Comprehensive penetration testing of a distributed IT environment
Industry:
Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Environment scale:
5 locations, distributed IT infrastructure
Starting point
The client, operating in the highly regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, required an independent assessment of the actual security level of its IT infrastructure.
The aim of the project was to assess the resilience of a distributed environment — from network infrastructure and servers to the web applications in use — and to verify whether the existing security measures effectively reduced the risk of unauthorised access, data loss and disruption to business continuity.
Scope of CyberST’s work
As part of a project lasting approximately one month, a three-person CyberST team conducted comprehensive penetration testing of an environment spanning five locations.
The scope of work included, among other things:
- web applications,
- network infrastructure,
- servers and key elements of the IT environment,
- identification and controlled verification of detected vulnerabilities.
Before testing began, we worked with the client to identify critical business areas and define the project priorities.
The tests were carried out in the production environment in accordance with the previously agreed scope and security rules.
Once the testing was completed, we prepared a detailed technical report and an Executive Summary.
The findings were discussed with both the IT team and senior management and were subsequently used to plan remediation activities.
What did we find?
During the testing, we identified 111 vulnerabilities, including:
- 12 critical vulnerabilities,
- 20 high-risk vulnerabilities.
In the event of a real cyberattack, some of the identified vulnerabilities could have enabled, among other things:
- compromise of stored credentials for critical systems,
- unauthorised access to applications and databases,
- remote code execution on servers,
- exploitation of default login credentials in monitoring system components.
Business impact
Based on the test results and CyberST’s recommendations, the client began implementing measures to strengthen the security of the entire environment.
The improvements included:
- structured password management, including privileged accounts,
- network segmentation between locations,
- security updates and patches for servers and workstations.
The project significantly reduced the risk of unauthorised access to systems, data breaches and disruption to production processes.
The client also received a measurable overview of the current security posture and a clearly defined roadmap for further improvements, making it possible to prioritise the remediation of threats with the greatest impact on the organisation.
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