What Cloud Penetration Testing Is Used For and Which Risks It Helps Mitigate
In the cloud, security operates on the principle of shared responsibility:
- The provider is accountable for securing the cloud itself, including the infrastructure, physical facilities, and core services.
- The business is responsible for protecting what runs inside the cloud, including access settings, security policies, network rules, and encryption.
Most cloud incidents occur not because of a “hole” in AWS or Azure, but due to human factors and processes: configuration errors, excessive access privileges, forgotten keys.
Therefore, cloud penetration testing services are not a “provider check.” They are a review of your decisions, your configurations, and your access scenarios: whether it is possible from outside or inside to exploit misconfigurations, gain access to data, or take control of part of the environment.
Myths about cloud security that create a false sense of protection
Myth 1. Compliance with standards and regulations is enough
Compliance more often answers the question “are there processes and controls?” rather than “can it be breached right now?”. It is possible to meet standards and still have critical vulnerabilities.
Myth 2. If there have been no incidents, everything is fine
The absence of incidents often means only one thing: they were not detected. In the cloud, attacks can be quiet – from unnoticed access to data to gradual privilege escalation.
Myth 3. The cloud is harder to compromise than on-prem
Sometimes, yes. But the cloud gives an attacker something else: scale and speed. A single access misconfiguration or a leaked token can open the way to dozens of services at once.
How cloud penetration testing works and why it differs from the classic model
Cloud penetration testing is a controlled simulation of attacks on your cloud environment to determine whether real weaknesses in configurations, access controls, and integrations can be exploited to gain unauthorized access, cause data leaks, or take over resources.
Unlike “classic” on-prem penetration testing, where the focus is often on the perimeter and the network, in the cloud, the primary focus is on identities, permissions, and configurations.
Key testing targets in the cloud:
- IAM and access control,
- Network configurations,
- Data storage,
- APIs and integrations,
- CI/CD, Kubernetes.
Why basic security checks fall short of real penetration testing
Automated checks are good at catching common mistakes, but they often miss the most important thing: attack chains. A penetration tester evaluates how small, seemingly “non-critical” findings combine into a real attack scenario. In other words, a scanner says: “There are risky configurations,” while a penetration test explains: “This is exactly how you will be breached through them, and what needs to be changed to prevent it.”
When cloud penetration testing is critically necessary
- Migration to the cloud or infrastructure scaling. During this phase, temporary solutions, “bridging” access, and new network connections often appear.
- Launching new products, APIs, or microservices. Each new service introduces new roles, secrets, integrations, and traffic routes.
- Managing sensitive information or operating within regulated industries, including finance, healthcare, e-commerce that processes payment data, and B2B environments with strict compliance requirements.
- Incidents or suspected compromise. If an incident has occurred, penetration testing helps verify whether the attack path still exists, which vectors remain open, and what needs to be fixed.
- Regular testing is a sign of a mature security strategy. The cloud is constantly changing, so regular assessments are required to keep risks under control.
Real risks that cloud penetration testing helps identify
- Misconfigured access controls. Roles/accounts with excessive privileges, insecure trust relationships, lack of the least privilege principle.
- Data leakage through exposed storage or APIs. Public buckets/containers, incorrect ACLs, APIs without proper authorization, or with token leaks.
- Lateral movement within the cloud. Even if an attacker gains minimal access, it is critical to assess whether they can move further.
- Credential compromise and privilege escalation. Leaked keys and tokens, weak multi-factor authentication, excessive access rights.
- Errors in segmentation and environment isolation. Poor network isolation, overly broad connections between segments, shared accounts/projects.
Who should you rely on for cloud penetration testing?
Even a strong in-house team cannot always effectively cover cloud penetration testing because of:
- Limited experience across different cloud scenarios.
- A narrow focus on their own infrastructure.
- Lack of an “attacker mindset.”
External experts often provide what is missing internally: an independent perspective and practical breach scenarios. An outsourced team is valuable when real-world attack experience and broad cloud expertise are required. As an example, Datami has been operating in the cybersecurity field for over 8 years and has conducted 400+ penetration tests for companies across a wide range of industries. You can find more details on Datami’s official site.
Conclusion
Cloud security begins with an honest assessment of your own assumptions. Not “we think we are secure,” but “we tested how we could be breached, and closed those paths.” If you need a penetration test that reflects real attack scenarios rather than a formal checkbox, it makes sense to involve a team with proven international experience and hands-on practice across diverse cloud architectures.
