What is Penetration testing? Why Your Business Needs it?

What is Penetration testing? Why Your Business Needs Penetration Testing?

Swami nathan

Comments are off for this post

WHAT IS A PENETRATION TEST?

Penetration Testing also known as ethical or white hat hacking detects IT security flaws proactively. The objective is to identify and secure them before damage is done by malicious forces.

Do not confuse penetration testing with vulnerability scanning, which is an automated process that searches for known vulnerabilities.

While in any solid cyber hygiene policy, both measures have long played a valuable role, our increasingly digitised world makes them a necessity. Mobile apps are seen as security’s Achilles heel, with mobile device attacks and rising apps.

In fact, it is clear that banks are a priority, as seven of the largest banks in the UK are forced to shut down their network.

In your organization’s vulnerability evaluation and mitigation processes, penetration testing should be treated as a tool for achieving confidence, not as a primary method for finding vulnerabilities.

It should be considered that a penetration test is equivalent to a financial audit. Your finance team keeps track of day-to-day spending and income. The independent community review guarantees that the procedures of your internal team are sufficient.

What are the types of penetration testing?

Penetration testing is typically categorised into three categories by industry experts: black box testing, white box testing, and grey box testing. The classes refer to various types of attacks or threats to cybersecurity.

Black box penetration testing

it is a brute force attack, that is a hacker who is unaware of the scope and function of the IT infrastructure of a business try to identify and exploit a weakness by launching an all-out attack. The penetration test does not provide information about a web application, its source code, or any structure of technology to the tester. To see where the flaws reside in the IT infrastructure, the tester uses a “trial and error” strategy. This method of penetration testing imitates a real-world scenario quite closely, but it may take a long time to complete.

White box penetration testing

it is just opposite to black box testing. In this method the tester has full knowledge of the IT infrastructure, including links to a web application’s source code and computer architecture. It gives them the ability to home in on particular parts of the system and perform systematic monitoring and evaluation of components. It is a method that is faster than black box testing. White box penetration analysis, however uses more advanced pen evaluation methods such as analyzers of software code or debugging programs

Grey box penetration testing

Gray box testing is used when the tester has limited knowledge of the internal IT system this method uses both manual and automated testing methods. For example, the tester may receive the software code, but not the specifics of the system architecture. Grey box penetration testing is a combination of white box and black box testing that allows a user to use automated tools on the all-out attack while concentrating their manual effort on “safety holes.”

These overarching types of testing methods for penetration can be further subdivided into specific categories.

Social engineering tests: This pen test scenario aims to disclose sensitive information to an employee or a third party, such as a password, business data, or other user data. This can be achieved through the mobile or internet targeting of help desks or sales representatives.
Web application testing: uses software to assess web apps and software programmes’ security vulnerability.
Physical penetration tests: mostly used in government sites or other safe buildings, attempts to access physical network equipment and access points in a violation of mock security.
Network services check: This is the most common pen test scenario where a client tries to locate network holes whether locally or remotely.
Client-side test: This is when the bugs of client-side software programmes are being abused by an MSP.
Wireless safety test: identifies and attempts to infiltrate open, unauthorised or low-security hotspots and WiFi networks.

All forms of penetration testing must be taken into account in an IT infrastructure’s internal and external components. There are various steps of a penetration test to ensure a systematic and regularly updated approach to the cybersecurity of an enterprise.

The Penetration Testing Process

The experts conduct penetration tests that realistically simulate a cyber attacker’s behaviour to identify potential vulnerabilities in your infrastructure or applications ‘ integrity. Usually, penetration tests are conducted outside your network, but we can also check within your network to simulate attacks from insiders. Regular penetration testing for all smart businesses is now an essential operational requirement.

Our experts will advise on how to fix such flaws so that you can take a constructive approach and make improvements before leveraging them.

We are following a process in four stages:

PRE-ENGAGEMENT ASSESSMENT

We work with you to identify the critical applications, systems and networks that are to be included in the penetration test programme.

EXECUTION OF PENETRATION TEST

Our experienced team’s hands-on interactive testing includes a wide range of attack methodologies including target profiling, target enumeration, hands-on manual testing, smart exploit attacks, and business logic application analysis.

Our expert team uses a concept called “Purple Teaming” with a mix of both’ red’ and’ blue’ teams to exchange intelligence data and ensure identification of all attack techniques. This method gives the company a better, deeper assurance operation that adds value.

Our Red and Blue teams are working closely together to maximise efficiency and provide a more reliable and flexible operation. The attacks and threats the company were carried out by our red team. With the current security and facilities, you have in place, our blue team fights the attacks.

REPORTING

Our team of specialists will give you a full report of all identified issues, graded by critical, including how we found them, how serious they are, and how they compare with other companies in your industry.

POST TESTING

We will provide you with a step-by-step insight into what you can do to address any areas that we identify as vulnerable. The in-house IT team or our technical assurance team can make improvements.

How long does a pen test take?

It may take one to three weeks to perform a penetration test. The amount of time it takes for a penetration test to be completed depends on the type of test, the size and number of systems being tested and the strength of your current cyber security. It’s not a phase you can want to hurry, as the idea is to report any vulnerabilities thoroughly.

How is penetration testing done?

Penetration testing tools can provide the input needed to complete the overall assessment of cybersecurity. Pen test applications check data encryption methods and test logins and passwords to verify security vulnerabilities. They look like some of the tools that a real hacker would use to try to infiltrate the system. Automated tools are useful for testing penetration of Black Box and Grey Box.

There are several types of testing tools for penetration, including port scanners, vulnerability scanners, and system scanners. Port scanners work remotely to capture a target’s personal information and data. In both network hosts and overall networks, vulnerability scanners will look for known vulnerabilities. Weaknesses in web-based applications are tested by software scanners. But if you want to use a penetration tool, when choosing your code or programme, there are some key features to test.

While it is possible to perform your own penetration testing, this is not the most successful way to proceed as it is time-consuming, difficult to perform, and requires in-depth knowledge and safety skills. But if you want to use a penetration tool, when choosing your code or programme, there are some key features to test.

Make sure that the software is easy to deploy and customise to match your unique needs when choosing a penetration tool. The penetration tool should be able to easily scan your system and check any previous red flags. Depending on their severity, the system should be able to categorise and rate vulnerabilities, prioritising what needs to be immediately fixed. An automation element should be in place which tests vulnerabilities for you, creating comprehensive logs.

What are the Business Benefits?

Performing regular tests can allow your business to:

Protect the profits and credibility of your company by detecting vulnerabilities before they are exploited by cyber attackers.
Make more efficient use of resources and prioritise security investments.
Achieve most cyber security frameworks and accreditations as routine penetration testing is often required.
Gain independent confidence that risks are secured against your information systems, data and assets.
Gain competitive edge and meet contract criteria when bidding for new jobs.

Why Teceze for Penetration testing?

Our penetration testing consultants are certified by leading standards bodies such as CREST, QSA, PCI DSS, PA-QSA, IASME, CISSP, CISA, CISM, OSCP, SANS-GIAC and CEH;
we enjoy high rates of customer retention for this service;
We communicate clearly – our mission is to manage the cyber threats so you don’t have to, and we will communicate any concerns and suggestions for remediation in a transparent and terminology-free manner.
We have the skills and talent in our teams to rectify and define the risks.

The only way to protect what you’ve worked hard to build is to be vigilant when it comes to cybersecurity. If you’d like to know more about how your business can benefit from managed services, just give us a call, we are here to help.