Penetration testing has become an integral part of a comprehensive security plan. They mimic the attackers. They use different methods and tools to exploit the company’s applications and systems. Pen Testers are hackers in that they find vulnerabilities and try to exploit them. The Pen Testers create a comprehensive report on the vulnerabilities that they then give to security professionals for them to fix.
There are three types to Penetration Testing
WiteBox is a type of testing that provides the testers with all information, including target network details and internal code. BlackBox: This type of testing does not provide any information. They do not have access to any internal code. GrayBox: This type of testing allows the penetration tester to see a portion of the system.
Before I tell you why penetration testing matters, let me tell what the actual causes are of vulnerabilities.
The causes of vulnerability:
Human errors: Oh yes! Humans are made to make mistakes. There would be code mistakes, unattended files, insider threats and inappropriate administration of documents.
User inputs: You are likely familiar with SQL injection, buffer overloads, and other security concerns. This type of data can be used to attack the system that it is receiving electronically.
Developer errors: Hackers can be attracted to mistakes in software and hardware development. Avoid development errors.
System Connections: When connecting systems to open connections, it is important to be aware of the implications. Unsecured connections can cause data loss or serious damage.
Insufficient training of employees: Humans and people often make mistakes. Untrained employees can lead to many vulnerabilities and errors.
There are many scenarios where pen testing is most needed:
Pen testing is necessary when we are willing and able to find loopholes within our systems.
When we want to protect user data, pen testing is used.
Pen testers can be helpful when we are trying to implement new security strategies.
Pen testers make it easy to find security holes in applications.
Clients insist on including the pen-testing phase in the release cycle.
Pen testing is used in order to meet information security compliance requirements.
When assessing the business impact from successful cyberattacks, pen testing is necessary.
What should be tested?
Hardware
Software such as operating systems, applications, or services
Processes
Network
End-user behavior
Different Penetration Testing Tools:
Here are some great tools for penetration testing.
Zmap: Zmap scans everything, from your local network to the entire Internet. This network scanner is free and can be used to gather network baseline information.
SimplyEmail: SimplyEmail allows you to find similar material on the Internet by using an email address. SimplyEmail uses the harvester method to search the Internet for any data that could be used to provide intelligence regarding a given email address.
PowerShell Suite: The PowerShell Suite is a collection of Powershell scripts that retrieve information about Windows DLLs, processors and handles. This tool allows us to quickly determine which system is most vulnerable to exploit.
Wireshark: Wireshark may be the most widely used network protocol analyzer. Wireshark network traffic capture can reveal which protocols and systems have been active, which accounts are most active, and may allow attackers to gather sensitive data.
Hydra: Hydra can be used to break passwords. H