Features of Penetration Testing
Today, pentesting as one of the types of practical cybersecurity is unfairly ignored. Some users, despite the growing number of potential cyber threats, believe that there is no point in testing the infrastructure. In their opinion, it is enough to install information security tools. However, in this article, you will learn about the features of pentesting, which will allow you to understand the importance of using a web application security penetration testing guide when building protection for a business.
What Is a Pentest?
Penetration testing is a process aimed at identifying vulnerabilities in an information infrastructure by simulating the actions of an intruder. Researchers use the same or similar tools, techniques, and tactics. This allows you to get a fairly realistic picture of the level of security of information resources, not tied to the implementation of regulatory requirements.
Types of Penetration Testing
There are several types of penetration testing, each of which is focused on specific goals and use cases.
External Testing
External testing is carried out on resources accessible from the Internet. For such resources, it is most critical to promptly detect and eliminate defects. The criticality here is due to the constant presence of resources under scanning by various automated tools.
These tools either form the basis for further attacks or try to exploit them themselves. In the event of a successful attack on a resource, valuable information on it can be encrypted or stolen. As a result of the attack, the resource itself can be included in a botnet, and access to the resource can be sold on thematic platforms.
In cases where the resource is located in the organization’s facilities, the capture can also lead to the intruder penetrating the internal perimeter. The consequence of the development of such a scenario of events can already be the compromise of the entire infrastructure of the organization.
Internal Testing
Internal testing is performed on resources located in the organization’s internal networks. These may be automated employee workstations, servers, network equipment, and other devices accessible via the network.
An attack on these resources may be a consequence of an attacker breaking through the external perimeter protection or successfully carrying out social engineering.
This type of work evaluates how widely a potential attacker can spread his influence if he gains access to the organization’s internal networks.
The type of potential attacker is also modeled. For example, it may be an insider, a visitor, or someone else. Accordingly, the point from which the attack begins is also different.
Web Application Testing
Web application testing abstracts from infrastructure services that may also be accessible at the address of the resource being tested, and focuses directly on web application vulnerabilities.
This type of work considers the possibility of compromising a resource through vulnerabilities in the web application hosted on it. In addition, the possibility of further development of an attack into internal networks is assessed.
Social Engineering
Social engineering can be used as part of any other type of penetration testing.
The difference from the previous types of testing is in the attack targets. Not only information resources are attacked, but also their operators.
This type of work analyzes the staff’s awareness of information security issues and tries to exploit gaps in knowledge to gain primary access.
Testing Methods
There are three methods of penetration testing: black box, gray box, and white box. Let’s look at their features.
- Black box.
This method of testing is distinguished by the minimum amount of information provided for pentesting. Most often, the researcher needs to conduct reconnaissance and collect information about the organization from open sources. And then act on the basis of the collected information.
Reconnaissance methods can include enumerating subdomains and parsing the organization’s sites for valuable information. After all actions, the list is approved by the customer and the direct work on testing the resources begins.
During all work, the customer provides minimal assistance. The results of such work are closest to real ones when an attacker attempts to hack the organization.
- Gray box.
Gray box testing implies the availability of a small amount of information and limited assistance from the customer during the work.
For example, the customer can provide a list of resources to be tested in advance, which will allow you to spend less time on reconnaissance and focus on analyzing the information obtained during the work.
The results of such work will be more accurate and complete than in the case of a black box. This result is achieved due to more complete interaction and extensive access to reliable information.
- White box.
When testing using the white box method, the researcher is provided with the maximum amount of information about the infrastructure of the organization being examined. This makes it possible to carry out work in detail and with comprehensive coverage.
This method allows you not to waste time on reconnaissance and at the same time receive all the necessary information about the resources being tested.
The result of such work will be the most complete and will cover a greater number of shortcomings than when using other methods. It will contain a minimum amount of false information.
What Is The Best Method For Pentesting?
It is important to focus on the desired result. If it is important for an organization to obtain the most complete information about all the shortcomings in its infrastructure with a minimum amount of false information, then the optimal testing method will be a white box study. Here, the organization may also pursue the following goals:
- closing all vulnerabilities and fixing errors;
- assessing the risks for current business processes;
- obtaining recommendations for increasing the level of security of its resources based on its specific configuration.
However, despite its completeness, this type of testing is very far from the way of thinking and actions of a real attacker.
Therefore, if an organization wants to try on the real actions of hackers and assess the possibility of a potential attacker conducting reconnaissance and hacking its infrastructure, it is necessary to choose a gray or black box.
Conclusion
Penetration testing is an important element of a security strategy that allows businesses to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities in their systems. Understanding the specifics of this process, including the methods, stages, and types of testing, allows you to create effective protection against potential threats. We recommend ImmuniWeb, a reliable provider of dark web monitoring, penetration testing of application security, and other services used for cyber protection in companies.
