AI-augmented penetration testing services for Australian organisations
dotSec combines over 25 years of hands-on penetration testing expertise with AI-augmented tools to deliver faster, more comprehensive security assessments for Australian businesses and government organisations.
Our approach is simple: AI handles the heavy lifting of reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, and pattern analysis, while our experienced pen testers focus on what humans do best, including creative exploitation, contextual risk assessment, and delivering practical remediation strategies.
The result? Broader attack surface coverage, faster turnaround, and the same expert-driven, prioritised recommendations that dotSec has been known for over 25 years. AI doesn’t replace our testers; it makes them more effective.
By integrating AI into our testing methodology, we can identify subtle vulnerability chains and complex attack paths that purely manual approaches may miss, while maintaining the rigour and contextual understanding that automated-only tools simply cannot provide.
What is AI-augmented pen testing?
AI-powered penetration testing combines traditional manual pen testing techniques with machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance the depth, speed, and consistency of security assessments. AI assists at every stage of the testing lifecycle, from automated reconnaissance and intelligent attack surface mapping through to vulnerability prioritisation and reporting.
Unlike purely automated vulnerability scanning, AI-augmented pen testing uses machine learning models to analyse system behaviour, identify anomalous configurations, and chain together low-severity findings into high-impact attack paths. This approach builds on established methodologies such as NIST SP 800-115 and the OWASP Testing Guide, while significantly extending the scope of what a testing engagement can cover within the same timeframe.
How does AI-augmented pen testing improve your security?
AI-augmented penetration testing can benefit your organisation in a number of ways. By combining human expertise with machine intelligence, AI-powered pen testing will provide you with:
Broader and deeper attack surface coverage
AI-driven reconnaissance tools can map your entire external and internal attack surface far more quickly and comprehensively than manual methods alone. Machine learning models can identify exposures that traditional scanning may overlook.
This includes identifying shadow IT, misconfigured cloud services, exposed APIs, and subtle authentication weaknesses across your environment. AI tools cross-reference findings against known vulnerability databases, threat intelligence feeds, and your specific technology stack to prioritise the most critical risks.
Our testers then validate these findings with manual exploitation, ensuring every reported vulnerability is real, exploitable, and assessed in the context of your business operations, consistent with qualitative risk assessment per AS/NZS ISO 31000 and CVSS v4.0 scoring.
Faster time-to-insight with prioritised remediation
Traditional pen tests can take weeks to scope, execute, and report. AI-augmented testing accelerates each phase: automated reconnaissance runs in hours rather than days, intelligent vulnerability correlation reduces false positives, and AI-assisted report generation delivers findings faster without sacrificing quality.
Drawing on dotSec’s 25 years of experience across federal government, APRA-regulated financial services, critical infrastructure, and enterprise environments, our AI-enhanced methodology delivers a prioritised remediation roadmap that accounts for your organisation’s specific risk appetite, regulatory obligations, and operational constraints.
Every finding is mapped to a practical, risk-ranked action plan, not a generic list of CVEs, but a contextual strategy your team can actually implement.
Continuous security validation and compliance support
Many compliance frameworks, including PCI DSS v4.0 Requirement 11.4, ISO 27001 Annex A.18, and APRA CPS 234, require regular penetration testing as evidence of effective security controls. AI-powered testing makes it practical to test more frequently and more comprehensively.
AI-augmented testing can support continuous validation of your security posture, helping you identify new exposures as your environment changes, after deployments, infrastructure changes, or cloud migrations. This moves pen testing from a periodic checkbox exercise to an ongoing assurance activity.
Whether your testing program is driven by regulatory requirements or proactive risk management, AI-enhanced pen testing helps you demonstrate due diligence with comprehensive, evidence-based reporting that satisfies auditors and regulators alike.
Intelligent attack path analysis and risk chaining
One of the most powerful applications of AI in penetration testing is the ability to identify complex, multi-step attack paths that individual vulnerability findings alone would not reveal. Machine learning models can analyse the relationships between seemingly low-risk findings and map out chains of exploitation that lead to critical business impact.
