SOC 2 penetration testing
Technical evidence tied to the system boundary and the controls your auditor is reviewing.
Manual testing. Human-verified findings.
Penetration testing for compliance
Compliance penetration testing is a security assessment scoped and documented to support a specific framework or control program. Balhence tests agreed systems, confirms findings by hand, and provides technical evidence, relevant control mapping, and agreed re-test results for SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 reviews.
Which compliance framework are you preparing for?
PCI DSS penetration testing
Internal, external, and applicable segmentation testing for requirement 11.4.
HIPAA penetration testing
Assessment of technical safeguards around electronic protected health information (ePHI).
Serving a US team? See remote penetration testing for US companies.
ISO 27001 penetration testing and risk assessment
Technical testing can inform your information security risk assessment, treatment plan, and selected controls. Agree the assets and evidence with your ISMS owner and certification body. A pentest does not by itself establish ISO 27001 conformity or replace the wider management system.
What makes pentest evidence useful for an audit?
Start with the documented system boundary and the decision the review needs to support. Record methodology, test dates, access, exclusions, and coverage limits. Findings should explain impact and remediation; the follow-up should record what was checked again. Depending on the boundary, evidence may need to cover web applications, APIs, and SaaS tenant workflows.
Agree the relevant control mapping during scoping. A technical test supports a review; it does not grant certification, attestation, or guaranteed acceptance.
Build one evidence plan for the review
List each framework, the reviewer responsible for it, and the systems the evidence must cover. Record the required test dates, methodology, reporting format, remediation record, and follow-up checks.
Where requirements overlap, a shared assessment may reduce duplicated work. Keep framework-specific differences visible, including segmentation, tester qualifications, data handling, or evidence timing.
Confirm the final scope with the responsible reviewers before testing. Reusing a report is useful only when its scope and timing meet the review's actual needs. Bring the review requirements to a compliance testing scoping discussion.
Compliance pentest deliverables
- An executive summary identifying the agreed framework and version, tested systems, methods, dates, and limitations.
- Human-verified findings with impact, prerequisites, evidence, severity reasoning, and practical fixes.
- A report walkthrough and an agreed route for urgent findings.
- A bounded re-test of agreed fixes when included in the agreement, with each finding recorded as fixed, partially fixed, not fixed, or not re-tested.
- A record of agreed control mappings and coverage gaps for your reviewer to evaluate alongside the wider compliance evidence.
Compliance penetration testing FAQ
Can one pentest support more than one framework?
Often, the technical scope overlaps. Identify each framework and reviewer during scoping so the scope, timing, control mapping, and evidence meet the agreed needs.
Does Balhence certify compliance?
No. We provide technical testing and evidence. Your auditor, qualified security assessor, certification body, or compliance team determines the applicable requirements and outcome.
Plan penetration testing for your compliance review
Tell us about the systems, roles, integrations, and deadline. We will confirm scope, availability, written authorization, and deliverables before testing.