Comprehensive Network Security Audit for Triangle Businesses
Your network is only as strong as its weakest link. PTG's relentless network security audit attacks your infrastructure from every angle—internal and external penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, social engineering, firewall reviews, and more—then fortifies every weakness we find until there are no more entry points left for attackers to exploit. Serving Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and the entire Triangle region of North Carolina.
Speak directly with a security audit specialist: 919-348-4912
You Cannot Defend What You Cannot See
Most organizations assume their network is secure because they have a firewall and antivirus. The reality is far more dangerous. Without a comprehensive, professional security audit, critical vulnerabilities remain hidden in plain sight—waiting for the next threat actor to discover them first.
Undetected vulnerabilities multiplying silently. Every software update, configuration change, new employee device, and cloud migration introduces potential vulnerabilities into your network. Without regular professional auditing, these weaknesses compound over time. What starts as a single misconfigured firewall rule or an unpatched server can cascade into dozens of exploitable entry points that automated scanners alone will never catch. Threat actors use sophisticated reconnaissance techniques to find exactly these overlooked gaps, and the average time between initial compromise and detection is still measured in months, not minutes.
Remote access sprawl creating invisible entry points. The shift to hybrid and remote work has expanded the attack surface for Triangle-area businesses exponentially. VPN configurations that were hastily deployed, RDP sessions left exposed to the internet, third-party vendor connections with excessive privileges, and employees accessing corporate resources from unsecured home networks all create pathways that bypass your perimeter defenses entirely. Without a thorough remote access review, these backdoors remain wide open for exploitation by ransomware operators and nation-state actors alike.
Employees falling for social engineering attacks. Your people are simultaneously your greatest asset and your most exploitable vulnerability. Sophisticated phishing campaigns, telephone impersonation schemes, and pretexting attacks bypass technical controls entirely by targeting human psychology. Without testing your workforce through realistic simulated attacks, you have no way to measure your organization's susceptibility to social engineering—and no data to drive meaningful security awareness training that actually changes behavior and reduces real-world click rates.
Compliance requirements demanding documented proof. Regulatory frameworks including HIPAA, CMMC, NIST 800-171, PCI-DSS, and SOX do not accept assumptions about network security. Auditors and assessors require documented evidence of regular penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and security control validation. Organizations that fail to produce these reports face failed audits, lost government contracts, regulatory fines, increased insurance premiums, and the reputational damage that comes with being publicly identified as non-compliant With cybersecurity due diligence is an expectation of every business partner and customer.
A Relentless, Multi-Vector Network Security Audit That Leaves Nothing Hidden
Petronella Technology Group's network security audit is not a cursory scan or a checkbox exercise. It is a comprehensive, methodical assault on your infrastructure designed to expose every exploitable weakness before a real attacker finds them. Our certified ethical hackers and security engineers use the same state-of-the-art tools and advanced techniques employed by sophisticated threat actors, combined with more than 22 years of hands-on experience protecting over 2,500 organizations across North Carolina and beyond.
Our audit encompasses seven critical assessment domains: internal and external network penetration testing that simulates real-world attacks against your perimeter and interior network segments; vulnerability assessment that systematically catalogs every known weakness across your entire technology stack; social engineering and phishing assessment that tests the human element of your defenses through realistic simulated campaigns and telephone impersonation; firewall configuration review that examines every rule, policy, and setting in your perimeter and internal firewalls; remote access review that evaluates the security of every pathway into your network from outside your physical premises; email and spam filtering system review that verifies your messaging infrastructure is hardened against phishing, malware delivery, and business email compromise; and a complete internal network security posture review that assesses segmentation, access controls, authentication mechanisms, logging, and monitoring across your entire environment.
When we inevitably find vulnerabilities—and we always do—we do not simply hand you a report and disappear. PTG's security engineers work alongside your team to remediate every finding, harden every configuration, and strengthen every weak link until your network posture meets the standards that regulatory frameworks demand and that your business deserves. We then conduct post-remediation verification testing to confirm that every vulnerability has been properly addressed, giving you documented proof that your network has been thoroughly tested and hardened by an independent third party.
