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Penetration Testing

A penetration test involves a simulated cyber attack against a computer system to identify vulnerabilities. It is performed by external contractors to test for vulnerabilities from an outside perspective. The pen test process involves planning, scanning systems, gaining access by exploiting vulnerabilities, maintaining access, and analyzing results to identify ways to strengthen security.

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123 views4 pages

Penetration Testing

A penetration test involves a simulated cyber attack against a computer system to identify vulnerabilities. It is performed by external contractors to test for vulnerabilities from an outside perspective. The pen test process involves planning, scanning systems, gaining access by exploiting vulnerabilities, maintaining access, and analyzing results to identify ways to strengthen security.

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grayman05
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What is penetration testing

A penetration test, also known as a pen test, is a simulated cyber attack against your computer system to check for exploitable
vulnerabilities. In the context of web application security, penetration testing is commonly used to augment a web application
firewall (WAF).

Pen testing can involve the attempted breaching of any number of application systems, (e.g., application protocol interfaces
(APIs), frontend/backend servers) to uncover vulnerabilities, such as unsanitized inputs that are susceptible to code injection
attacks.

Insights provided by the penetration test can be used to fine-tune your WAF security policies and patch detected vulnerabilities.

Who performs pen tests?


It’s best to have a pen test performed by someone with little-to-no prior knowledge of how the system is secured because they
may be able to expose blind spots missed by the developers who built the system. For this reason, outside contractors are
usually brought in to perform the tests. These contractors are often referred to as ‘ethical hackers’ since they are being hired to
hack into a system with permission and for the purpose of increasing security.

Many ethical hackers are experienced developers with advanced degrees and a certification for pen testing. On the other hand,
some of the best ethical hackers are self-taught. In fact, some are reformed criminal hackers who now use their expertise to help
fix security flaws rather than exploit them. The best candidate to carry out a pen test can vary greatly depending on the target
company and what type of pen test they want to initiate.

Penetration testing stages


1. Planning and reconnaissance
The first stage involves:
Defining the scope and goals of a test, including the systems to be addressed and the testing methods to be used.
Gathering intelligence (e.g., network and domain names, mail server) to better understand how a target works and its potential
vulnerabilities.

2. Scanning
The next step is to understand how the target application will respond to various intrusion attempts. This is typically done using:
Static analysis – Inspecting an application’s code to estimate the way it behaves while running. These tools can scan the entirety
of the code in a single pass.
Dynamic analysis – Inspecting an application’s code in a running state. This is a more practical way of scanning, as it provides a
real-time view into an application’s performance.

3. Gaining Access
This stage uses web application attacks, such as cross-site scripting, SQL injection and backdoors, to uncover a target’s
vulnerabilities. Testers then try and exploit these vulnerabilities, typically by escalating privileges, stealing data, intercepting
traffic, etc., to understand the damage they can cause.

4. Maintaining access
The goal of this stage is to see if the vulnerability can be used to achieve a persistent presence in the exploited system— long
enough for a bad actor to gain in-depth access. The idea is to imitate advanced persistent threats, which often remain in a
system for months in order to steal an organization’s most sensitive data.

5. Analysis
The results of the penetration test are then compiled into a report detailing:
Specific vulnerabilities that were exploited
Sensitive data that was accessed
The amount of time the pen tester was able to remain in the system undetected
This information is analyzed by security personnel to help configure an enterprise’s WAF settings and other application security
solutions to patch vulnerabilities and protect against future attacks.

Penetration testing methods


External testing
External penetration tests target the assets of a company that are visible on the internet, e.g., the web application itself, the
company website, and email and domain name servers (DNS). The goal is to gain access and extract valuable data.

Internal testing
In an internal test, a tester with access to an application behind its firewall simulates an attack by a malicious insider. This isn’t
necessarily simulating a rogue employee. A common starting scenario can be an employee whose credentials were stolen due to
a phishing attack.

Blind testing
In a blind test, a tester is only given the name of the enterprise that’s being targeted. This gives security personnel a real-time
look into how an actual application assault would take place.

Double-blind testing
In a double blind test, security personnel have no prior knowledge of the simulated attack. As in the real world, they won’t have
any time to shore up their defenses before an attempted breach.

Targeted testing
In this scenario, both the tester and security personnel work together and keep each other appraised of their movements. This is
a valuable training exercise that provides a security team with real-time feedback from a hacker’s point of view.

Types Of Penetrating Testing


Web Applications Penetration Testing:
 OWASP Top 10
 Business Logic Vulnerabilities
 Default/Weak Credentials
 API Testing
 WebSockets Testing
 Sensitive Information Exposure
 Tokens/Keys Security
 MFA/2FA/OTP Bypass
 CMS Testing: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and so on.
 E-Commerce Pentest: WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, plus more
Mobile Applications Penetration Testing:
 Static Analysis: hardcoded credentials/tokens/keys, vulnerable components, dangerous imports, and so on
 Dynamic Analysis: traffic intercept, file system interaction, best practices, sessions handling, plus more
 Bypasses: certificate pinning, root/jailbreak detection, and so on
 + more
Network & Infrastructure Penetration Testing:
 Detection Evasion (IDS/IPS/Firewall Bypass)
 Brute-Force, Password Spraying, Credentials Stuffing, and Dictionary Attacks
 Default & weak credentials
 Abusing misconfigured services
 Exploiting vulnerable versions of used protocols
 Man-in-the-Middle
 Active Directory (AD) Pentest
 Domains Takeover
 L2/L3 Devices Testing: routers, switches, and so on
 IoT Penetration Testing
 VPN-based Attacks
 DoS/DDoS
 Wireless Penetration Testing
 Data Exfiltration
 Logs Poisoning
 + more
Physical Penetration Testing:
 Lockpicking
 Dumpster Diving
 Tailgating
 RFID Tag Hijacking/Impersonation/Spoofing
 Shoulder Surfing
 Implant Malicious External Devices: Rubber Ducky, LAN Turtle, and so on
 + more
Social Engineering Penetration Testing:
 Phishing Attacks
 Vishing Attacks
 Smishing Attacks
 Client-Side Attacks Manipulation
 + more
Red Team:
 Combines all of them

What happens in the aftermath of a pen test?


After completing a pen test, the ethical hacker will share their findings with the target company’s security team. This information
can then be used to implement security upgrades to plug up any vulnerabilities discovered during the test. These upgrades can
include rate limiting, new WAF rules, and DDoS mitigation, as well as tighter form validations and sanitization.
Methodology

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