A Brief Guide to Penetration Testing
Penetration Testing: Essence and Significance
Penetration testing is conducted to detect vulnerabilities in a network, server, or software by simulating a cyberattack against them. Penetration testing specialists determine whether a hacker attack, such as man-in-the-middle, SQL injection, null byte injection, cross-site scripting, and others, could undermine an organization's cybersecurity level. Thus, penetration testing allows identifying security flaws before hackers can cause damage. Moreover, penetration testing provides an independent, impartial assessment of the security of the entire IT environment or its individual parts, along with recommendations for improving IT component security.
Types of Penetration Testing
Penetration testing can be carried out according to three models:
- Black-box testing model – testers only know the target location, simulating a typical attacker unfamiliar with the target system.
- White-box testing model – testers gain access to important information, including internal IP addresses, software and hardware used in the tested IT systems.
- Gray-box testing model – testers receive some information about the system, such as login credentials. This is the most common type of penetration testing as it offers a fair balance of cost, speed, and effort.
Additionally, definitions can be given:
External penetration tests, meaning that the ethical hacker has no access to the corporate network but possesses information gathered from open sources or uses employee data. Therefore, testers will strive to obtain as much data as possible from open sources, which will help them understand the organization's structure and choose appropriate tools and strategies to detect vulnerabilities.
Internal penetration tests assume that the attacker has access to the company's network but does not have administrative rights in any of the systems.
How Does Penetration Testing Work?
The penetration testing process includes:
1. Preparation
- Deciding on the goals and scope of the penetration testing work.
- Creating scenarios for simulating attacks.
- Selecting the penetration testing model (black box, white box, gray box).
2. Penetration Testing
- Automated scanning and manual vulnerability hunting.
- Exploitation of discovered vulnerabilities.
- Recording and describing the results.
3. Reporting
- Summarizing test results.
- Creating a comprehensive penetration testing report.
- Consulting on countermeasures.
4. Retesting
- Replaying the pseudo-attack to verify how correctly the found vulnerabilities have been remediated.
Why Is Regular Pentesting Necessary?
IT infrastructure and applications change along with the growing needs of the company's business. Consequently, the risk of information leakage and unauthorized access may increase. Regular penetration testing helps neutralize potential threats. Even if risks don't need to be eliminated, it is necessary to regularly conduct penetration tests to counter the evolution of external cyberattacks.
Cost of Penetration Testing
To conduct penetration testing, it will almost certainly be necessary to hire a penetration testing company. The required cost can vary greatly depending on the number and complexity of tested targets, the testing model, the qualifications of the testers, etc.
Strengthening Cybersecurity with Penetration Testing
Penetration testing is an effective way to assess how well the IT security measures implemented in your organization work against cyberattacks. The penetration testing report describes the testing methodology, objects, discovered vulnerabilities, and provides recommendations for their remediation. It should also be considered that the results obtained depend on the qualifications of the testers and the tools used. When looking for a reliable penetration testing partner, you should ensure that the company under consideration has sufficient experience in this field, qualified ethical hackers on staff, and a developed information security management system.