Whether you are a healthcare practice in Raleigh preparing for a HIPAA audit, a defense contractor near Research Triangle Park pursuing CMMC certification, a financial services firm in Durham meeting PCI-DSS requirements, or any organization across the Triangle that needs to know the true state of its network security, PTG delivers the rigorous, comprehensive assessment your business needs to operate with confidence.
Seven-Domain Assessment Framework
- 1 Penetration Testing — Simulated real-world attacks against both external-facing and internal network assets to identify exploitable pathways and lateral movement opportunities.
- 2 Vulnerability Assessment — Comprehensive scanning and manual validation of all systems, applications, and infrastructure against current threat intelligence databases.
- 3 Social Engineering — Realistic phishing campaigns and telephone impersonation exercises to measure and improve human security awareness.
- 4 Firewall Review — Rule-by-rule analysis of perimeter and internal firewall configurations, identifying misconfigurations, redundancies, and overly permissive policies.
- 5 Remote Access — Evaluation of VPN, RDP, cloud access, and third-party connections for encryption standards, authentication enforcement, and session security.
- 6 Email Security — Assessment of spam filtering, anti-phishing controls, DMARC/DKIM/SPF records, and business email compromise protections.
- 7 Posture Review — Holistic evaluation of network segmentation, access controls, authentication policies, logging, and monitoring across your entire internal environment.
Every Attack Vector Tested. Every Weakness Exposed.
PTG's network security audit covers seven comprehensive assessment domains. Each component is executed by certified security professionals using proven methodologies and advanced tooling.
Internal & External Penetration Testing
PTG's certified ethical hackers launch controlled, real-world attack simulations against your network from both outside and inside your perimeter. External penetration testing targets your internet-facing assets—public IP addresses, web applications, DNS infrastructure, VPN gateways, and email servers—to determine what an outside attacker could compromise. Internal penetration testing simulates an insider threat or a scenario where an attacker has already gained initial access, testing lateral movement capabilities, privilege escalation paths, and access to sensitive data stores. Our testers use the same advanced techniques, custom scripts, and exploitation frameworks that sophisticated threat actors employ, giving you an accurate picture of your true exposure rather than a theoretical risk score. Every discovered vulnerability is documented with proof-of-concept evidence, severity ratings aligned to CVSS standards, and specific remediation guidance your team can act on immediately.
Internal & External Vulnerability Assessment
Beyond penetration testing, PTG conducts exhaustive vulnerability assessments that systematically catalog every known weakness across your entire technology stack. Our engineers deploy enterprise-grade scanning platforms to evaluate servers, workstations, network devices, operating systems, applications, and cloud infrastructure against continuously updated threat intelligence databases containing hundreds of thousands of known vulnerabilities. But we go far beyond automated scanning. Each finding is manually verified by our security team to eliminate false positives, contextualized against your specific environment to determine real-world exploitability, and prioritized using risk-based scoring that accounts for business criticality, data sensitivity, and exposure level. The result is a clean, actionable inventory of your genuine vulnerabilities ranked by the order in which they should be remediated.
Social Engineering & Phishing Assessment
The most sophisticated technical defenses in the world are meaningless if an employee clicks a malicious link or gives credentials to an impersonator over the phone. PTG tests the human element of your security through carefully crafted phishing email campaigns that mimic real-world threat actor techniques, targeted telephone impersonation (vishing) calls where our team attempts to extract sensitive information by posing as trusted parties, and pretexting scenarios that test adherence to security policies. We measure click rates, credential submission rates, reporting rates, and response times to build a comprehensive profile of your organization's human vulnerability. Every campaign is followed by detailed analytics and specific recommendations for security awareness training that addresses the exact weaknesses we uncovered during testing.
