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API Penetration Testing Australia | OWASP API Top 10 | CREST

CREST CERTIFIED API TESTERS

API Penetration Testing Services in Australia

Penva Security delivers CREST-certified, manual API penetration testing for Australian businesses — testing REST, GraphQL, SOAP and mobile/backend APIs for broken authorisation, authentication weaknesses, exposed data, rate-limiting gaps and business logic flaws that automated scanners and AI-only tools often miss.

Every API security test is performed by a human OSCP- and CREST-qualified offensive security expert, delivered with an audit-ready report for ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA and APRA CPS 234 — and includes a free remediation retest within 60 days.

View API Pentest Pricing

Certified API Testers

Audit-Ready API Reports

Manual API Testing

Definition

What Is API Penetration Testing?

API penetration testing is a controlled, manual security assessment where CREST-certified ethical hackers simulate real-world attacks against your REST, GraphQL, SOAP, mobile and backend APIs. The goal is to identify exploitable API vulnerabilities such as broken object level authorisation, broken authentication, excessive data exposure, mass assignment, rate-limiting weaknesses, insecure CORS and business logic abuse before attackers find them.

Unlike automated API scanning, a true API penetration test validates how endpoints behave across users, roles, tenants, tokens and workflows. A skilled tester chains low-severity API issues into high-impact attack paths and produces a short, prioritised list of confirmed, exploitable findings with proof-of-concept evidence, business impact and developer-ready remediation guidance.

For Australian businesses, API penetration testing is strong evidence for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 controls A.8.8 and A.8.29, SOC 2 Trust Services Criterion CC7.1, PCI DSS Requirement 11.4, APRA CPS 234, and customer security reviews.

To understand our wider security service, visit our penetration testing services at Penva Security.

Use Cases

When You Need an API Pentest

Most Australian businesses engage Penva Security for one of six clear API risk triggers – each maps to a compliance requirement, customer assurance request, or high-impact security event.

🚀

Pre-Launch Assurance

Before launching a new product, customer portal, or major feature release. Identifies vulnerabilities while remediation is cheapest — pre-production.
📋

Annual Compliance

ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS all expect at least an annual web application pentest. Auditors require a CREST-certified report as evidence.
🔁

After Major Changes

New authentication flows, payment integrations, role/permission changes, or framework upgrades — PCI DSS Req. 11.4 mandates testing after any significant change.
📑

Vendor Security Questionnaires

Enterprise procurement and government supply-chain customers increasingly demand evidence of independent CREST-accredited penetration testing before signing.
🛡️

APRA CPS 234

Financial services entities regulated by APRA must regularly test the effectiveness of information security controls — and demonstrate that testing to the regulator.
⚡

Post-Incident Review

After a near-miss, breach, or suspicious activity. Validates whether the underlying cause has been remediated and identifies adjacent weaknesses.
Coverage

API Penetration Testing Approach

Every Penva Security API engagement follows the OWASP API Security Top 10, OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, NIST SP 800-115, and PTES. We test REST, GraphQL, SOAP and backend APIs the way attackers do: by chaining authorisation, token, object, workflow and data exposure issues to demonstrate real business impact.

  • OWASP API Security Top 10 Testing

    Coverage of the OWASP API Security Top 10, including BOLA, broken authentication, object property authorisation, unrestricted resource consumption and broken function-level authorisation.

  • BOLA, IDOR & Access Control

    Testing whether users can access, modify or delete API objects, records or tenant data they should not control.

  • JWT, OAuth & Session Weaknesses

    Checking token handling, JWT validation, OAuth flows, refresh tokens, expiry, replay risks and account takeover paths.

  • Authentication & Rate-Limiting Flaws

    Testing login flows, MFA-dependent API calls, brute-force protection, OTP handling and unrestricted resource consumption.

  • Broken Function-Level Authorisation

    Identifying privilege escalation paths where lower-privileged users can call admin, internal or hidden API functions.

  • REST, GraphQL & SOAP API Testing

    Security testing for REST, GraphQL, SOAP, mobile backend and internal/external API endpoints.

  • Business Logic & Workflow Abuse

    Manual testing for payment, booking, onboarding, approval, invite, subscription and role-change workflows that scanners cannot understand.

  • SSRF & Internal Exposure

    Testing API parameters, webhooks, file parsers and integrations for SSRF paths that may expose internal services.

  • CORS, Headers & Misconfigurations

    Verifying CORS, TLS/SSL, security headers, debug endpoints, verbose errors and insecure API gateway configurations.

  • Injection, Mass Assignment & RCE

    Testing SQL/NoSQL injection, command injection, insecure deserialisation, mass assignment and remote code execution paths.

