Securing a Professional Services Firm: Web Application & External Network Penetration Test
Hackrowd conducted a combined web application and external network penetration test for a leading professional services firm (client name redacted), uncovering and helping remediate high-impact security gaps before they could be exploited.
The Client
The client (name redacted) is an established professional services and advisory firm serving regulated and enterprise clients. Like many firms handling sensitive financial and personal data, they operate internet-facing web applications and infrastructure that present a real and attractive attack surface. To validate their security posture and meet rising regulatory expectations under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023, they engaged Hackrowd for an independent, adversary-simulated assessment.
The Challenge
The objective was straightforward but demanding: simulate a real-world attacker targeting the client's public-facing web application and external network perimeter, and surface any weakness that could lead to unauthorised access, data exposure, or service compromise — before a malicious actor did. The assessment needed to be thorough enough to satisfy executive and compliance stakeholders, while remaining safe to run against production-adjacent systems.
Scope & Approach
In scope
- Public-facing web application(s) and authenticated user workflows
- External network perimeter and internet-exposed services
- Authentication, session management, and access-control logic
Methodology
- Reconnaissance & attack-surface mapping
- Automated scanning followed by manual, senior-led exploitation
- Business-logic and authorization testing
- Findings validated, scored, and reported with remediation guidance
Standards & Methodology
Every Hackrowd engagement is delivered by senior engineers against recognised industry standards — no junior hand-offs.
ISO 27001-aligned delivery · SOC 2-compliant process · 30-day free re-test guarantee · Senior engineers only
What We Found
All findings below are generalised and redacted to protect the client. Specific systems, payloads, and technical detail were shared only in the confidential engagement report.
Findings by severity
Authentication & Session Management weaknesses
Gaps that could let an attacker undermine login or session integrity.
Broken Access Control / Authorization flaws
Conditions allowing access to data or actions beyond a user's intended permissions.
Injection & input-validation issues
Inputs not safely handled, creating injection risk.
Security misconfiguration
Hardening gaps across the application and external services.
Sensitive data & transport-security exposure
Weaknesses in how data was protected in transit or exposed externally.
External attack-surface exposure
Unnecessary or outdated internet-facing services increasing risk.
The Outcome
Hackrowd delivered a dual-audience report — an executive summary for leadership and detailed, reproducible technical findings for engineers — with prioritised, actionable remediation guidance for every issue. The client's team remediated all Critical and High findings, and Hackrowd verified each fix during the included 30-day free re-test. The result: a measurably stronger security posture, validated controls, and clear evidence of due diligence aligned with NDPA 2023 obligations.
- 100% of Critical and High findings remediated and re-test-verified
- Independent assurance for executive and compliance stakeholders
- Demonstrable alignment with NDPA 2023 data-protection requirements
In the Client's Words
"Let me reiterate that we were and still are very satisfied with your services. Your professionalism, accuracy and grasp gave us a lot of encouragement and we will absolutely make referrals as requested."
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