Network Penetration Testing for HR companies in Columbia
Network Penetration Testing for HR Companies in Columbia, SC
HR organizations in Columbia and across South Carolina handle some of the most sensitive data a business can hold: resumes, background checks, payroll details, Social Security numbers, health benefits information, and internal employee records. This makes HR networks a prime target for cybercriminals and insider threats looking to steal or extort employee data.
Common attacks against HR environments include malware, phishing of recruiters and HR staff, password attacks, SQL injection on applicant tracking systems, and ransomware aimed at freezing payroll or onboarding activities. All of these attacks focus on one thing: gaining access to valuable, sensitive employee information.
The financial and reputational damage from a data breach is significant. According to 2021 data, the median cost of a single breach reached $4.24M (source)—and that figure only covers reported, voluntarily disclosed incidents. In reality, the impact can be much higher when you factor in legal costs, regulatory fines, and loss of trust from employees and clients.
For HR companies in South Carolina, especially those serving multiple states or handling high volumes of applicants, it is critical to regularly review, test, and upgrade cybersecurity controls. Network penetration testing provides a clear, practical way to validate whether your current defenses can withstand a real-world attack before an attacker proves they cannot.
What Is Network Penetration Testing for HR Environments?
Network penetration testing (often called net-pen testing or ethical hacking) is a controlled, simulated cyberattack against your HR company’s IT infrastructure. The goal is simple: find vulnerabilities before criminals do, then provide a roadmap to fix them.
For HR companies in Columbia and across South Carolina, this typically covers:
HR systems and applications such as HRIS, HCM, ATS, background check platforms, and payroll systems
Remote access used by recruiters, HR business partners, and fully remote staff
Cloud-based HR platforms and integrated third-party services
Internal networks and Wi‑Fi used in offices, branches, and shared workspaces
The outcome of a penetration test is not just a list of issues. It gives leadership the ability to:
Understand real business risk to employee and candidate data
Validate existing IT security controls and investments
Support regulatory and contractual compliance (for example, with client security questionnaires, SOC reports, and data protection requirements)
Prioritize remediation based on which weaknesses are most likely to be exploited
Network Penetration Testing Experience in Columbia and South Carolina
OCD Tech provides network penetration testing and IT security assessments to HR companies and people-focused organizations in Columbia and throughout South Carolina. Our team combines deep technical expertise with practical experience in environments that manage large volumes of personally identifiable information (PII) and confidential employee data.
We understand the specific challenges HR firms face, including:
High exposure to phishing because HR staff constantly open resumes, links, and attachments from unknown senders
Integration risks between HRIS, payroll, benefits, background screening, and time-tracking systems
Access control issues when recruiters, external partners, and temporary staff require short-term access to systems
Confidential investigations and legal holds that demand strong data protection and logging
Our penetration tests are designed to be realistic, controlled, and business-aware. We focus on identifying weaknesses that matter to your operations—how an attacker could pivot from a simple phishing email to full access to HR databases, payroll systems, or executive email accounts—and then provide clear, prioritized recommendations to close those gaps.
Our Network Penetration Testing Methodology
OCD Tech uses a structured, repeatable methodology aligned with industry best practices. For HR companies in South Carolina, this approach is tailored to simulate realistic attacker behavior against HR-specific systems and workflows.
The typical engagement includes:
Passive Reconnaissance – Quietly collecting publicly available information about your HR company, employees, and technology stack (for example, exposed subdomains, HR portals, and employee profiles) without interacting directly with your systems.
Active Reconnaissance – Safely scanning your external and internal networks to identify live systems, services, open ports, and potential weak points in HR and corporate infrastructure.
Social Engineering – With your approval, testing how susceptible HR staff and recruiters are to phishing, pretexting, and credential harvesting, since they are frequent targets in real incidents.
Exploitation – Attempting to exploit identified vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access, such as compromising an HR web portal, file share, or remote access service.
Post-Exploitation – Determining what an attacker could realistically do next: access HR databases, download employee records, or pivot deeper into the corporate network.
Privilege Escalation – Attempting to move from a low-level user to higher-privileged HR or domain administrator accounts to understand worst-case impact.
Lateral Movement – Testing how easily an attacker could move from one compromised system to others, such as from an HR workstation to file servers, domain controllers, or finance systems.
Maintain Access – Demonstrating (in a controlled way) how an attacker could maintain persistent access, while carefully avoiding disruption to your operations.
Covering Tracks – Assessing whether your logging, monitoring, and alerting would detect or miss these activities, simulating a real attacker trying to remain unnoticed.
Reporting – Delivering a clear, non-technical executive summary for leadership and a detailed technical report for IT and security teams. This includes risk ratings, evidence, and practical remediation steps prioritized for HR-critical systems.
This methodology supports Red Team-style simulations (offensive testing of your defenses), can be paired with Blue Team (defensive operations) and Purple Team (collaborative exercises), and can be extended with configuration reviews of HR applications, VPNs, and identity platforms.
National Reach
Although we maintain a strong presence in Columbia and throughout South Carolina, OCD Tech also provides network penetration testing and cybersecurity consulting to organizations across the U.S., including:
Many HR companies operate across multiple states; our experience working with distributed teams and complex regulatory environments helps ensure consistent security standards across all locations.
Contact Our Columbia Network Penetration Testing Consultants
OCD Tech provides network penetration testing, ethical hacking, and cybersecurity consulting for HR companies and people-focused organizations in Columbia and across South Carolina. If you would like to understand how resilient your HR environment is against modern cyberattacks—and how to close the most critical gaps—please complete the form below. A member of our team will contact you to discuss an assessment tailored to your HR operations, risk profile, and regulatory requirements.
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