Penetration Test Services

Penetration testing, or pentesting, is a set of activities that create a scenario simulating a real attack on an information system or application. The main goal of a penetration tester is to assess the level of system security by identifying potential vulnerabilities and evaluating their possible consequences.

During security testing, specialists search for and analyze potential vulnerabilities that can disrupt the normal operation of a system or provide unauthorized access to confidential data. They also act from the perspective of a real attacker, using various methods and scenarios to simulate possible ways of compromising the system.

Purpose

Why are penetration tests necessary? Penetration testing, or pentesting, is an integral part of information security auditing. During such an audit, an analysis is conducted of numerous organizational and technical measures aimed at ensuring information security.

This includes checking the configuration of security systems, identifying vulnerabilities in software, including firmware, system software, and user applications. Additionally, the response of employees to typical tricks, such as targeted phishing, is evaluated, and sometimes physical access by unauthorized individuals is tested. All these checks help identify weaknesses in the organization’s information security system.

Conducting external penetration testing brings benefits in two aspects. Firstly, it enables companies to avoid financial and reputational losses by providing an independent assessment and improving overall security. This service is particularly valuable for organizations that have already experienced security incidents.

Secondly, certain types of activities are subject to compliance with specific security standards and legislative requirements. Each year, more and more regulations and requirements emerge that mandate penetration testing. Currently, there is an extensive set of specific requirements for companies in different profiles, many of which can be fulfilled formally. Independent expertise helps identify and rectify such deficiencies.

Who conducts Pentesting?

Usually, pentesting is conducted by a third-party organization to eliminate the possibility of collusion with internal employees and ensure the reliability of the results. The penetration testing process simulates a real hacker attack and includes the following stages:

• Gathering information about the target.
• Employing social engineering to attempt to deceive employees.
• Identifying potential entry points into the network and system.
• Discovering and exploiting security vulnerabilities.
• Escalating privileges within the targeted system.
• Preparing a detailed report of the conducted tests and providing recommendations for addressing the identified vulnerabilities.

Typically, the initial stage of testing focuses on analyzing the external network, followed by an analysis of internal services.

Pentests include both automated procedures, which expedite the process and identify common issues such as known vulnerabilities and open ports, and manual testing, which requires professional expertise and helps uncover real problems that may have been missed during automated checks.

Sometimes, managers may attempt to substitute a comprehensive pentest by using vulnerability scanners, but this requires specialized skills to configure the scanners and verify the results by experts to avoid false positives. Otherwise, scanning results may be incomplete and misleading regarding the level of security.

Therefore, after automated checks, manual testing is often performed based on the experience of specialists to identify real vulnerabilities from the list of detected issues.

Ultimately, after conducting all tests, a detailed report is compiled with recommendations for addressing the identified vulnerabilities, and the system is assigned a security classification according to the agreed-upon standards.

Types of Pentests

Now that we’ve covered who conducts this testing, it’s time to explore the types of pentests. In this section, we will discuss the main types, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

White Box

The White Box methodology assumes that the pentester has preliminary knowledge about the system, which can be provided by the company requesting the testing. When conducting a pentest using this methodology, the tester takes into account the provided knowledge and acts based on it. This allows them to simulate attacks from individuals who might have obtained some information about the system.

Advantages of the White Box methodology include:

Full access to system information: The pentester has a complete understanding of the system, enabling them to conduct a deeper analysis and identify potential vulnerabilities.
Testing at all levels: This methodology allows testing at all levels of the system, including applications, networks, and hardware.

Possibility of optimizing the security system: Knowledge about the system enables the pentester to propose security system optimization to address identified vulnerabilities.

Disadvantages of the White Box methodology include:

Requires full client participation: Effective execution of a pentest using this methodology requires active interaction with the client, including the provision of detailed system information.

Can be time-consuming: Due to the need to consider provided data and perform a detailed system analysis, this pentest method may take longer.
High preparation and implementation costs: Preparing and conducting a “White Box” pentest may require additional resources and time to gain access to system information.

Black Box

The Black Box methodology is characterized by the pentester not having any prior information about the system and acting as if they were a malicious actor encountering the system for the first time. In this methodology, the pentester only has access to publicly available information. This approach is often used by real hackers.

Advantages of the Black Box methodology include:

Emulation of real hacker attack conditions: The pentester acts similarly to a real hacker, allowing for a realistic assessment of how the system would withstand a real attack.
Evaluation of the system’s external defense level: This methodology allows for an assessment of how well the system is protected from the outside and how it appears to external observers.

Independent and objective testing: Without prior information, the pentester conducts testing independently and objectively, which can reveal vulnerabilities that the system may not have been prepared for.

Disadvantages of the Black Box methodology include:

Limited understanding of the internal system structure: The pentester does not have access to detailed information about the internal structure of the system, which can make it difficult to identify certain vulnerabilities.

Risk of missing specific vulnerabilities: Important specific vulnerabilities may be missed due to the lack of system information.

Potential for false positives: When using this methodology, there may be situations where the pentester identifies issues that are not actual vulnerabilities.

How Often Should Such Testing be Conducted?

The frequency of conducting penetration testing depends on the dynamics of the IT field and changes within the organization. This field undergoes constant changes, such as software updates, hardware changes, the addition of new remote services, the onboarding of new employees, and structural changes within the company.

These changes can impact the level of security in information systems, so the results of previous penetration tests can become outdated and require conducting new tests.

Most industry standards establish a minimum frequency for conducting pentests. For example, the PCI DSS standard requires testing to be conducted every six months. Additionally, penetration testing should be performed after any significant changes in the information technology infrastructure.

These changes can include alterations in network topology, transitioning to equipment from different manufacturers, migrating to a new operating system, or implementing cloud services. All of these changes can introduce new potential threats, making retesting necessary.

Furthermore, an important aspect of penetration testing is assessing employees’ awareness of information security threats. This may involve sending phishing emails to employees, observing their reactions to suspicious activities, visiting infected websites, and installing trojan programs on company computers.

Sometimes, attackers do not require direct hacking of administrative accounts to gain access to a network, as they can exploit vulnerabilities created by the improper actions of ordinary employees. Therefore, staff turnover can also be a reason to conduct retesting.

Each new security incident can also serve as a reason for additional checks, although the decision to conduct testing should be made after a thorough analysis of the specific situation. It is important to distinguish cases where new attack vectors are present from cases involving violations of internal rules and security policies. In the former case, a new expert assessment of the security level is required, while in the latter case, administrative measures should be applied.

Statistics emphasize that many organizations face repeated attacks within a certain period after an incident, highlighting the importance of regular testing and monitoring of information security.

In summary, this methodology plays a crucial role in ensuring the information security of organizations. Its purpose is to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in systems and networks to prevent potential attacks from malicious actors. The scope of penetration testing encompasses both physical and software security aspects and includes an analysis of the human factor.

The principles of conducting penetration testing involve simulating real attacks, evaluating the system’s response to threats, and providing recommendations to address identified vulnerabilities. Various tools are used to achieve these goals, such as Kali Linux, Metasploit, Nmap, Nessus, Wireshark, and Aircrack-ng, each specializing in specific aspects of security analysis.

It is important to note that there are several types of penetration testing, including white box, black box, blind, and double-blind testing, each with its own characteristics and advantages. Regardless of the chosen methodology, penetration testing is an important tool for ensuring information protection and the reliability of networks and systems.