Methodology

Our Four-Phase API Pentest Process

Aligned to the OWASP API Security Top 10 2023, OWASP WSTG v4.2, NIST SP 800-115, and the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES).

1
Input
1 day
2
Execution
5-7 days
3
Reporting
1 day
4
Retesting
1 day
1- Planning and Scope Definition

Work closely with your team to identify exactly what needs to be tested, e.g. a website, mobile app, or internal system, and establish clear boundaries before testing begins. This phase ensures all stakeholders are aligned on what's in scope, reducing miscommunication and delays.

2- Execution of Penetration Test

A penetration test execution phase validates real-world risk by actively finding, exploiting, and confirming vulnerabilities, then demonstrating impact with controlled proofs-of-concept. Results are cleaned up, evidence collected, and delivered as a prioritized report with remediation guidance.

3- Pentest Report & Outcome

Our pentest reports are designed to help you pass audits, with a clear executive summary, CVSS 3.1 severity ratings, and formal attestation to meet SOC2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and HIPAA compliance requirements.

4- Remediation and Retesting

Once the team resolves the identified vulnerabilities, a focused retest is performed to verify the fixes and deliver an updated report reflecting the remediation status.

Outcome

Benefits of API Penetration Testing Service

With Penva’s human-led, AI-assisted API penetration testing services, you can find exploitable API vulnerabilities before attackers do, protect customer data, strengthen client and stakeholder confidence, and prove your API security posture with a clear, audit-ready report.

Find Hidden Weaknesses Before Hackers Do

Penetration testing uncovers hidden weaknesses in your system before real attackers can exploit them, allowing you to address issues promptly.

Avoid Costly Data Breaches

A single cyberattack can lead to stolen customer info, lawsuits, or fines. Penetration testing helps prevent this.

Meet Legal Requirements & Compliance in Australia

Industry standards (such as ISO 27001) and Australian regulations, including the ACSC Essential Eight and the Privacy Act 1988, mandate regular security checks. Penetration testing ensures compliance and helps avoid fines and data breaches.

Build Customer Trust

Customers feel safer knowing you care about their data, and It boosts your reputation as a secure and reliable business.

Why Human-Led Testing

Penva vs AI-Only and Generic Pentest Firms

Fully AI-driven scanners and autonomous pentesting platforms find known patterns at machine speed – but they consistently miss the vulnerabilities that cause real breaches. Here’s how Penva Security compares.

Capability
Penva Security
AI-Only Pentest
Generic Pentest Firm
Business Logic Flaws
✓Found & chained
✗Missed entirely
✓Sometimes found
Manual Exploitation
✓100% manual, OSCP-level
✗Pattern-matching only
✓Partial, scanner-led
Certified Testers
✓OSCP + CREST
✗No human tester
✓Often outsourced
Live Vulnerability Sheet
✓Real-time, shared
✓Dashboard only
✗End-of-test report
Free Remediation Retest
✓Included, 60 days
✓Continuous (subscription)
✗Often paid extra
False-Positive Rate
✓Near zero (manually verified)
✗High
✓Low
Audit Acceptance
✓Recognised by auditors
✗Often not accepted alone
✓Accepted
Australian-Based Tester
✓Local, AU jurisdiction
✗Cloud platform, often US
✓Mixed
Deliverables

What You Receive After an API Penetration Test

You receive an audit-ready API penetration testing report with confirmed vulnerabilities, proof-of-concept evidence, affected endpoints, CVSS risk ratings, business impact and developer-ready remediation guidance, giving your team and stakeholders clear evidence of your API security posture.

Penetration Test Report

A comprehensive document detailing identified vulnerabilities, potential risks, and prioritized recommendations.

Includes Executive summary alongside technical evidence like attack paths and severity scores (CVSS) for your IT team.​

Remediation Plan and Support

Provides step-by-step instructions and direct collaboration with the dev team to implement fixes, ensuring risks are eliminated.

If required, receive a follow-up report confirming all issues are resolved for accountability and compliance.

Certification of Testing

Official validation that your systems were rigorously tested and meet industry security standards.

Offers formal documentation (e.g., compliance with GDPR, PCI DSS) to demonstrate due diligence to clients, auditors, or regulators.

Compliance

Audit-Ready for Every Major Framework

Every Penva Security report is purpose-built to satisfy auditors, with the executive summary, CVSS 3.1 scoring, evidence appendix, and formal letter of attestation that compliance assessors require.

ISO/IEC 27001

Controls A.8.8, A.8.29, A.5.23 — technical vulnerability management and secure development.

SOC 2 Type II

Trust Services Criterion CC7.1 — vulnerability identification and remediation evidence.

PCI DSS v4.0

Requirement 11.4 — annual application penetration testing and after every significant change.

