Service Overview

The AWS Shared Responsibility Model dictates that security *in* the cloud is entirely your problem. Automated Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools catch basic open buckets, but they fundamentally fail to detect complex IAM role assumptions, cross-account trust abuses, and SSRF attacks targeting the EC2 metadata service.

Just Hacked On delivers intelligence-led AWS penetration testing that goes beyond compliance checklists. Our senior operators manually map and exploit your AWS infrastructure targeting EC2, S3, EKS, Lambda, Cognito, and complex IAM topologies to demonstrate exactly how a minor misconfiguration leads to total account takeover.

Every engagement produces actionable, developer-ready findings prioritized by real-world exploitability, complete with AWS CLI remediation commands and restrictive IAM policy examples.

AWS Native Coverage

IAM Privilege Escalation

SSRF & Metadata Exploits

Cross-Account Validation

Secure Your AWS Estate

Tell us your AWS footprint and timeline the JHO desk will respond with a tailored proposal and engagement plan.

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SLA: RESPONSE UNDER 24 HOURS

What is AWS penetration testing?

AWS penetration testing is a highly targeted, manual adversary simulation focused strictly on your cloud-native infrastructure. It assesses both your external cloud perimeter (public-facing EC2 instances, API Gateways, Load Balancers) and your internal cloud control plane (IAM roles, VPC peering, Lambda execution environments, and S3 bucket policies).

While traditional pentesting focuses on network ports and services, AWS pentesting requires specialized knowledge of cloud APIs. We hunt for over-permissive IAM roles, Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerabilities that leak IMDSv1/v2 credentials, container escapes in ECS/EKS, and shadow serverless functions that attackers use to persist in your environment.

What AWS testing delivers:

Validated picture of your external cloud attack surface from a real adversary's perspective

Deep analysis and exploitation of IAM misconfigurations and privilege escalation paths

Testing of cloud-native applications for SSRF, metadata exfiltration, and lateral movement

Evidence supporting strict compliance mandates (PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001) in the cloud

Discovery of exposed S3 buckets, hardcoded AWS keys, and vulnerable Lambda functions

Concrete remediation guidance prioritized strictly by cloud exploitability

Continuous cloud deployment demands continuous security validation. AWS pentesting provides the critical assurance that your infrastructure-as-code and IAM architecture are genuinely secure.

Why AWS testing matters

Cloud compromise happens fast. An attacker finding an exposed AWS access key on GitHub or exploiting an SSRF flaw to query the EC2 metadata service can escalate to full Administrative access within minutes. The complexity of IAM policies, cross-account roles, and interconnected VPCs makes it incredibly easy for developers to accidentally introduce critical security gaps. Intelligence-led AWS pentesting is the only practical way to validate that your cloud defenses hold up against determined threat actors.

Beyond stopping breaches, offensive cloud testing is a core compliance requirement. Modern frameworks like SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 demand proof that your cloud workloads are actively hardened and tested against unauthorized access and data exfiltration.

Without intelligence-led AWS testing, organisations face:

Undetected SSRF vulnerabilities exposing highly sensitive EC2 metadata credentials

Silent privilege escalation paths hidden deep within complex IAM JSON policies

Data exfiltration through publicly exposed S3 buckets or unauthenticated API Gateways

Costly compliance failures across modern cloud auditing frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001)

Rogue infrastructure deployed by attackers for cryptomining (Resource Exhaustion)

Dangerous false confidence generated by automated CSPM tools that miss logic flaws

AWS pentesting is the single highest-value security investment for organizations heavily relying on cloud-native architectures.

ENGAGEMENT SCOPE

Our AWS Testing Methodology

Intelligence-led methodology combining established cloud frameworks (CIS Benchmarks, AWS Well-Architected) with deep, hands-on exploitation techniques.

Scoping & Access

We lock down the test boundaries, target AWS accounts, testing windows, and obtain the necessary low-privilege/audit access to begin the assessment.

Cloud Reconnaissance

Deep OSINT, GitHub scanning for leaked access keys, and external perimeter enumeration to map your public-facing cloud footprint.