Firewall Configuration Review
Your firewall is the gatekeeper of your network, but even the most capable firewall becomes a liability when misconfigured. PTG's firewall configuration review is a meticulous, rule-by-rule examination of your perimeter and internal firewall policies. Our engineers analyze access control lists for overly permissive rules that violate least-privilege principles, identify redundant or conflicting entries that create confusion and potential bypass opportunities, verify that network address translation configurations are secure, confirm that intrusion detection and prevention signatures are current and properly tuned, examine logging and alerting configurations to ensure security events are captured and escalated, and validate that firmware versions are current with all vendor security patches applied. Many Triangle-area organizations discover during this review that firewalls they believed were providing robust protection actually contained critical misconfigurations that had been silently exposing network segments for months or even years.
Remote Access & Email Security Review
PTG evaluates every pathway into your network from outside your physical premises, including VPN configurations and tunnel encryption standards, Remote Desktop Protocol exposure and authentication requirements, cloud-based remote access platforms, wireless network security, and all third-party vendor connections. We verify that multi-factor authentication is enforced on every remote access point, that session policies enforce appropriate timeouts, and that comprehensive logging captures all remote activity for forensic readiness. Simultaneously, our email and spam filtering review examines your messaging infrastructure's defenses against phishing, malware delivery, business email compromise, and spam. We validate DMARC, DKIM, and SPF record configurations, test filtering effectiveness against current threat samples, and assess the overall resilience of your email ecosystem against the attack techniques that account for over 90 percent of successful breaches.
Internal Network Security Posture Review
The final component of PTG's audit is a comprehensive evaluation of your internal network architecture and security controls. We assess network segmentation to determine whether critical assets are properly isolated from general-use segments, evaluate authentication mechanisms and password policies against industry best practices, review Active Directory and identity infrastructure for misconfigurations and privilege creep, examine endpoint security configurations for consistency and effectiveness, verify that security logging and monitoring covers all critical systems and network segments, and assess patch management processes to determine whether systems are being updated in a timely and comprehensive manner. This holistic posture review reveals the systemic weaknesses that individual technical tests might miss, giving your organization a complete understanding of its defensive readiness against both external threats and insider risks.
More Than Two Decades of Relentless Network Security
Ready to see what PTG can do for your business? Schedule a free consultation and join the businesses across the Triangle that trust us with their technology.
919-348-4912Network Security Audits for Every Sector
PTG delivers specialized network security audits across the Raleigh, Durham, and RTP region. Our assessment methodologies are tailored to the regulatory, operational, and threat landscape demands of each industry we serve.
Penetration Testing
Dedicated penetration testing services for deep-dive attack simulation beyond the network audit scope.
IT Security Risk Assessment
Comprehensive risk assessments mapping your threat landscape to compliance and business objectives.
Vulnerability & Penetration Testing
Explore PTG's full suite of vulnerability and penetration testing services for Triangle businesses.
Schedule Your Audit
Contact PTG to discuss your network security audit needs with our certified assessment team.
PTG's network security audits protect healthcare organizations requiring HIPAA-mandated security assessments, defense contractors pursuing CMMC certification and maintaining DFARS compliance, financial services firms meeting PCI-DSS and SOX penetration testing requirements, legal practices safeguarding attorney-client privileged communications, manufacturing companies protecting operational technology networks and intellectual property, and technology firms throughout the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle Park corridor. Each audit engagement is scoped and executed to address the specific regulatory mandates, network architectures, and threat profiles unique to your industry.
The Difference Between a Scan Report and a Security Transformation
Many firms run automated scanners, generate a PDF, and call it a security audit. PTG delivers a comprehensive, expert-driven assessment that fundamentally strengthens your network's defensive posture. Here is what separates PTG from every other security auditor in the Triangle:
- 22+ years with zero breaches among clients who implemented our full security recommendations—Over more than two decades of conducting network security audits for organizations across Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and throughout North Carolina, not a single PTG-audited and remediated client has suffered a data breach. Our methodology works because it is relentless, thorough, and battle-tested.
