Pentesting, or penetration testing, can help your company improve its security posture, comply with regulations, satisfy stakeholder requirements, and protect its reputation and assets. In this article, we will explain what pentesting is, how it works, what types are there, and what benefits it can bring to your company.
What is pentesting?
Penetration testing is a method of evaluating the security of your company’s IT environment by mimicking the actions and techniques of real hackers. Pentesters, or ethical hackers, use various tools and methods to probe your networks, systems, applications, and devices for weaknesses that could be exploited by malicious actors.
It can be performed manually or automatically, internally or externally, with or without prior knowledge of the target environment. Pentesting can also be conducted in different scopes and depths, depending on the objectives and scope of the test.
How does pentesting work?
Pentesting typically follows a standard process that consists of the following phases:
Planning: This phase involves defining the objectives, scope, timeline, and methodology of the pentest. It also involves obtaining the necessary permissions and contracts from the stakeholders.
Reconnaissance: This phase involves gathering information about the target environment, such as its architecture, configuration, services, users, and vulnerabilities. This can be done passively (without interacting with the target) or actively (by sending probes or queries to the target).
Exploitation: This phase involves attempting to exploit the vulnerabilities found in the previous phase by using various techniques such as brute-forcing passwords, injecting code, bypassing authentication, escalating privileges, etc.
Post-exploitation: This phase involves maintaining access to the compromised system or network, extracting data, installing backdoors or malware, pivoting to other systems or networks, etc.
Reporting: This phase involves documenting and presenting the findings and recommendations of the pentest in a clear and concise manner. The report should include details such as the objectives, scope, methodology, vulnerabilities, exploits, impacts, evidence, and remediation steps.
What types of pentesting are there?
Pentesting can be classified into different types based on various criteria such as:
The perspective of the pentester: This criterion determines whether the pentester has any prior knowledge of the target environment or not. There are three main types based on this criterion:
- Black-box pentesting: The pentester has no prior knowledge of the target environment and acts like an external hacker.
- White-box pentesting: The pentester has full knowledge of the target environment and acts like an internal hacker.
- Gray-box pentesting: The pentester has partial knowledge of the target environment and acts like a privileged user or a third-party contractor.
The location of the pentester: This criterion determines whether the pentester performs the test from inside or outside the target network. There are two main types based on this criterion:
- Internal pentesting: The pentester performs the test from inside the target network and acts like an insider threat.
- External pentesting: The pentester performs the test from outside the target network and acts like an outsider threat.
The focus of the pentester: This criterion determines whether the pentester tests a specific component or a whole system. There are many types based on this criterion such as:
- Network pentesting: The pentester tests the security of network devices such as routers, switches, firewalls;
- Application pentesting: The pentester tests the security of web or mobile applications such as websites;
- Wireless pentesting: The pentester tests the security of wireless networks such as Wi-Fi;
- Physical pentesting: The pentester tests the security of physical access controls such as locks;
- Social engineering pentesting: The pentester tests the security awareness of human users such as employees.
What are the benefits of pentesting?
Protecting customer data: Pentesting can help prevent data breaches that could compromise customer data such as personal information,
Reducing cyber risk: It can help reduce the likelihood and impact of cyberattacks that could disrupt business operations, damage assets, or cause financial losses.
Satisfying stakeholder requirements: Pentesting can help demonstrate compliance with security standards, regulations, or contracts that require regular security testing or audits.
Preserving the organization’s image and reputation: Pentesting can help avoid negative publicity, lawsuits, or fines that could result from security incidents or breaches.
Assessing an organization’s compliance: Pentesting can help evaluate the alignment of security policies, procedures, and controls with best practices or frameworks such as NIST, ISO, PCI DSS, HIPAA, etc.
Boosting employee awareness of security protocols: It can help educate and train employees on security issues, threats, and countermeasures.
Evaluating the effectiveness of incident response plans: Pentesting can help test and improve the readiness and capability of the organization to detect, contain, and recover from security incidents or breaches.
Ensuring business continuity: It can help ensure the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of critical systems and data that support business functions and processes.
Identifying vulnerabilities in networks and systems so they may be fixed or addressed: Pentesting can help discover and prioritize security weaknesses that could be exploited by hackers.
Identifying vulnerabilities in policies and procedures: Pentesting can help uncover and correct security gaps or flaws in security governance, management, or operations.
To sum up
By simulating real-world cyberattacks on your company’s networks, systems, applications, and devices, pentesting can help you identify and exploit vulnerabilities before malicious hackers do, and provide recommendations on how to fix or mitigate them.
Data Core Systems is a professional cybersecurity company that can provide you with high-quality pentesting services tailored to your needs and budget. We have a team of experienced and certified pentesters who can perform various types of pentests using various tools and methods. We also provide you with comprehensive and clear reports that include the findings and recommendations of the pentest. We can help you improve your security posture, comply with regulations, satisfy stakeholder requirements, and protect your reputation and assets. If you are interested in pentesting services for your company, you can contact us at office@datacoresystems.ro.