Penetration testing, or pentesting (not to be confused with testing ballpoint or fountain pens), involves simulating real attacks to assess the risk associated with potential security breaches. On a pentest (as opposed to a vulnerability assessment), the testers not only discover vulnerabilities that could be used by attackers but also exploit vulnerabilities, where possible, to assess what attackers might gain after a successful exploitation.
From time to time, a news story breaks about a major company being hit by a cyberattack. More often than not, the attackers didn’t use the latest and greatest zero-day (a vulnerability unpatched by the software publishers). Major companies with sizable security budgets fall victim to SQL injection vulnerabilities on their websites, social-engineering attacks against employees, weak passwords on Internet-facing services, and so on. In other words, companies are losing proprietary data and exposing their clients’ personal details through security holes that could have been fixed.
On a penetration test, we find these issues before an attacker does, and we recommend how to fix them and avoid future vulnerabilities. The scope of your pentests will vary from client to client, as will your tasks. Some clients will have an excellent security posture, while others will have vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to breach the perimeter and gain access to internal systems. You may also be tasked with assessing one or many custom web applications.
You may perform social-engineering and client-side attacks to gain access to a client’s internal network. Some pentests will require you to act like an insider—a malicious employee or attacker who has already breached the perimeter—as you perform an internal penetration test. Some clients will request an external penetration test, in which you simulate an attack via the Internet. And some clients may want you to assess the security of the wireless networks in their office. In some cases, you may even audit a client’s physical security controls.
the stages of the Penetration test Pentesting begins with the pre-engagement phase, which involves talking to the client about their goals for the pentest, mapping out the scope (the extent and parameters of the test), and so on. When the pentester and the client agree about scope, reporting format, and other topics, the actual testing begins. In the information-gathering phase, the pentester searches for publicly available information about the client and identifies potential ways to connect to its systems. In the threat-modeling phase, the tester uses this information to determine the value of each finding and the impact to the client if the finding permitted an attacker to break into a system.
This evaluation allows the pentester to develop an action plan and methods of attack. Before the pentester can start attacking systems, he or she performs a vulnerability analysis. In this phase, the pentester attempts to discover vulnerabilities in the systems that can be taken advantage of in the exploitation phase. A successful exploit might lead to a post-exploitation phase, where the result of the exploitation is leveraged to find additional information, sensitive data, access to other systems, and so on. Finally, in the reporting phase, the pentester summarizes the findings for both executives and technical practitioners.
From time to time, a news story breaks about a major company being hit by a cyberattack. More often than not, the attackers didn’t use the latest and greatest zero-day (a vulnerability unpatched by the software publishers). Major companies with sizable security budgets fall victim to SQL injection vulnerabilities on their websites, social-engineering attacks against employees, weak passwords on Internet-facing services, and so on. In other words, companies are losing proprietary data and exposing their clients’ personal details through security holes that could have been fixed.
On a penetration test, we find these issues before an attacker does, and we recommend how to fix them and avoid future vulnerabilities. The scope of your pentests will vary from client to client, as will your tasks. Some clients will have an excellent security posture, while others will have vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to breach the perimeter and gain access to internal systems. You may also be tasked with assessing one or many custom web applications.
You may perform social-engineering and client-side attacks to gain access to a client’s internal network. Some pentests will require you to act like an insider—a malicious employee or attacker who has already breached the perimeter—as you perform an internal penetration test. Some clients will request an external penetration test, in which you simulate an attack via the Internet. And some clients may want you to assess the security of the wireless networks in their office. In some cases, you may even audit a client’s physical security controls.
the stages of the Penetration test Pentesting begins with the pre-engagement phase, which involves talking to the client about their goals for the pentest, mapping out the scope (the extent and parameters of the test), and so on. When the pentester and the client agree about scope, reporting format, and other topics, the actual testing begins. In the information-gathering phase, the pentester searches for publicly available information about the client and identifies potential ways to connect to its systems. In the threat-modeling phase, the tester uses this information to determine the value of each finding and the impact to the client if the finding permitted an attacker to break into a system.
This evaluation allows the pentester to develop an action plan and methods of attack. Before the pentester can start attacking systems, he or she performs a vulnerability analysis. In this phase, the pentester attempts to discover vulnerabilities in the systems that can be taken advantage of in the exploitation phase. A successful exploit might lead to a post-exploitation phase, where the result of the exploitation is leveraged to find additional information, sensitive data, access to other systems, and so on. Finally, in the reporting phase, the pentester summarizes the findings for both executives and technical practitioners.
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