Network Penetration Testing for HR Companies in New York City (NY)

 

HR firms in New York City and across New York State handle some of the most sensitive data in the market: employee records, background checks, salary details, health information, immigration documents, and executive compensation. That makes HR providers a prime target for ransomware groups, data brokers, and insider threats.

Common attacks against HR environments include phishing of recruiters and payroll staff, credential theft from remote workers, malware on shared devices, and attacks against HRIS, ATS, and payroll integrations. The goal is simple: gain access to large volumes of personal data that can be sold, used for fraud, or leveraged for extortion.

The financial impact is significant. In 2021, the median reported cost of a data breach reached $4.24M (source)—and that figure excludes many unreported incidents and longer-term reputational damage, especially painful in a relationship-driven market like New York’s HR and staffing ecosystem.

For HR companies, regular network penetration testing is no longer optional. It is a practical way to confirm whether your firewalls, VPNs, cloud HR systems, and internal controls would actually withstand a focused, real-world attack.

 

What Is Network Penetration Testing for HR?

 

Network penetration testing (net-pen testing) is a controlled, ethical hacking exercise where security professionals simulate an attacker targeting your IT and cloud environments. For HR companies in NYC, this typically includes:

• Corporate networks used by recruiters, HR managers, payroll, and compliance teams

• Cloud-based HR platforms (HRIS, ATS, onboarding portals, benefits portals)

• Remote access solutions for hybrid and fully remote staff

• Vendor connections to payroll providers, benefits administrators, and background check services

The objective is to identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and weak processes before a criminal does. The outcomes help HR leadership, IT, and legal teams to:

• Understand real-world risk to employee and candidate data

• Validate existing security controls, including MFA, VPNs, and segmentation

• Support compliance with regulations and client security requirements

• Justify cybersecurity investment with clear, risk-based evidence

 

Network Penetration Testing Expertise in New York for HR Firms

 

OCD Tech provides network penetration testing services to HR companies and HR-tech providers in New York City and across New York. This includes:

• HR outsourcing firms (PEO, HRO, EOR)

• Recruitment and staffing agencies

• Executive search firms

• Payroll and benefits administrators

• HR SaaS and HRIS/ATS platform providers

Our team combines practical offensive security experience with strong understanding of HR-specific risks: insider threats from disgruntled staff, overly broad access to personnel files, weak vendor security, and insecure integrations between HR platforms and financial systems.

The result is a network penetration test tailored to HR operations: we don’t just list vulnerabilities, we explain how they could be used to compromise candidate pipelines, payroll data, or confidential executive HR files—and we provide clear, prioritized remediation guidance your IT team can act on.

 

Our Network Penetration Testing Methodology

 

OCD Tech uses a structured, repeatable methodology aligned with industry best practices. For HR companies in New York, this typically includes:

• Passive Reconnaissance – Quietly mapping your public-facing HR portals, VPN gateways, and cloud assets without direct interaction.

• Active Reconnaissance – Safely probing systems and services that support HR workflows to identify exposed ports, services, and technologies.

• Social Engineering (where in-scope) – Testing how easily attackers could trick recruiters or HR staff via phishing or pretexting, using realistic but controlled scenarios.

• Exploitation – Attempting to exploit discovered weaknesses to gain initial access, such as abusing weak credentials, misconfigurations, or unpatched systems.

• Post-Exploitation – Assessing what an attacker could do after access: for example, reaching HR databases, file shares with personnel data, or cloud HR platforms.

• Privilege Escalation – Attempting to move from standard user access to admin or domain-level control, especially accounts with access to sensitive HR or payroll systems.

• Lateral Movement – Testing whether an attacker could move from one compromised system to others, such as from a recruiter’s laptop to internal HR applications.

• Maintaining Access – Demonstrating how attackers might persist in your environment if not quickly detected, while staying within defined rules of engagement.

• Covering Tracks – Showing how log tampering or gaps in monitoring could allow malicious activity to go unnoticed.

• Reporting & Executive Briefing – Delivering a clear report and walkthrough that translates technical findings into business and regulatory risk, with practical next steps.

Throughout the engagement, we work closely with your internal IT or managed service provider to ensure testing is controlled, safe, and minimally disruptive to ongoing HR operations in a city that never really stops hiring.

 

National Reach, Local Focus on New York HR

 

While OCD Tech has a national penetration testing footprint—including Boston (MA), Chicago (IL), New York City (NY), Los Angeles (CA), Dallas (TX), Philadelphia (PA), Detroit (MI), and Memphis (TN)—we maintain a strong focus on New York City’s HR and staffing sector, where client requirements, legal exposure, and reputational risk are uniquely high.

We understand the expectations of enterprise clients, private equity owners, and regulated industries that rely on your HR services. Our security assessments are built to stand up to due diligence, vendor risk reviews, and audits.

 

Contact Our New York City Network Penetration Testing Consultants

 

OCD Tech provides network penetration testing and cybersecurity consulting to HR companies and HR technology providers in New York City and across New York State.

If you would like to understand how your HR network, cloud platforms, and integrations would hold up against a focused attacker—and what to fix first—please complete the form below. A member of our team will follow up with you to discuss scope, timeline, and a testing approach tailored to your HR environment.