Case Study · Technology & Climate-Tech
$100M California-Based Climate-Tech Company
How a $100M climate-tech company strengthened cloud, web, and mobile security with Fortrex penetration testing.
The Challenge
A $100M California-based climate-tech company delivers AI-driven analytics through cloud-native platforms, web applications, and mobile applications that support critical infrastructure and customer operations.
As the company scaled its technology and customer base, it relied on penetration testing to validate its security posture and meet customer and compliance expectations. While the company had engaged penetration testing vendors in the past, leadership identified growing gaps between testing outcomes and real-world risk.
“Our previous penetration tests checked a box, but they didn't reflect how our platforms actually operate or how an attacker would target them.”
Key challenges included:
- Penetration tests that relied heavily on automated scanning with limited manual validation
- Repetitive, low-impact findings that did not improve security posture
- Limited understanding of cloud architecture and shared responsibility models
- Web and mobile applications tested in isolation, without assessing attack paths across platforms
- Findings that lacked context, prioritization, and clear remediation guidance
- Inconsistent testing approaches and reporting across cloud, web, and mobile assets
As the company prepared for continued growth and increased customer scrutiny, it needed a penetration testing partner that could deliver depth, accuracy, and actionable insight, not just a compliance artifact.
The Solution
The company engaged Fortrex to perform comprehensive penetration testing across its cloud environment, web applications, and mobile applications.
Fortrex applied a threat-driven, attacker-focused methodology designed to mirror real-world attack scenarios against modern cloud-native architectures.
“We wanted a partner who understood our technology and could test it the way attackers actually would.”
Fortrex delivered:
- Manual, in-depth penetration testing across cloud infrastructure, web applications, and mobile applications
- Testing aligned to the company's architecture, data flows, and business use cases
- Validation of identity, access controls, and privilege boundaries within the cloud environment
- Assessment of attack paths across web, mobile, and API layers
- Clear prioritization of findings based on exploitability and business impact
- Ongoing collaboration with security and engineering teams throughout the engagement
The approach focused on identifying realistic exploitation paths rather than isolated vulnerabilities.
The Results
Deeper visibility into real-world risk
Fortrex identified meaningful security risks that had not been surfaced by prior vendors, providing the company with a clearer understanding of how attackers could target its platforms.
Improved cloud security assurance
Testing validated cloud identity controls, access boundaries, and configuration assumptions, strengthening confidence in the cloud environment.
Unified view across cloud, web, and mobile
By testing systems together rather than in isolation, the company gained insight into how vulnerabilities could be chained across platforms.
Actionable findings for engineering teams
Findings were clearly explained, validated, and prioritized, enabling faster remediation and reducing friction between security and engineering teams.
Stronger customer and compliance assurance
The company was able to demonstrate a mature penetration testing approach aligned to real threats, supporting customer security reviews and compliance requirements.
Improved long-term security posture
Penetration testing evolved from a compliance exercise into a meaningful security control supporting ongoing risk reduction.
“Fortrex delivered penetration testing that actually reflected our technology and threat landscape. The findings were clear, relevant, and immediately actionable.”
Security Leader
$100M California-Based Climate-Tech Company
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