For example, a misconfigured service account, a weak network segmentation rule, and an unpatched internal application might individually appear low-risk. AI-driven analysis can identify how an attacker could chain these together to achieve lateral movement, privilege escalation, or data exfiltration.
This capability is built on dotSec’s deep experience in SOC and SIEM operations, system hardening, and identity and access management, our testers understand real-world attack techniques because they defend against them every day.
AI-augmented Penetration testing FAQ
Does AI replace human penetration testers?
No. AI augments the capabilities of experienced pen testers, it does not replace them. AI excels at rapid reconnaissance, pattern recognition, and processing large volumes of data, but human testers remain essential for creative exploitation, contextual risk assessment, and understanding business impact. dotSec’s approach uses AI to handle repetitive, data-intensive tasks so our testers can focus on the areas where human judgement and experience matter most. This is consistent with industry guidance from NIST SP 800-115 and CREST, which emphasise the importance of skilled human assessment.
How accurate is AI-powered penetration testing compared to traditional methods?
AI-augmented testing typically delivers broader coverage and more consistent results than purely manual testing, while maintaining the same accuracy through human validation. AI tools can process and correlate vast amounts of reconnaissance data to identify potential vulnerabilities, but every finding in a dotSec AI-powered pen test is manually verified by an experienced tester before it appears in your report. This eliminates false positives while ensuring the breadth benefits of AI-driven discovery are fully realised.
What types of AI-powered penetration testing does dotSec perform?
dotSec provides AI-augmented testing across all standard engagement types: external network, internal network, web application, API, cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP), mobile application, and authentication system penetration testing. AI capabilities are integrated into our methodology across all engagement types, with particular strengths in attack surface mapping, vulnerability correlation, and intelligent fuzzing. All testing follows established frameworks including the OWASP Testing Guide, NIST SP 800-115, and PTES.
How does AI-powered pen testing support regulatory compliance?
AI-augmented testing directly supports compliance requirements under PCI DSS v4.0 (Requirement 11.4), APRA CPS 234, ISO 27001 (Annex A.18), and the ACSC Essential Eight. The enhanced coverage and faster turnaround of AI-powered testing makes it practical to meet testing frequency requirements while delivering more comprehensive evidence for audit purposes. dotSec’s reports are structured to map findings directly to relevant compliance controls and provide the documentation auditors and regulators expect. Refer to NIST SP 800-53 CA-8 for guidance on penetration testing controls.
Is AI-powered penetration testing suitable for all organisations?
AI-augmented pen testing is suitable for organisations of all sizes and across all industries. For smaller organisations, AI-driven efficiency means more comprehensive testing is achievable within tighter budgets. For larger enterprises and government agencies, AI capabilities extend the depth and breadth of testing across complex, multi-environment infrastructures. dotSec tailors each engagement to match your organisation’s specific risk profile, regulatory requirements, and technology environment, the AI tooling enhances our methodology regardless of scope.
What next?
An AI-augmented penetration test is only the starting point. The real value lies in converting the evidence and insights into practical security improvements that strengthen your organisation’s overall cyber resilience.
With AI-augmented testing, dotSec can help you move beyond point-in-time assessments to build a continuous security improvement programme. Our findings feed directly into actionable workstreams including: remediation planning and tracking, secure configuration and system hardening, identity and access management uplift, log and telemetry improvements for better SOC and SIEM detection, cloud security control validation, network segmentation reviews, and alignment with security baselines such as the ACSC Essential Eight, CIS 18 Critical Security Controls, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS.
Our GRC specialists can align your remediation priorities with your risk register, provide audit-ready evidence, and help you demonstrate measurable improvement in your security maturity over time.
Whether you’re looking for a one-off AI-enhanced pen test or an ongoing security validation program, dotSec has the expertise, tools, and experience to help you move from findings to outcomes.
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