- Full-spectrum, seven-domain assessment—While competitors limit their audits to a single penetration test or vulnerability scan, PTG's audit covers all seven critical assessment domains: penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, social engineering, firewall review, remote access review, email security, and internal posture review.
- Remediation included, not upsold—PTG does not hand you a findings report and walk away. Our engineers work alongside your team to fix every vulnerability, harden every misconfiguration, and verify every remediation through post-fix testing. Your audit deliverables include documented proof that every finding has been resolved.
- Certified ethical hacking team—Through our partner network, our security engagements have access to professionals holding CEH, OSCP, CompTIA PenTest+, and other industry certifications. They bring real-world experience from thousands of assessment engagements, not just textbook knowledge from a certification course.
- Compliance-mapped reporting—Every audit deliverable is mapped to the regulatory frameworks your organization must satisfy, including HIPAA, CMMC, NIST 800-171, PCI-DSS, SOX, and ISO 27001. This means your audit report does double duty as compliance evidence for auditors and assessors.
- Local Triangle presence, immediate response—Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, PTG provides on-site assessment capabilities for Triangle-area businesses. When your audit requires physical security testing, social engineering walk-ins, or hands-on remediation support, our team is minutes away, not states away.
Defense Contractor Achieves CMMC Readiness
A mid-sized defense contractor near Research Triangle Park needed to demonstrate network security compliance for an upcoming CMMC Level 2 assessment. Their previous vendor had conducted a basic vulnerability scan that missed critical findings, putting their government contracts at risk.
PTG executed a full seven-domain network security audit, uncovering 63 vulnerabilities across their internal and external infrastructure, including lateral movement paths that could reach CUI storage from guest network segments. Our social engineering assessment revealed a 28% phishing click-through rate among staff with CUI access. PTG remediated all findings, hardened firewall configurations, eliminated unauthorized remote access pathways, and deployed targeted security awareness training.
Network Security Audit Questions Answered
Get answers to the most common questions about PTG's comprehensive network security audit services for businesses in Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and the Triangle.
PTG's comprehensive network security audit includes seven core assessment components: internal and external network penetration testing, internal and external vulnerability assessment, social engineering and phishing assessment with telephone impersonation, firewall configuration review, remote access review, email and spam filtering system review, and a thorough internal network security posture review. Each component is executed by certified security professionals using industry-standard methodologies and state-of-the-art tools to identify every exploitable weakness in your network infrastructure. You receive a detailed written report with executive summary, technical findings, severity ratings, and a prioritized remediation roadmap.
PTG recommends conducting a comprehensive network security audit at least annually for most businesses in the Raleigh-Durham Triangle area. However, organizations in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, defense contracting, and financial services may need quarterly or semi-annual assessments to maintain compliance with frameworks like HIPAA, CMMC, NIST 800-171, and PCI-DSS. Additionally, you should schedule an audit after any significant infrastructure change, merger or acquisition, security incident, or major software deployment to ensure new vulnerabilities have not been introduced. PTG offers flexible audit scheduling to accommodate your organization's specific needs and compliance calendar.
A vulnerability assessment is a broad scanning process that identifies known security weaknesses across your network, systems, and applications using automated tools and manual verification. It produces a prioritized list of vulnerabilities ranked by severity. A penetration test goes further by actively attempting to exploit those vulnerabilities, simulating real-world attack scenarios to determine what an attacker could actually accomplish if they targeted your organization. PTG's network security audit includes both approaches because together they provide a complete picture of your exposure—combining comprehensive discovery with practical validation of exploitability and demonstrating actual business impact rather than theoretical risk scores.
PTG carefully plans every penetration test to minimize operational impact. Before testing begins, our team works with your IT staff to define the scope, establish rules of engagement, identify critical systems that require extra caution, and schedule testing windows that avoid peak business hours when possible. Our experienced ethical hackers use controlled techniques that are designed to reveal vulnerabilities without causing data loss, system crashes, or service outages. In over 22 years of conducting security assessments for more than 2,500 companies across North Carolina, PTG has maintained a flawless record of safe, professional testing with zero unintended disruptions to client operations.