IAM & Policy Review

Meticulous analysis of Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles, cross-account trusts, and overly permissive inline policies.

External Exploitation

Targeting public-facing EC2 instances, APIs, and exposed services to gain initial footholds and extract temporary security credentials via SSRF.

Privilege Escalation

Aggressive exploitation of the internal control plane. We chain minor IAM misconfigurations to escalate privileges toward full AdministratorAccess.

Lateral Movement

Exploiting VPC peering, Transit Gateways, and misconfigured Lambda execution roles to move laterally across different AWS accounts and environments.

Report & Debrief

Actionable findings backed by AWS CLI exploitation evidence, CVSS prioritization, and a live walk-through with your DevOps and Cloud Security teams.

Remediation Retest

Critical and high-severity cloud misconfigurations are rigorously re-tested after your team remediates, providing formal validation.

Typical engagement: Single AWS account assessments typically 5-7 days; multi-account/Organizations architectures 8-15 days depending on footprint complexity.

ENGAGEMENT DELIVERABLES

What you receive

Every AWS pentest engagement with Just Hacked On includes:

Signed rules of engagement defining exact AWS account IDs and strict out-of-scope services

Executive summary translating complex cloud risks into clear board and management language

Detailed technical findings with exact AWS CLI commands and exploitation proof-of-concepts

CVSS-rated severity explicitly adjusted for AWS cloud context and exploitability

Practical remediation guidance including restrictive IAM JSON policies and Terraform examples

Cloud attack-path diagrams visualizing chained IAM findings and lateral movement

Walk-through session with your DevOps and Cloud Architecture team

Remediation retest of critical and high findings to ensure misconfigurations are sealed

Industries We Serve

We deliver this service across these sectors:

Defence & Government

Financial Services

Healthcare

SaaS & Technology

Cloud Services

E-commerce & Retail

Education

Professional Services

YOUR OFFENSIVE SECURITY PARTNER

Why Just Hacked On for AWS Pentesting?

Automated cloud scanners check compliance boxes, but real attackers exploit complex IAM topologies and subtle control-plane misconfigurations. To truly secure your cloud infrastructure, you need an assessment that mimics how a highly motivated adversary actually moves through your AWS estate. At Just Hacked On, we move beyond basic CSPM reports to execute deep, intelligence-led cloud penetration tests. We focus on chaining minor flaws to breach VPCs, expose Serverless vulnerabilities, and compromise Identity and Access Management (IAM). Your engagement is led end-to-end by seasoned cloud security practitioners who understand how to safely stress-test your AWS environment without disrupting production workloads.

Senior Cloud Security Specialists

Deep IAM Privilege Escalation Testing

Serverless & EKS Focus

Strict Cross-Account Validation

Actionable IAM Policy Fixes

Complimentary Validation Retest

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

AWS Pentesting, Answered

Clear answers to common questions about scoping, execution, and safety.

No. AWS changed its policy years ago. You no longer need prior approval to conduct security assessments or penetration tests against your own AWS infrastructure for most core services (like EC2, RDS, and API Gateway). However, certain simulated events like DDoS still require coordination.

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools automate the discovery of basic flaws (e.g., an S3 bucket with public read access). A manual pentest goes deeper: our operators actively attempt to chain minor misconfigurations, abuse complex IAM trust policies, and exploit vulnerable applications (like SSRF) to steal metadata credentials and pivot across your accounts.

For a comprehensive "grey-box" assessment, we typically request a low-privilege user account or an assumed role in the target AWS environment, alongside ReadOnlyAccess or SecurityAudit policies. This allows us to map the attack surface rapidly and focus our time on actual exploitation paths.

No. Our senior operators use controlled, non-destructive techniques. We do not run resource-exhaustion attacks against live services, and we coordinate closely with your DevOps teams to ensure zero impact on production stability.

Absolutely. We map and exploit attack paths that start in the cloud and pivot back to on-premise networks via AWS Direct Connect or Site-to-Site VPNs, and vice versa.

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AWS Penetration Testing