where does a small flaw lead?
A flaw in your web app is often the first step toward your cloud keys. We find vulnerabilities in web apps and their APIs, and prove each one so you know which gives an attacker a start. Book a pilot on one app.
Or start with a $199 pilot on one application: thirty days, success criteria agreed before day one, credited against the annual if you convert.