Penetration testing, or pen testing, in short, refers to a kind of security testing that is routinely utilized for uncovering potential risks, threats, and vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a hacker in web applications, networks, or software applications. The fundamental goal of penetration testing is to diagnose and evaluate all potential security flaws in an IT environment.

The vulnerability can be defined as the likelihood of an attacker securing unauthorized access to a network or disrupting it or its information. Standard vulnerabilities comprise configuration errors, software bugs, and design errors. Penetration analysis is dependent on two key mechanisms, namely, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, or VAPT, in short.

Most Significant Advantages of Penetration Testing

Here are the key advantages of penetration testing –

• Periodic penetration testing helps business enterprise ensure that their systems are secure, particularly in financial settings, including stock trading exchanges and investment banking facilities.
• Penetration testing can also prove to be immensely useful in the event the system has already been compromised, and the company wishes to evaluate if there are potential threats present in the network for preventing future attacks.
• The most effective and frequently recommended measure against hackers happens to be proactive penetration testing.

Penetration Testing Types

The kind of penetration testing that a business requires depends on the scope and if any organization is planning to mimic an attack initiated by an external source, internal sources or network administrator, or any of the employees.

Different types of Penetration Testing

Here are three main types of penetration testing –

Black Box

The tester does not possess any previous knowledge of the system in a black box testing and is only accountable for gathering data about the network that you intend to examine.

White Box

In a white box testing, the tester is typically provided with all the necessary information about the system or network that you are planning to check, including operating system details, source code, and internet protocol address schema, to name a few.

Gray Box

The tester has limited information about the system in gray box testing. It is similar to an attack that is initiated by an external source, such as a hacker who has secured unauthorized access to the network infrastructure records of your organization.

Essential Steps to Perform Penetration Testing

Here are the essential steps that must be performed for penetration testing –

Planning Phase

• Strategy and scope of the planned testing are prepared.
• Prevailing standards and security policies are referred to define the scope.

Discovery Phase

• System information is accumulated as much as possible, including system data, passwords, and usernames.
• Going forward, scanning and probing of the system ports are done.
• Checks for any existing vulnerabilities in the system are finally executed.

Attack Phase

• Exploits for different vulnerabilities are figured out.

Reporting Phase

• Detailed findings are collated into a report.
• The report covers the risks of system vulnerabilities exposed during penetration testing and how they are to affect the business.
• Solution and recommendations for addressing security issues are also discussed in the report.

Key Principles Utilized in Penetration Testing for Accumulating System Information

The primary job of penetration testing is to collect system information, and it can be done in any of the following two ways –

One to Many or One to One

The penetration testing is executed in a linear fashion against a logical cluster of target hosts, such as a subnet or a single target host.

Many to Many or Many to One

The penetration testing is performed on multiple hosts, and information accumulation techniques are executed in a non-linear, random, and rate-limited manner.

Considerations for Penetration Testers

Penetration testers should consider following points when planning the testing –

• Testers should gather necessary information from the company to implement penetration testing.
• They should diagnose potential vulnerabilities in the system that could allow a hacker to target one or more machines in the network.
• The thought process and act of penetration testers should simulate those of hackers, albeit from an ethical perspective.
• Penetration tester should be capable of reproducing their work so that the developers get an opportunity to fix it.
• Both the commencement date and cessation date of penetration testing should be finalized beforehand.
• The concerned testers should be answerable for any information loss or other kind of loss in the network or system in the time of penetration testing.
• Penetration testers should ensure the confidentiality of information and data.

Summary

Penetration testing can be regarded as a cyber-security exercise performed by a network veteran to discover and reveal potential vulnerabilities in the system. In order to ensure a successful Penetration Testing exercise, not only careful planning is important but test objectives should also be very clearly defined.

Zenmid’s Penetration Testing services can help you assess and improve security posture of your business. If you would like to learn more about your services, feel free to send email to [email protected] or schedule free consultation.