Firewall Configuration Review
A firewall rule base is a document nobody has read end to end since it was written. We read it, then test whether the network agrees with it, because the two diverge more often than anyone expects. CREST-certified testers, fixed price from £1,940, scoped in 24 hours.
- Unlimited retesting
- No rescheduling or cancellation fees
- Fixed quote within 24 hours
“I would highly recommend EJN Labs to any organisation seeking reliable, detailed, and well-managed penetration testing services, particularly for government or enterprise-level projects.”
Imran SaghirProject Lead, SquareOne“There wasn’t another company we could find that could deliver what we needed in the timeframe we needed. The client loved it, and we got instant ROI from the engagement.”
Dan WilcocksonCo-Founder, CelloriRule bases accumulate. A temporary permit for a project in 2021 is still there, an any-any rule sits above the specific ones that were supposed to replace it, and several hundred rules have never matched a packet. Nobody removes anything because nobody is certain what depends on it.
Why the rule base and the network disagree
So we do two things. We read the configuration and analyse it properly: shadowed rules, redundant rules, overly broad objects, and permits that nobody can justify. Then we verify the important conclusions by testing traffic, because the effective policy is what the device does rather than what the export says.
Segmentation is the part that matters most. If the rule base claims the card environment, the server VLAN or the OT network is isolated, that claim is testable, and auditors increasingly expect it to have been tested rather than asserted. Examples of the platforms we review include Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cisco, SonicWall, WatchGuard and others.
ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS and Cyber Essentials Plus audits accept manual penetration test evidence. Scan-only evidence is generally insufficient.
RULES, SEGMENTATION + MANAGEMENT
What we actually review on a firewall estate
Rule base analysis and hands-on verification across permits, segmentation, management plane exposure, logging and firmware currency.
Rule base analysis
Every rule reviewed for scope and justification, any-any and overly permissive permits, shadowed and redundant rules, unused rules and objects, and rules with no logging or no business owner.
Segmentation verification
Traffic tested between the segments the policy claims are separated, including card environment, server, user and management networks, to establish whether the isolation is real or documentary.
Management plane exposure
Whether management interfaces are reachable from user networks or the internet, administrative authentication and multi-factor enforcement, default and shared accounts, and API access.
Firmware and known vulnerabilities
Device firmware version against known exploited vulnerabilities, particularly on internet-facing appliances, and whether any published issue is reachable in your configuration.
NAT, routing and asymmetry
NAT rule review for unintended inbound exposure, routing that bypasses inspection, asymmetric paths, and whether any traffic reaches an internal host without traversing policy.
Logging and change control
What is logged and retained, whether denied traffic is recorded, configuration backup and change management, and whether an unauthorised rule change would be detected.
METHODOLOGY
Firewall Configuration Review: From Scope to Attestation
CREST-aligned methodology built on OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, OWASP ASVS, NIST SP 800-115, and PTES. Each finding maps to all four standards plus your specific compliance regime.
Reconnaissance
Application mapping, technology fingerprinting, content discovery, parameter enumeration, authentication-flow analysis, role-matrix construction.
Vulnerability Assessment
Authenticated and unauthenticated automated scanning across every user role, plus targeted manual checks for known weakness patterns.
Manual Exploitation
Hands-on testing by a CREST-certified pentester. Business-logic exploitation, chained vulnerabilities, privilege escalation, impact validation.
Reporting + Retest
Executive summary, technical report with CVSS scores and reproduction steps, walkthrough call, free retest after remediation, attestation letter.
CREDENTIALS
Verified Accreditations Auditors Accept
Every credential below is independently verifiable. UK procurement teams, FCA supervisors, ISO 27001 / SOC 2 auditors, and cyber insurance underwriters all recognise these standards.
GET YOUR QUOTE
Get a CREST firewall review pen test quote in 24 hours
A fixed-price quote back in one business day, from a named CREST assessor. No sales pipeline, no chasing.
- CREST and IASME accredited. Testing your auditors and clients already recognise.
- Fast-track testing within 24 hours where required. Free retest of every fix included.
- Live findings via your client portal, not a four-week PDF.
- Fixed price from £3,500 for a single-role, single-app scope, agreed up front. Most engagements run £5,000 and up. No day-rate surprises.
Dan WilcocksonCo-Founder, CelloriUnder NDA Further named references available on a scoping call.
- We reply within one business day with a fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
- You approve the scope and we book a start date, usually within 24 hours.
- Live findings land in your client portal as we test, with a free retest of every fix.
Get your fixed pen test quote in 24 hours
Quote request received
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COMPLIANCE READY
Reports Mapped to Every Framework
Findings are explicitly tagged to the relevant control reference. Your audit team submits the report directly without translation work.
