Network Penetration Testing for HR companies in Indianapolis
Network Penetration Testing for HR Companies in Indianapolis
HR organizations in Indianapolis and across Indiana are prime targets for cybercriminals. Payroll records, background checks, Social Security numbers, healthcare details, I‑9 documentation, and other sensitive employee data make local HR firms and staffing agencies especially attractive to attackers.
Common attacks such as phishing emails to recruiters and payroll staff, malware, password guessing, SQL injections against applicant tracking systems, and ransomware against shared HR drives are all designed to steal or lock this information. The financial impact is significant: the median global cost of a data breach in 2021 reached $4.24M—and that only reflects incidents that were publicly reported.
For HR companies operating in Indiana’s highly regulated environment—navigating requirements around privacy, employment law, background screening, and vendor due diligence—it is no longer enough to “hope” security controls are working. Organizations need to regularly review, test, and strengthen their cybersecurity posture to protect candidates, employees, and clients, and to satisfy security expectations in RFPs, SOC reports, and client audits.
Network penetration testing (or “pen testing”) is a controlled, ethical hacking exercise where security specialists simulate real-world attacks against your IT environment. For HR service providers in Indianapolis, this typically includes corporate networks, cloud-based HR systems, applicant tracking platforms, remote-access solutions, and integrations with payroll and benefits vendors. The objective is simple: find weaknesses before a criminal does.
The results give executive leadership and HR management a clear picture of risk: where attackers could get in, which data they could access, and how existing controls—technology, procedures, and training—actually perform under pressure. This enables better risk management, incident response planning, and compliance with both client and regulatory requirements.
Indianapolis Penetration Testing Expertise for HR Organizations
OCD Tech provides network penetration testing and broader cybersecurity consulting services to HR companies, staffing agencies, PEOs, and payroll providers in Indianapolis and across Indiana. We work with organizations that handle:
High-volume recruiting and contingent workforce management
Multi-state payroll and benefits administration
Background screening and sensitive identity verification
Hosted or cloud-based HRIS / HCM platforms
Our team combines strong technical skills with practical experience in IT risk, security assessment, and incident response. In practice, this means our penetration tests do more than produce a long list of vulnerabilities. We deliver prioritized, business-focused recommendations tailored to how HR teams actually operate—high email volume, heavy use of cloud platforms, frequent third‑party access, and remote recruiters accessing systems from everywhere.
The outcome is a test that not only exposes weaknesses but also provides clear guidance on remediation: what to fix, how to fix it, and how to prevent similar issues from reappearing.
Network Penetration Testing Methodology
OCD Tech follows a proven, repeatable methodology that mirrors the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by real attackers while keeping your operations running. For HR businesses in Indianapolis, this approach is adapted to the realities of day‑to‑day recruiting and payroll work, minimizing disruption while thoroughly testing defenses.
Our methodology typically includes:
Passive Reconnaissance – Collecting information about your organization, HR systems, and exposed services without direct interaction, much like an attacker researching your public footprint and HR tech stack.
Active Reconnaissance – Safely probing your network, cloud environments, and external applications (such as HR portals and applicant tracking systems) to identify open doors and misconfigurations.
Social Engineering – Testing HR and recruitment staff with realistic, controlled phishing and pretexting scenarios to measure resilience against common attacks that target people rather than systems.
Exploitation – Attempting to leverage identified weaknesses—such as unpatched systems, weak passwords, or insecure integrations with payroll or background-check providers—to gain unauthorized access.
Post-Exploitation – Assessing what an attacker could do after initial access: viewing candidate resumes, payroll records, or internal HR communications, while carefully protecting your real data during the test.
Privilege Escalation – Evaluating whether an attacker could move from a low-level account (for example, a compromised recruiter login) to more powerful administrative access.
Lateral Movement – Testing how easily an attacker could move between systems—such as from an HR self-service portal into core HRIS, file servers, or VPN infrastructure.
Maintaining Access – Determining whether long-term, stealthy access could be maintained, highlighting gaps in monitoring, logging, or detection capabilities.
Covering Tracks – Simulating how an attacker might attempt to erase evidence, helping you evaluate the effectiveness of existing logging, alerting, and forensic capabilities.
Reporting – Delivering a clear, non-technical executive summary for leadership, along with detailed technical findings for IT and security teams, including prioritized remediation steps aligned with HR operations and compliance needs.
Whether your internal team operates more like a blue team (defense), you occasionally bring in a red team (attack simulation), or you are looking for a more collaborative purple team exercise, our penetration testing approach can be tailored accordingly.
National Reach
While OCD Tech has a strong presence in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana, we also provide network penetration testing and IT security assessments to HR organizations and other businesses across the U.S., including:
This national experience gives us insight into regional and industry-specific threats faced by HR companies—from local staffing agencies in Indiana to multi-state HR service providers—allowing us to benchmark your security posture against peers, not just theory.
Contact Our Indianapolis Pen Testing Consultants
OCD Tech provides network penetration testing, ethical hacking services, and broader cybersecurity consulting to HR firms, staffing companies, payroll providers, and other organizations in Indianapolis and across Indiana.
If you would like to discuss how a focused network penetration test can help protect your HR data, reduce breach risk, and demonstrate strong IT security to your clients and partners, please complete the form below. A member of our Indianapolis penetration testing team will contact you to review your environment, objectives, and timeline.
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