Internal Network Security Checklist

Eight checks to run on your own network before a professional test — the pre-engagement audit that makes any test cheaper and more useful.

Before you test — Only test networks you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorised access is a criminal offence in Ireland under the Criminal Justice (Offences Relating to Information Systems) Act 2017.

Know your estate

You have an up-to-date inventory of what's actually on the network — including the things nobody owns any more.

Old services, test boxes and forgotten subdomains have been found and dealt with.

Credentials & access

No default or shared credentials on switches, routers, printers, cameras, iLO/iDRAC or hypervisors.

Domain admin membership is minimal and no service accounts have needless privilege.

Management interfaces (RDP, SSH, web consoles) aren't reachable from ordinary user subnets.

Segmentation & hygiene

Network segmentation is real: guest, OT and user VLANs can't freely reach servers or management.

SMB signing is enforced and legacy protocols (SMBv1, LLMNR/NBT-NS) are disabled.

Backups are offline or immutable — and you've actually restored from them.

Educational, not legal advice. Test only what you own or are authorised to test.
Full guide: Network Penetration Testing © CyberLabs · cyberlabs.ie