Get a Clear View of Your Security Risk
Don’t wait for an attacker to show you where you’re vulnerable. Take control of your security with a professional penetration test.
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Chicago: 312-554-7550
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St. Louis : 314-432-1661
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Metro East IL : 618-346-8324
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Central IL : 217-528-0500
Penetration Testing Services: Find Your Weaknesses Before Attackers Do
A vulnerability scan checks whether the doors are locked. A penetration test has a skilled ethical hacker actually try the doors, and the windows, and see how far inside they can get. Computerease’s CISSP-led penetration testing simulates real attacks to answer the question that actually matters: what could a determined attacker do inside your environment right now?
Computerease provides CISSP-led penetration testing for businesses in Missouri and Illinois : external and internal network testing, web application testing, wireless testing, and social engineering testing. Unlike an automated vulnerability scan, a penetration test has a human ethical hacker actively exploit weaknesses to show how they could be chained together, then delivers a prioritized report mapped to compliance frameworks like PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, and CMMC.
A Scan Finds Problems. A Pen Test Proves What They Mean.
Automated vulnerability scans are useful for a first sweep, catching common misconfigurations and unpatched systems. What they miss is the complex, chained vulnerabilities and logic flaws that only a human tester spots by thinking like an attacker. A penetration test assesses your team’s response capabilities, your technical controls, and your actual attack surface in a way automated tools cannot.
What’s Included
- External Network Testing: simulating an attacker with no internal access, probing firewalls, web servers, email gateways, and remote access points for a way in.
- Internal Network Testing: starting with the access of a regular user to test lateral movement, credential harvesting, and privilege escalation, what happens if basic defenses fail.
- Web Application Testing: assessing websites, mobile apps, and custom platforms for SQL injection, cross-site scripting, insecure APIs, and authentication bypasses.
- Wireless Testing: assessing Wi-Fi infrastructure, including guest networks, for weak encryption, insecure access points, and rogue devices.
- Social Engineering Testing: phishing, vishing, and physical intrusion simulations to measure how your team responds to a real manipulation attempt.
Testing Whether AI Tools Widen Your Attack Surface
A new AI integration, a Copilot plugin, an API connection to a third-party AI service, is a new piece of attack surface, the same as any other new application or integration. It deserves the same scrutiny.
As part of a broader engagement, we can specifically test whether an AI tool’s access and permissions are configured as tightly as intended, or whether they open a path a tester, and eventually an attacker, could exploit.
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Testing Whether AI Tools Widen Your Attack Surface
A new AI integration, a Copilot plugin, an API connection to a third-party AI service, is a new piece of attack surface, the same as any other new application or integration. It deserves the same scrutiny.
As part of a broader engagement, we can specifically test whether an AI tool’s access and permissions are configured as tightly as intended, or whether they open a path a tester, and eventually an attacker, could exploit.
Our Process
- Free 15-Minute Consultation: we scope what needs testing and why, before anything is scheduled.
- Plan: engagement type, scope, and timing get defined in coordination with your IT team to avoid disruption.
- Test: our CISSP-led ethical hackers actively attempt to exploit real weaknesses, not just scan for them.
- Report: a prioritized report with executive and technical summaries, risk ratings, and remediation guidance.
- Retest: we retest after remediation, discounted or complimentary, to confirm findings are actually resolved.
Technology Services That Work Alongside Penetration Testing
Penetration testing validates the rest of your security program. Computerease also provides the following under the same flat-rate, family-owned model.
Why Your Business Needs This
For Small and Medium Businesses
- Meets Cyber Insurance Requirements: most insurers now require a recent penetration test before issuing or renewing a policy.
- A Prioritized Roadmap: detailed reports tell you exactly what to fix, why it matters, and how to stay secure, not just a list of problems.
- Protects Your Reputation: proactive testing demonstrates a real commitment to security before a breach forces the issue.
- Qualifies You for Larger Contracts: banks, law firms, and healthcare providers often require proof of third-party security testing before sharing data with a vendor.
For Enterprises and Co-Managed Clients
- Validates Existing Controls: outside review tests whether your controls actually work under hostile conditions, not just on paper.
- Advanced Testing Options: red team operations, gray box testing, and white box code and architecture review for deeper, more realistic simulations.
- Specialty Expertise: API security, cloud infrastructure testing (Azure, AWS), and assessments for SCADA/ICS, remote workforce, and BYOD environments.
A Testing Cadence That Matches Your Risk
An annual penetration test made sense last year. It may not be enough after a major system upgrade, a new internet-facing application, a merger, or a new client contract with its own security requirements.
We revisit testing frequency with you as your environment changes, rather than defaulting to a fixed annual schedule regardless of what has changed in your business since the last test.
Industries We Serve
Healthcare
Key risks: ePHI breaches, ransomware, HIPAA audits. Testing uncovers missing controls in EHR systems, EMR software, and networked medical devices, supporting regular HIPAA risk assessments.
