Network Penetration Testing for Financial Services companies in St. Louis (MO)
Network Penetration Testing for Financial Services in St. Louis (MO)
Financial institutions in St. Louis and across Missouri are high-value targets for cybercriminals looking to steal cardholder data, online banking credentials, trading information, and other confidential records. Attacks such as ransomware, phishing, business email compromise, password spraying, SQL injection, and targeted malware are routinely used to gain access to this data and disrupt operations.
The financial impact of a breach is severe. In 2021, the median global cost of a data breach reached $4.24M, and this figure only reflects incidents that were publicly reported. When you factor in regulatory fines, legal fees, customer loss, and reputational damage, the real cost to a bank, credit union, wealth manager, insurance carrier, or fintech provider in Missouri is often much higher.
To stay ahead of evolving threats, regular, independent network penetration testing is no longer optional—it is an expected component of a mature IT security program, especially for organizations subject to GLBA, PCI DSS, SOX, NYDFS-inspired policies, FFIEC guidance, and internal audit requirements.
What Is Network Penetration Testing for Financial Services?
Network penetration testing (net-pen testing) is a controlled, ethical hacking exercise where security professionals simulate real-world attacks against your internal and external networks, firewalls, VPNs, cloud environments, and critical financial systems. The goal is simple: identify and safely exploit vulnerabilities before a criminal does.
For financial services companies in St. Louis, this often includes testing:
Online banking portals and APIs used by retail and commercial customers
Core banking, loan servicing, and payment processing systems
Trading platforms, treasury systems, and portfolio management tools
Branch networks, remote access, and VPN configurations
Employee laptops, workstations, and internal applications exposed to insider threats
The results of a well-executed penetration test give leadership a clear view of:
Which vulnerabilities are most likely to be used to compromise customer data and transaction integrity
How well existing network defenses, monitoring, and incident response actually perform
Where improvements are required to support regulatory compliance and board-level risk appetite
Missouri Network Penetration Testing Experience
OCD Tech provides specialized network penetration testing services for financial services organizations in St. Louis and across Missouri. Our team combines deep technical expertise with practical experience in IT risk advisory, regulatory-driven security assessments, and financial-sector cyber consulting.
We routinely work with:
Regional and community banks and credit unions
Investment and wealth management firms
Insurance carriers, brokers, and MGAs
Fintech and payment processors operating in or serving the St. Louis market
Our approach goes beyond simply running tools and handing over a vulnerability list. We deliver a clear, prioritized remediation roadmap with specific, practical recommendations aligned to your business priorities, risk profile, and audit expectations. The result is a penetration test that not only exposes weaknesses but also shows you exactly how to close the gaps.
Network Penetration Testing Methodology
OCD Tech follows a structured, repeatable methodology designed to reflect how real attackers operate while maintaining strict control and safety. A typical engagement includes:
Passive reconnaissance – Quietly gathering information about your public footprint, exposed services, and technology stack used by your financial systems.
Active reconnaissance – Safely scanning and probing your network to identify live systems, open ports, misconfigurations, and vulnerable services.
Social engineering (where in scope) – Testing how employees respond to realistic phishing or pretext-based attempts to gain initial access or sensitive information.
Exploitation – Attempting to exploit identified weaknesses to gain unauthorized access to systems, without disrupting critical banking or payment operations.
Post-exploitation – Assessing how far an attacker could move once inside: data exposure, system access, and potential impact on financial services.
Privilege escalation – Attempting to obtain higher-level access (e.g., domain admin, core banking admin) from lower-privilege accounts.
Lateral movement – Testing how easily an attacker could pivot between internal systems, branches, and environments (e.g., from corporate network to core banking).
Maintaining access – Demonstrating how backdoors or persistent access could be established if not detected by your monitoring and blue team.
Covering tracks – Showing where logs, alerts, and controls may fail to detect or record malicious activity.
Reporting and executive briefing – Delivering a detailed technical report plus an executive-level summary focused on risk, business impact, and compliance, along with prioritized remediation steps.
Throughout the engagement, we coordinate closely with your IT, security, and risk management teams to ensure testing is controlled, documented, and aligned with your operational and regulatory constraints.
National Reach
While we maintain a strong presence in St. Louis and Missouri, OCD Tech provides network penetration testing and security assessment services to financial services organizations across the U.S., including:
This broad footprint allows us to support multi-state financial institutions, holding companies, and fintechs that require consistent testing standards across multiple locations.
Contact Our St. Louis Network Penetration Testing Consultants
OCD Tech provides network penetration testing, ethical hacking, and cybersecurity consulting to financial services organizations in St. Louis and across Missouri. If you would like to discuss how a focused penetration test can strengthen your IT security, regulatory compliance, and incident readiness, please complete the form below. A member of our team will contact you to review your environment, objectives, and timeline.
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