Penetration Testing in the USA

Security Testing for US Compliance Frameworks

The American compliance landscape is fragmented in ways that make life interesting for security professionals. You've got federal regulations like HIPAA, industry-specific requirements like PCI DSS, state-level laws like CCPA, and then the whole world of SOC 2 and ISO certifications that sit somewhere in between mandatory and strongly-recommended.

What this means practically: penetration testing in the US isn't one-size-fits-all. A healthcare provider in Texas has different requirements from a SaaS company in California, and both differ from a bank in New York. Getting it right means understanding not just the technical side of testing, but the regulatory context that drives it.

Compliance Isn't the Endgame

Here's something worth saying up front: compliance and security aren't the same thing. You can tick every box and still get breached. We've seen it happen. But that doesn't mean compliance is useless — it provides a baseline, a common language for discussing security, and (when things go wrong) proof that you tried to do the right thing.

The trick is treating penetration testing as both a compliance requirement and a genuine security improvement exercise. Done properly, it should satisfy your auditors while also making your systems harder to compromise. That's the balance we aim for.

What We Test

The scope depends on your business, but here's what penetration testing looks like for most American companies:

The SOC 2 Reality

If you're a B2B SaaS company in the US, you've probably been asked for SOC 2 certification by a potential customer. It's become table stakes for selling to enterprises. And penetration testing is a core part of SOC 2 Type II — not technically mandatory, but good luck finding an auditor who doesn't expect it.

The challenge with SOC 2 is that it's principle-based rather than prescriptive. There's no checklist of exactly what needs testing. That flexibility is good (you can tailor testing to your actual risks) but also means you need to work with your auditor to define appropriate scope. We've done this dozens of times and can help navigate that process.

Working Across Time Zones

We're UK-based, which creates some logistics around time zones. For US clients, this typically means testing happens during your night or early morning hours — often ideal for production testing since it minimizes business disruption. Communication happens via your daytime (our afternoon/evening), and we're flexible about scheduling calls at times that work for you.

The advantage of working with a UK firm? We bring an outside perspective that's valuable for security testing. American companies sometimes develop blind spots about their own security practices. We've tested enough US firms to understand the common patterns while bringing fresh eyes to each engagement.

What Makes Testing Effective

Good penetration testing isn't about finding the most vulnerabilities. It's about finding the ones that actually matter. We focus on issues that pose genuine business risk: can we access customer data? Can we disrupt critical services? Can we escalate privileges to gain administrative access?

Our methodology is straightforward: understand your environment, identify attack paths, attempt exploitation, and document findings with clear remediation guidance. You get a report that works for both technical teams (who need to fix things) and management (who need to understand business impact and resource requirements).

After testing, you get 90 days of remediation support. That means direct access to the testers who did the work. Questions about findings? We'll explain them. Unsure about recommended fixes? We'll walk you through options. Need verification that fixes work? We'll retest. No additional fees, just support until issues are properly resolved.

Cyber Insurance Requirements

Insurance carriers have gotten serious about security requirements. Most cyber policies now mandate annual penetration testing, and some require it more frequently for higher-risk industries. When claims happen, insurers look closely at whether testing was done properly and whether findings were remediated.

We deliver testing that satisfies insurance requirements while providing genuine value. That means comprehensive scope, proper methodology, and clear documentation that demonstrates due diligence. If your insurer has specific testing requirements, we can work to those specifications.