Penetration Testing Services – What is Penetration Testing, Stages and Types

Why Penetration Testing Services?

Penetration Testing services help in discovering security vulnerabilities in a system that a hacker could misuse by simulating an attack on an organization’s software system.

Vulnerabilities could be due to various reasons, few basic ones being:

• Imperfections in the configuration of hardware and software
• Usage of an unsecured network
• Badly configured computer systems, systems & applications
• The complicated design of computer systems
• Probable human errors

So, effective penetration testing services assists in determining the gaps in the security tools that a company is using finds multiple attack vectors and misconfigurations. 

What are the stages of a penetration test?

Penetration tester normally begins by collecting as much data about the target as feasible. Then he recognises the possible vulnerabilities in the system by scanning. After that, he starts an attack. 

Post-attack he examines each vulnerability and the risk concerned. Ultimately, a detailed report is presented to higher authorities reviewing the results of the penetration test.

Penetration testing can be cut down into various stages, this will vary depending on the business and the kind of penetration test. 

Let’s discuss each phase:

Reconnaissance & Planning

The initial phase is planning. Here, the hacker gathers as much data about the target as feasible. The data can be IP addresses, domain specifications, mail servers, network topology, etc. In this stage, he also describes the extent and purposes of a test, including the methods to be discussed and the testing methods to be used. A specialist penetration tester will use most of the time in this phase, this will help with further phases of the attack.

Scanning

Based on the data collected in the first step, the attacker will interact with the target with an aim to identify the vulnerabilities. This helps a penetration tester to launch attacks using vulnerabilities in the system. This phase includes the use of tools such as port scanners, ping tools, vulnerability scanners, and network mappers. 

While testing web applications, the scanning part can be either dynamic or static.

In static testing, the aim is to distinguish the exposed functions, libraries, and logic implementation

The dynamic report is the more efficient way of scanning compared to static report where the tester will pass several inputs to the application and record the answers.

Actual Exploit

This is an important stage that has to be implemented with due care. This is the phase where the actual harm is done.  Penetration Tester requires to have some specific skills and techniques to begin an attack on the target system. Using these methods an attacker will try to get the information, compromise the system, launch dos attacks, etc. to check to what extent the computer system or application or a network can be compromised.

Report Generation

Now, this is the last and the most crucial step. In this step, the results of the penetration test are gathered into a comprehensive report. This report normally has the following specifications:

What are the various types of Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing can be categorized based on different parameters like the knowledge of the target or the position of the penetration tester or the areas where it is implemented. 

Types of Penetration Testing 

Black Box

When the attacker has no knowledge of the target, it is related to as a black box penetration test. This kind needs a lot of time and the pen tester utilises automated tools to discover vulnerabilities and weak spots. 

White Box

When the penetration tester is provided with the complete information of the target, it is described as a white box penetration test. The attacker has a complete understanding of the IP addresses, controls in place, code units, operating system details etc. It needs less time when compared to black-box penetration testing. 

Grey Box

When the tester is having incomplete knowledge about the target, it is related to as grey box penetration testing. In this case, the attacker will have some understanding of the target data like  URLs, IP addresses, etc., but will not have full knowledge or access.