ISO 27001:2022
Annex A.8.8 management of technical vulnerabilities plus A.5.15-5.18 and A.8.2-8.5 access control validation.
SOC 2 Type I & II
CC6 logical access, CC7 system operations, CC8 change management evidence.
PCI DSS
Requirement 11.4 application penetration testing across cardholder data environments, including ecommerce penetration testing for online retail platforms.
FCA SYSC
SYSC 4.1.1R, 6.1.1R, 13 mapped to each finding for FCA-regulated firms.
UK GDPR
Article 32 effectiveness testing, customer-data security controls, ICO-acceptable evidence.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Direct certification through our IASME body status, single-vendor delivery.
PRICING
Transparent Firewall Configuration Review Pricing
Pricing depends on app complexity, user-role count, business-logic depth, and integration surface. The day count flexes; the included deliverables stay the same across all engagements.
1 to 2 testing days
Single user role, basic CRUD application, marketing website with auth. Around 5 working days from kickoff to report.
Get a fixed quote2 to 3 testing days
Multi-role SaaS, business application with payment integration. Around 8 to 12 working days from kickoff to report.
Get a fixed quote3 to 5 testing days
Multi-tenant platform, complex authorisation matrix, integration-heavy applications. Around 15 to 20 working days from kickoff to report.
Get a fixed quotePart of Technologies We Pen Test. These are examples of the stacks we publish pages for, not a complete list. If yours is not here we still test it. Related pages:
BY SECTOR
Firewall Configuration Review for Your Sector
Sector-specialist scoping for UK businesses with sector-specific compliance regimes and threat models.
Fintech & FCA-Regulated
FCA SYSC, Open Banking FAPI 1.0, PSD2 SCA, payment-flow scrutiny, KYC/AML testing.
Fintech sector pageSaaS Companies
SOC 2 Type I & II evidence, multi-tenant boundaries, role escalation, customer-tenant isolation.
SaaS sector pageLaw Firms
SRA Cyber Standard, privileged data, conveyancing fraud defence, partner-tier procurement.
Law firm sector pageHealthcare
NHS DTAC, DSP Toolkit v6, UK GDPR Article 32, EHR systems, telehealth platforms.
Healthcare sector pageInsurance
FCA / PRA Operational Resilience, cyber underwriting, claims data, broker portals.
Insurance sector pagePublic Sector
CCS / G-Cloud framework, NCSC-aligned, citizen-facing services, PSN-compliance scrutiny.
Public sector pageWHY EJN LABS
What You Get From Firewall Configuration Review
Six concrete differentiators competitors don’t all match.
CREST-Certified Testers, Verifiable
Every test by a CREST-certified pen tester (CRT, CCT APP, CCT INF where applicable). Verify our company status at crest-approved.org.
24-Hour Startup, Where Required
From signed scope to active testing in a single business day for incident response, audit deadlines, or regulator-driven timelines.
Live Findings, Not 4-Week PDFs
Critical issues reported during testing through your client portal. Your team remediates while testing continues.
Audit-Ready Reports
Executive summary plus full technical report with CVSS scores and explicit framework mappings (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, FCA SYSC).
Free Retests, Standard
Verify remediation of every finding before close-out. Letter of attestation for audit submission included. Most competitors charge £1,500-£3,000 per retest.
UK-Based CREST Testers
Every engagement performed by vetted, UK-based CREST-certified testers, matched to your needs, security clearance, and compliance scope.
FAQ
Frequently Asked
Is this the same as the old firewall and VPN page?
We have split them, because they are two different purchases. This covers the rule base and the device. VPN penetration testing covers remote access authentication, tunnelling and client exposure, and many clients scope both.
Do you need the configuration export?
It makes the review far more thorough. We can work from testing alone, which establishes the effective policy but not the reasoning behind it, and the combination of export plus verification is what produces actionable findings.
Which vendors do you cover?
Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cisco, SonicWall, WatchGuard and others among them. These are examples rather than a complete list: the analysis is vendor-neutral and we review whatever you run.
Will you disrupt traffic?
No. Review is read-only and segmentation verification uses ordinary traffic rather than volume or denial testing. Anything with a risk of disruption is agreed with you first.
Does this satisfy PCI DSS?
It supports Requirement 1 and the segmentation testing expectation directly, and findings are mapped accordingly, along with ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials.
20+ CREST-accredited testing services in one place
Web, mobile, API, cloud, AI, infrastructure, red team. Pick the test that fits your environment.
Get a fixed price for your firewall review
Tell us how many devices and roughly how many rules, and whether you can share a configuration export. Fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor within one business day.
