Penetration (pen) testing in simplest terms, is an authorised, simulated attack performed on a computer system to evaluate its security. It is carried out by ethical hackers (or IT companies), using the same techniques that malicious hackers would use, but without causing any damage to the system being tested.
Security flaws can exist in many different areas of a business, including insecure system configuration, authentication and known vulnerabilities. Penetration testing helps to quickly identify any flaws, whilst testing the effectiveness of the organisation’s current defences. Penetration testing is a combination of manual and automated testing, and a variety of tools are used to test a business’s defences.
Why is Penetration Testing Important?
Cyber attacks are not only growing in frequency but also in severity. You only have to look through the news to see a recent attack on Jaguar Land Rover and other huge corporations. Some of these severe attacks are caused by ransomware, phishing and SQL injections but hackers are starting to become more creative in the tools they use.
Penetration testing helps to identify and mitigate cybersecurity threats before they are exploited. Unlike other methods, it doesn’t just discover alters that need investigation, it takes things one step further by finding proven vulnerabilities in the system. This allows IT teams to be proactive in their security approach, reducing the chance of attack.
Another advantage of penetration testing is that several attack vectors are combined in order to gain access to a company’s IT system. This is key as hackers do exactly the same, looking for loopholes that may have been missed by automated security testing.
Penetration Testing Methodologies
Penetration tests are divided into 3 main categories:
- Black box testing – this is when the penetration testing begins without prior knowledge or access permissions to the target environment. Simulating how a malicious attack may be performed, this is the most realistic testing method.
- Grey box testing – the penetration test has limited knowledge and authorised access to the target environment. This may begin with an employee-level understanding of the network, and simulates an attack once access has been gained through compromised credentials, such as phishing.
- White box testing – the penetration tester has full, authorised access to all the information. This type of penetration testing is often fast, but as there will be preconceived ideas about how the system is designed to work, this may cause bias from the penetration tester.
The Phases of Penetration Testing
- Planning: at this stage, as much information as possible is gathered about the target from both public and private sources. This can include things like internet searches, domain registration information retrieval, social engineering and more. This information helps penetration testers to map out the target’s attack surface and any potential vulnerabilities to explore.
- Scanning: penetration testers use tools to examine the target system for weaknesses including open services, application security issues and open source vulnerabilities. This phase also involves analysing / scanning the system to establish how it is likely to respond to the attack.
- Breaching: this is where various strategies, such as SQL injection, are used to bypass any firewalls and breach the system. The penetration tester can then breach the system, taking control of devices or the entire network.
- Maintaining Access: once the penetration tester has gained access to the target, the simulated attack must stay connected for long enough to allow for data extraction to take place.
Penetration Testing Best Practices
Here are some best practices that should be used when carrying out penetration testing on any business:
- Defining the test scope: testing an entire network is rarely practical, so businesses need to prioritise critical and high-risk parts of their network to carry out penetration testing on.
- Identifying and prioritising risks: businesses should identify any areas that pose a greater security risk, commonly these include operating systems, application code and config files.
- Preparation: once a business has identified the areas that need testing, it must prepare for penetration testing. A test review and response team should be created, and automated patches should be scheduled after each test too.
- Employing security services: many organisations can’t directly employ ethical hackers and security specialists, so don’t be afraid of outsourcing this. Professional penetration testing allows customers to access valuable expertise, and is often cheaper than hiring an in-house team.
If you would like to find out more about how Reality Solutions can help when it comes to penetration testing, contact our IT experts today.
*This article contains general information in order to assist all of our customers and is meant for guidance only – there are no guarantees that the information we provide will be suitable for your particular needs. If you require specific assistance, we recommend that you seek professional guidance on your individual circumstances. Reality Solutions are in no way responsible for any loss or damage arising from any information contained within our articles.
