State and Local Government
How far could one compromised account travel across shared services?
Questions worth testing across departments.
Can a foothold in one department reach another department's systems?
Shared directories and flat networks can erase the boundaries on the org chart.
Which legacy systems still trust newer ones, or the other way round?
Old integrations tend to keep their access long after the people who set them up have moved on.
What is reachable from the services residents use?
Public-facing portals are the most likely starting point, so we test from there.
What evidence will a council, board, or auditor need?
We write up the route, the fix, and the retest so non-technical decision makers can follow them.
Testing that fits public-sector realities.
Authority, timing, and reporting are agreed for each department in scope.
- Written authorization for each department and system in scope
- Testing windows that protect essential services
- Reporting that supports budget and procurement conversations
- Retest results you can share with oversight bodies
An example route from a resident portal across departments.
An illustrative example, not a customer finding. It shows how a path is recorded from first model to retest.
Path record: illustrative example
Not customer data. No live values.
Example route
- Entry pointResident-facing permit portalPossible, not a finding
- HopDepartment administrator accountPossible, not a finding
- HopShared county directoryPossible, not a finding
- ObjectiveFinance and payroll systemsPossible, not a finding
Modeled · Ethos
A possible route from the permit portal to finance systems is identified from known context. Not yet a finding.
- Modeled: possible, not a finding
- Confirmed by an operator, with evidence
- Where your team broke the route
A retest shows whether this specific route still works. It is not a guarantee that no other route exists.
Test across departments. Keep the record current.
Scope and cadence follow from the outcome you need. Some questions are answered by a bounded penetration test of the connections you are most concerned about. Where vendors, systems, and accounts keep changing, Ethos keeps the same record current so Hoplite operators can return to the paths that matter. We recommend the fit once we understand what you need to prove.
- Scope and rules agreed with your teams
- Confirmed paths with evidence
- Modeled paths kept apart from findings
- Retest under agreed terms
Tell us which departments share what.
We will talk through shared services, authorization, and the evidence your stakeholders need, then suggest a scope.