Network Penetration Testing for HR Companies in St. Louis, Missouri

 

HR firms in St. Louis and across Missouri are prime targets for cybercriminals. You manage what attackers want most: personally identifiable information (PII), payroll data, background checks, medical details, and Social Security numbers for both candidates and employees. A successful breach can expose thousands of records in a single hit, damage your reputation with employers and candidates, and trigger regulatory and legal consequences.

Common threats include phishing emails to recruiters, ransomware on applicant tracking systems (ATS), password attacks against remote access tools, and exploitation of HR portals and third‑party integrations. These attacks are designed to gain unauthorized access to your internal network, cloud services, and HR platforms.

The financial impact is not theoretical. In 2021, the median cost of a reported data breach reached $4.24M. This figure only reflects breaches that were disclosed; the real cost, especially when you factor in regulatory fines and client loss, is likely higher—particularly for HR providers that act as data processors for many employers at once.

To protect sensitive HR data, organizations in St. Louis need to regularly review, test, and strengthen their cybersecurity controls, not just rely on firewalls and antivirus and hope for the best.

 

What Is Network Penetration Testing for HR Organizations?

 

Network penetration testing (often called net‑pen testing or simply pentest) is a controlled, ethical hacking exercise where security specialists simulate real‑world cyberattacks against your IT environment. For HR organizations, this typically includes:

• Corporate office networks in St. Louis and satellite locations

• VPN and remote access used by recruiters and remote staff

• HR and payroll systems, ATS platforms, and self‑service portals

• Cloud services used to store candidate and employee records

The objective is simple: identify vulnerabilities before a malicious actor does, demonstrate what can actually be compromised, and provide practical remediation guidance. For HR providers, this typically means validating you can effectively protect:

• Confidential candidate and employee data

• Client company information and contracts

• Payroll and direct‑deposit details

• Background check and screening data

Regular penetration testing helps HR leadership in Missouri to:

• Manage security risks in a measurable way

• Validate the effectiveness of existing IT security controls

• Support compliance with frameworks and regulations that touch HR data (such as SOC 2, HIPAA where applicable, state privacy rules, and client security requirements)

• Demonstrate due diligence to clients, boards, and insurers

 

Missouri Network Penetration Testing Experience for HR Firms

 

OCD Tech provides network penetration testing and IT security assessments to HR companies and related service providers in St. Louis and across Missouri. Our team combines experience in IT risk advisory, cybersecurity consulting, and hands‑on ethical hacking across multiple industries, including staffing agencies, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), payroll providers, and benefits administrators.

This mix of technical expertise and practical business understanding allows us to:

• Design test scenarios tailored to HR workflows and data flows

• Assess risks tied to recruiter behavior, insider threats, and assumed compromise

• Evaluate third‑party integrations with background check vendors, payroll platforms, and client systems

• Provide clear, prioritized recommendations that your IT and leadership teams can actually implement

The result is a comprehensive penetration test that not only identifies vulnerabilities, but also delivers practical guidance on how to close the gaps—from quick configuration changes to broader network and process improvements.

 

Network Penetration Testing Methodology

 

OCD Tech uses a proven, methodical approach grounded in real attacker behavior. For HR organizations in St. Louis, we focus on how a threat actor would attempt to reach and extract sensitive HR data, not just whether a port is open.

Our methodology commonly includes:

• Passive reconnaissance – Quietly gathering information about your HR brand, domains, exposed systems, and leaked credentials without actively touching your network.

• Active reconnaissance – Safely scanning and mapping your internal and external network, VPNs, and HR‑related systems to identify potential entry points.

• Social engineering (where in scope) – Testing how easily recruiters, HR staff, or contractors can be tricked into revealing credentials or opening malicious attachments, reflecting real phishing threats.

• Exploitation – Attempting to exploit discovered weaknesses (for example, unpatched systems, weak passwords, misconfigurations) to gain initial access.

• Post‑exploitation – Assessing what an attacker could do once inside: access to HR databases, file shares with personnel data, or payroll systems.

• Privilege escalation – Attempting to move from a regular user to HR admin, domain admin, or cloud admin to simulate worst‑case impact.

• Lateral movement – Testing whether an attacker can pivot from a compromised workstation to HR servers, ATS platforms, or shared drives.

• Maintaining access – Demonstrating methods attackers might use to stay hidden in your environment if monitoring and detection are weak.

• Covering tracks – Highlighting how logs and alerts can be bypassed or tampered with, and where your detection capabilities need improvement (Blue Team and Purple Team considerations).

• Reporting – Delivering a clear, non‑technical executive summary for leadership and a detailed technical report for IT, including risk ratings, attack paths, and prioritized remediation steps.

 

National Reach

 

While we work extensively with HR organizations in St. Louis and across Missouri, OCD Tech also provides network penetration testing and security assessment services nationwide, including:

• Boston (MA)

• New York City (NY)

• Washington DC

• Philadelphia (PA)

• Dallas (TX)

• Los Angeles (CA)

• Chicago (IL)

• Baltimore (MD)

 

Contact Our St. Louis Network Penetration Testing Consultants

 

OCD Tech provides network penetration testing, IT security assessments, and cybersecurity consulting to HR companies and related organizations in St. Louis and throughout Missouri. If you want to understand how an attacker would target your HR data—and how to stop them—complete the form below, and a team member will follow up with you shortly.