What Is Penetration Testing?
Organizations can define penetration testing by what it is meant to assess. That includes all networks, applications, devices, and physical security components. It mimics the actions of malicious actors. Experienced cybersecurity experts leverage penetration testing to improve a company’s security posture and remove any vulnerabilities that leave it open to attack.
When appropriately done, penetration testing goes beyond merely stopping criminals from unauthorized access to a company’s systems. It creates real-world scenarios that show businesses how well their current defenses would fare when confronted with a full-scale cyber attack.
The five main types of penetration testing are targeted testing, internal testing, external testing, blind testing, and double-blind testing. Each type of testing gives an attacker a different level of access to an organization’s system and applications.
Here are two examples of penetration tests:
- Providing a team of pen testers with an organization’s office address and telling them to attempt to enter their systems. The different techniques the team could use to break into the system include social engineering (asking a lower-level staffer to conduct safety checks) and complex application-specific attacks.
- A pen tester could be granted access to a version of a web application that has not yet been utilized and then try to break in and launch an attack.
When an organization performs penetration testing depends on multiple factors, including:
- Online presence size
- Company budget
- Regulation and compliance
- Whether or not an organization’s IT infrastructure is in the cloud
Why Do I Need a Penetration Test?
Penetration tests let companies evaluate the overall security of their IT infrastructure. A company may have robust security protocols in one area but be lacking in another. The high cost of a successful cyber attack means no company should wait for a real-world scenario to play out before going on offense. Using penetration testing tools to expose holes in a business’s security layer allows security experts and Pen Testers to address any shortcomings before they become critical liabilities.
- Test Security Controls — Gain insights into the overall health of your application, network, and physical security layers.
- Find Real-World Vulnerabilities — Expose endpoints in your computer systems most susceptible to attacks from adversaries.
- Ensure Compliance — Companies can maintain information security compliance with industry standards for penetration testing.
- Reinforce Security Posture — Penetration testing assists businesses in prioritizing and addressing their vulnerability with a security program.
What Are the Different Types of Penetration Testing?
Network vulnerabilities typically fall into three categories: hardware, software, and human. Let’s look at different testing types to understand more about what a pen test consists of and what types of potential vulnerabilities your business is facing;
Web Application Pen Testing
Web App Penetration tests search out places in an application open to exploitation by a hacker. Installing a new third-party component that allows viewing sensitive data on a company website could provide an opening into company systems. Security consultants carry out attack simulations designed to:
- Find application security flaws.
- Summarize the risks they present to a company.
- Provide insights into how to address the flaws.
Strategies to address web application vulnerabilities like:
Cross-Site Request Forgery
- Injection Flaws (Sql Injection,Html Injection,etc.)
- Weak Session Management
- Cross-Site Scripting
- Insecure Direct Object References
Network Security Pen Testing
When it comes to network security, experts use network penetration tests to find places a hacker might exploit in various systems, networks, network devices (think routers, switches), and hosts. They look for ways a hacker might find real-world opportunities to compromise a company, gain access, or unauthorized access to sensitive data. Many also try to take over the company’s systems for malicious purposes
Focused network infrastructure penetration testing to identify system-level and network flaws like:
- Misconfigurations
- Product-specific Vulnerabilities
- Wireless Network Vulnerabilities
- Rogue Services
- Weak Passwords
- Inadequate, Inconsistent or Non-Existent Password Protocols
Physical Penetration Testing
Physical penetration testing measures the strength of a company’s existing security controls. It looks for any weaknesses vulnerable to discovery and manipulation by hackers. They may compromise physical barriers like sensors, cameras, and locks to gain physical access to sensitive business areas. That could lead to data breaches through compromising systems and networks.
Some of the industries most concerned about these kinds of attacks include:
- Casinos
- Banking Institutions
- Technology Firms
- Healthcare Institutions
- Government Services
- Hospitality Services
- Retail Services
- Armored Transport Services
Leveraging physical penetration testing helps organizations stop unauthorized access into secure environments. It also provides invaluable insights into remedial guidance and ways to correct critical issues.
Cryptocurrency Penetration Testing
Cryptocurrency pen tests look for weaknesses in software, applications, systems, hosts, and devices used in cryptocurrency transactions and storage protocols. They should also check the social engineering aspect, like phishing attempts on company employees, vendors, and other stakeholders to gain passwords or other essential data to hack cryptocurrency networks.
cryptocurrency pen testing scenarios mimicking physical attacks on cryptocurrency facilities like:
- Bitcoin ATMs
- Hardware Storage Facilities
- Private Residents
Cloud Security Penetration Testing
Cloud security pen tests are essential in helping companies invested in cloud technology protect vulnerable assets. The flexibility and autonomy offered by solutions like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) technology also expose organizations to new security threats.
potential exposures from an organization’s application, network, and configuration in a business’s cloud set up that could give hackers access to:
- Company Credentials
- Internal Systems
- Sensitive Data
IoT Security Penetration Testing
IoT security pen tests focus on exposing any hardware and software flaws that could allow bad actors to access a business’s sensitive data or take over company systems. They examine the different components in IoT devices for vulnerabilities like:
- Weak Passwords
- Insecure Protocols
- Insecure APIs
- Insecure Communication Channels
- Misconfigurations
- Product-specific Vulnerabilities