Penetration Testing is the process of replicating cyber-attacks in corporate networks to discover all the possible points of vulnerabilities that hackers can use as backdoors to exploit these networks and steal crucial data.
This process is similar to when a gold shop owner hires a thief to rob his shop. If the thief succeeds, the owner gets an idea of how the shop can be attacked and the steps he can take to avoid this situation.
Why is Penetration Testing Important?
Since penetration testers use the same tools and techniques as a hacker to conduct simulated attacks on a system or network, penetration tests become highly essential for organizations to find and fix security vulnerabilities in their networks.
Benefits of Penetration Testing :
They can identify a range of vulnerabilities present in a single system or an entire network.
They can identify high-risk threats to corporate data that result from a combination of small-scale vulnerabilities.
Penetration test reports provide solutions on how these vulnerabilities can be patched to avoid serious damage.
The 3 main types of Penetration Tests based on transparency:
There are 3 main types of penetration tests that can be conducted depending on the amount of information a company is willing to share with the penetration tester.
White-Box Penetration Testing - In this type of penetration testing, the company provides complete transparency to the tester. this means that the tester has absolute information about the company network and systems ranging from network diagrams to all access credentials. this type of testing is done when an organization wants to know if they are safe from a targeted set of attacks on specific systems. This testing process is less time-consuming due to the ready availability of network information which also makes it the most cost-efficient solution among the three types of penetration tests.
Black-Box Penetration Testing - In this type of penetration testing, the tester has zero knowledge about the network or system they are testing. Therefore, they approach the system like an unauthorized attacker. This is the most authentic demonstration of how an assailant with no prior knowledge of the network can compromise it and steal crucial company information. Since the tester has to conduct all simulations on the network from scratch with prior information, this process is the most time-consuming and expensive among the three types of penetration tests.
Grey-Box Penetration Testing - In this type of penetration testing, the company provides limited information to the penetration tester like certain login credentials. Organizations conduct this type of penetration test when they want to check the type of privileges an authorized user has and the potential damage that can be caused by it. Since these tests maintain a balance between efficiency and authenticity it is the most favored type of penetration test conducted by companies today.
What are the stages in which a penetration test is conducted?
The entire process of a penetration test can be broken down into 6 main stages.
Stage-1 : Reconnaissance
In this stage, the penetration testers aim to obtain as much information as they can about the target system or network. This information includes data like network topology, operating system information, applications used, user accounts created, and more. this information is used to plan an effective attack strategy. there are 2 ways in which data can be gathered.
Passive reconnaissance - here the data is gathered from resources that are already available to the public.
Active reconnaissance - here the penetration tester directly interacts with the target system or network to gather information.
Stage-2 : Scanning
In this stage, the penetration tester utilizes several tools and techniques to recognize all the open ports and network traffic on the target. As open ports pose as potential backdoors for attackers, it is highly important to identify all of them at this stage.
Stage-3 : Vulnerability Assessment
In this stage, the tester uses the information gathered in the previous 2 stages to spot all the potential vulnerabilities and see if they are exploitable. Penetration testers use government resources like NVD (National Vulnerability Database) to define the severity of risk that the identified vulnerabilities possess.
Stage-4 : Exploitation
Once the vulnerabilities are found, the penetration tester enters the exploitation stage where they simulate attacks on the vulnerabilities to gain access into the target system or network. This stage is the most crucial as users need to bypass security restrictions for gaining access to the target. It's important to make sure that the target system does not deal with any type of permanent damage during this stage.
Stage-5 : Reporting
Once the entire penetration test is completed practically, the penetration tester must make sure to document each and every step taken by them to support their findings. this document is used in the final report to suggest possible solutions for the identified vulnerabilities. this report allows the company to implement stronger and more secure security measures.
Following the above-mentioned steps in order is extremely important to conduct an effective and informative penetration test.
It takes just one loose end for an attacker to compromise a system. therefore, as a penetration tester, one must always address all the identified vulnerabilities equally to create an effective security posture.
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