PTG's social engineering assessment tests the human element of your security posture through carefully crafted simulated attacks. This includes targeted phishing email campaigns designed to mimic real-world threat actor techniques such as invoice fraud, credential harvesting, and executive impersonation. It also includes telephone impersonation calls (vishing) where our team attempts to extract sensitive information or gain access by posing as trusted parties such as IT support, vendors, or executives. The assessment reveals how susceptible your workforce is to manipulation tactics, provides detailed metrics on click rates, credential submission rates, and reporting rates, and delivers targeted recommendations for security awareness training that addresses the specific weaknesses we uncovered.
Firewalls are your network's first line of defense, but misconfigured rules, overly permissive access lists, outdated firmware, and accumulated rule bloat can silently undermine their effectiveness. PTG's firewall configuration review examines every rule in your firewall policy, identifies redundant or conflicting entries, detects overly broad permissions that violate least-privilege principles, verifies that logging and alerting are properly configured, and ensures firmware is current with all security patches applied. Many Triangle-area businesses are surprised to discover that firewalls they believed were protecting them actually contained critical misconfigurations that left entire network segments exposed to unauthorized access for extended periods.
PTG's remote access review evaluates every method by which users, administrators, and third-party vendors connect to your network remotely. This includes VPN configurations and encryption standards, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) exposure and security, cloud-based remote access platforms, multi-factor authentication enforcement on all remote access points, session timeout and logging policies, wireless network security, and third-party vendor access controls and monitoring. With the rise of hybrid and remote work across the Raleigh-Durham region, improperly secured remote access has become one of the most commonly exploited attack vectors. Our review ensures every remote entry point meets enterprise-grade security standards.
The duration of PTG's network security audit depends on the size and complexity of your environment. For small to mid-sized businesses with 25 to 200 endpoints, the active testing phase typically takes two to three weeks. Larger enterprises or organizations with complex multi-site architectures may require three to five weeks of active assessment. Following the testing phase, PTG delivers a comprehensive written report within five to ten business days that includes an executive summary, detailed technical findings, risk ratings for every discovered vulnerability, and a prioritized remediation roadmap with specific action items. Remediation timelines vary based on the number and severity of findings but typically range from two to six weeks.
Yes. Unlike many security assessment firms that hand you a report and walk away, PTG provides end-to-end remediation support as part of our network security audit engagement. After delivering the audit findings, our security engineers work directly with your IT team to implement fixes, harden configurations, close exposed ports, update access controls, deploy missing patches, and implement additional security measures as needed. PTG also conducts post-remediation verification testing to confirm that every identified vulnerability has been properly addressed. For organizations without dedicated IT security staff, PTG offers ongoing managed security services to maintain your hardened posture and prevent regression over time.
PTG's network security audit pricing is based on the scope of your environment, including the number of internal and external IP addresses, endpoints, network segments, remote access points, and the specific assessment components required. We provide transparent, fixed-fee pricing after an initial scoping consultation so there are no surprises. Most small to mid-sized businesses in Raleigh, Durham, RTP, and the surrounding Triangle area find that the cost of a comprehensive audit is a fraction of what a single data breach would cost in downtime, remediation expenses, legal fees, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. Contact PTG at 919-348-4912 for a customized quote tailored to your organization's specific requirements.
Ready to Discover What Attackers Already Know About Your Network?
Every day you operate without a comprehensive network security audit is another day threat actors have to find the vulnerabilities you do not know about. Schedule your audit with Petronella Technology Group today. Our certified ethical hackers will test your network from every angle, expose every weakness, and work with your team to fortify your defenses until there are no weak links left. Over 22 years, more than 2,500 companies audited, and zero breaches among clients who implemented our full security recommendations. When it comes to your network security, PTG accepts no excuses.
Prefer to talk now? Call our security team directly at 919-348-4912