Accounting & Financial Services
Key risks: insider threat, wire transfer fraud, regulatory fines. Testing identifies weaknesses in online banking systems, internal controls, and customer portals, supporting readiness for FDIC, OCC, and PCI audits.
Manufacturing
Key risks: OT/IT convergence, supply chain attacks, downtime. Testing assesses both IT and OT networks and identifies weak links in supply chain connections.
Engineering & Construction
A new CAD platform or field connectivity rollout needs to work for the office and the job site at the same time. We scope projects around both from the start.
Legal
Key risks: phishing, sensitive document exposure, business email compromise. Testing exposes risks to confidential documents and client communications, supporting client-imposed security requirements.
Small & Medium Business
Your business is never too small to be targeted or to suffer a breach. Affordable, scoped testing makes real security validation attainable for a smaller budget.
Areas We Serve
Computerease runs penetration testing engagements from four regional offices across Missouri and Illinois, with our CISSP-led team available on-site where testing requires it.
Most testing is performed remotely regardless of location, while our regional offices support engagements that need someone on-site, such as physical intrusion or wireless testing, throughout our core footprint.
Greater St. Louis Metro
Penetration testing for businesses throughout the bi-state St. Louis metro, including the Illinois Metro East.
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Chicago & the Western Suburbs
Security testing for businesses across Chicago and the western suburbs, from downtown offices to the I-88 corridor.
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Central Illinois
Penetration testing support for businesses throughout Central Illinois from our Springfield office.
Beyond our regional footprint, we run testing engagements for clients with multiple locations and remote infrastructure nationwide, scoped to whatever your environment actually looks like.
Compliance & Regulatory Support
- PCI DSS: Requirement 11.3 mandates regular internal and external testing. We document every step and map findings to PCI requirements.
- HIPAA: penetration testing is a recognized best practice for the physical, administrative, and technical safeguards HIPAA requires, and helps prepare for OCR audits.
- SOC 2 / ISO 27001: testing validates controls relevant to security (CC7), availability, and processing integrity, supporting your attestation process.
- CMMC: testing is critical to proving the verified technical controls CMMC 2.0 requires for higher-level defense contracts.
- CIS Controls: findings are mapped directly to CIS Controls, showing how each vulnerability affects your compliance and giving a prioritized path forward.
Computerease Penetration Testing vs. Vulnerability Scanning Alone
| Â | Computerease Penetration Testing | Automated Vulnerability Scan Alone |
Who does it | CISSP-led ethical hackers | Software, unattended |
Finds | Chained vulnerabilities and logic flaws | Known, individually flagged issues only |
Proves impact | Actively exploits to show real risk | Lists potential issues without testing them |
Compliance | Meets PCI 11.3 and similar mandates directly | Often insufficient alone for audits |
Output | Prioritized report with remediation guidance | Raw list of findings |
What a Real Penetration Test Actually Means for Your Business
A penetration test is not really about a report full of findings. It is about knowing, with real confidence, whether the controls you have paid for would actually hold up against someone determined to get in.
Our goal is not to hand you a scary list and disappear. It is to give you a clear, prioritized path to close what matters most, so the next audit, insurance renewal, or client security questionnaire is something you are ready for, not something you are scrambling to answer.
Schedule Your Free 15-Minute Consultation
Get a clear view of your security risk before an attacker finds it for you.
Questions Businesses Ask Us
A scan uses automated tools to find common security problems. A penetration test has skilled ethical hackers exploit those problems, chain them together, and see how deep a real attack could go.
Cost varies by organization size, complexity, and scope.
At least annually, or after a significant change: a system upgrade, a new internet-facing asset, a new compliance requirement, a new office, or a merger. Some industries require more frequent testing.
Many insurers now require a recent penetration test as part of underwriting or renewal. Our reports help meet those requirements.
Engagements are planned in close coordination with your IT team and scheduled during low-traffic periods. All activity is controlled and documented.
Executive and technical summaries, step-by-step documentation of findings, risk ratings, remediation guidance, and mapping to relevant compliance and CIS controls.
Yes. Our team is CISSP-led and includes Certified Ethical Hackers (CEH) and experienced security consultants.
Yes, discounted or complimentary retesting to confirm vulnerabilities are actually resolved.
Key Takeaways
- Penetration testing goes beyond automated scanning: CISSP-led ethical hackers actively exploit weaknesses to show real, chained risk.
- Five core test types: external network, internal network, web application, wireless, and social engineering.
- Supports PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and CMMC compliance directly.
- Testing cadence is revisited as your environment changes, not locked to a fixed annual schedule regardless of what changed.
- Serving businesses across Missouri and Illinois, including St. Louis, Chicago, Oak Brook, Springfield, Edwardsville, Belleville, Elk Grove Village, Naperville, Rosemont, and Clayton, with nationwide testing available.