APRA CPS 234

Information security controls testing for Australian banks, insurers, and superannuation funds.

Essential Eight

ASD/ACSC mitigation strategies — application security validation evidence.

HIPAA

Technical safeguards for healthcare applications handling protected health information.

GDPR & Privacy Act

Article 32 / APP 11 — appropriate technical measures for personal data protection.

ST4S

Safer Technologies for Schools framework — applications used in Australian education.
CASE STUDIES

Pentest Results that Pass Audits

How Penva Security helped businesses pass ISO 27001 and SOC 2 audits with penetration testing reports that satisfied assessors, closed critical gaps, and gave clients the confidence to scale securely.

[ISO 27001] Project Management Application – SAAS
The penetration test for the Project Management Saas platform, initially conducted to achieve ISO 27001 compliance, uncovered and helped remediate several critical and high-risk vulnerabilities, including SQL injection and XSS flaws.
Although the client approached us only for compliance, we identified serious security gaps and helped secure their application. This proactive assessment demonstrates a strong commitment to data protection, risk mitigation, and adherence to internationally recognized security standards.
[SOC 2] School Web App Pentest
In pursuit of SOC 2 compliance, we conducted a comprehensive penetration test on the School Web Application, uncovering critical vulnerabilities such as outdated software and SQL injection across multiple domains.
The findings provide clear, actionable insights to strengthen the application’s security posture, ensuring it meets SOC 2 trust principles, especially around data confidentiality, availability, and integrity.
[Annual Audit] Internal Network Pentest for Financial Institute
In a recent engagement with a financial institution, our internal network penetration test revealed multiple critical vulnerabilities that could have led to full domain compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive systems. We identified severe issues such as exposed administrative privileges, legacy protocols like SMBv1, and remote code execution flaws in key servers.
Our findings enabled the client to prioritize remediation, strengthen their internal security posture, and prevent potential exploitation that could have severely impacted operations and data integrity.

Why Choose Us

We have partnered with organizations across critical sectors, including finance, education, e-commerce, and healthcare, to enhance their security posture, meet compliance requirements, and confidently pass audits.

We’ve identified critical vulnerabilities in 70% of tested applications, including server compromises and leaked credentials, and helped secure their applications and infrastructure.

Clients Served
0 +
Critical issues found
0 %
Organisations Protected
0 +
Client Satisfaction Rate
0 %

Accreditations & Certifications

Others
Recommended
Penva Security
Specialization
Offer broad cybersecurity services with limited pentest focus
Focused and deeply specialized in penetration testing only
Pricing
High quotes with only single actual resource on the project
Affordable and flexible pricing tailored to project needs
Transparency
No visibility throughout the penetration test engagement
Transparency via shared sheet tracking all test cases in real time
Collaboration
One-off report delivery after the penetration test is completed
Continuous collaboration with devs & providing a clean report at the end
Certifications
General security certs, often lacking pentest specialization
Specialized pentest certs that take years to achieve

Brand Name

Certification

Certification Worth

OSCP by Offensive Security
OSCP+ by Offensive Security

The OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) is a highly regarded certification that validates practical penetration testing skills and is globally recognized by employers and regulators.

CREST Practitioner Security Analyst (CPSA)
CREST Registered Penetration Tester (CRT)

CREST partners with national bodies in the UK, US, Australia, and Singapore, ensuring global recognition and compliance with the highest cybersecurity standards.

CRTO by Zero-Point Security

This certification demonstrates the ability to think and act like a real attacker, simulating advanced cyberattacks to help organizations identify and remediate hidden weaknesses before they can be exploited.

 Penva Security holds globally recognised, specialized penetration testing certifications that take years to earn.

Reviews and Clients

Michael Wendland

Partner at Bonsai

Reliable and professional penetration testing partner

Penva Security provided a quick and efferent pentest report that satisfied our needs and certification criteria. I would highly recommend them for penetration testing, and will be using his services again in the future.​

Stuart Cox

Creative Director at NorthBase

Professional, communicative, and highly reliable testers

Penva Security conducted a penetration test of our webapp and produced a report of security issues. The team was professional and communicated well throughout, including giving us the expected timeline for the work and keeping us up-to-date as we progressed. The report was well written and I can recommend them to anyone looking for penetration testing.

Daniel Scocco

Founder at InstaDelivery

Working with third or forth time with Penva Security

This is the third or fourth time we work with Penva Security. They always delivers timely and great work. One of the best security experts I know.

Our Team's Certification

Our team holds industry-recognized pentest certifications that take years to achieve.

FAQ

API Penetration Testing - Common Questions

Direct answers to the API security testing questions Australian businesses ask most often.

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