Healthcare

Patient Portal & API Penetration Testing

Patient portals are internet-accessible applications connected directly to sensitive patient information. If a patient can access another patient's records, bypass authentication, or exploit API endpoints to extract data in bulk, the organization faces both a security incident and a compliance event.

High-risk surface

Patient portals are high-value targets because they connect the internet directly to patient data

Unlike internal systems that require network access, patient portals are publicly accessible by design. Every authentication flaw, authorization bypass, or API misconfiguration is directly reachable by anyone on the internet.

Common scope areas

Authentication and login security
Password reset and account recovery flows
Cross-patient record access (IDOR vulnerabilities)
Session management and token security
API endpoint authorization and access control
FHIR and HL7 API security
File upload and document access controls
Staff-level function exposure to patient accounts
Rate limiting and brute-force protections

What the engagement determines

Whether one patient can access another patient's records
Whether authentication can be bypassed or weakened
Whether API endpoints permit unauthorized data access
Whether session tokens can be stolen or reused
Whether staff-level functions are accessible to patients
Whether data can be extracted in bulk through API abuse
Whether password reset flows can be exploited

Patient portal testing must be carefully scoped to avoid accessing real patient data. Testing environments, test accounts, and data handling procedures are defined before any engagement begins.

Validate your patient portal security

Start with a scoping conversation about your portal, APIs, and testing environment.

Schedule a Scoping Call