The strongest, most reliable form of defense is one that has been well-tested from many angles. In a quality cybersecurity framework, remediation is a crucial process that:
- Pokes at the framework in several ways to identify weaknesses and highlight areas that need to be addressed or corrected.
- Quickly identifies and stops an actual threat as soon as possible to minimize damage.
Several processes exist within IT remediation, including penetration testing. Similar to a team’s practice scrimmages in sports, penetration testing allows you to test your own security systems, tools, and technologies to prevent actual malicious actors from infiltrating.
What Is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing, sometimes called pen testing, occurs when someone working for or hired by a business attempts to hack into its computer system to uncover and expose any security weaknesses. The goal is to identify and correct vulnerabilities before cybercriminals can discover them. Just like automakers perform crash tests to evaluate the safety of their vehicles or schools carry out various drills to test the security of their campuses, businesses need to perform penetration testing to optimize their IT security and ensure all systems are safe from intruders.
What Types of Penetration Testing Are There?
Penetration testing is not a single event—several types of testing can apply to a company, including:
Network Testing
Network or infrastructure testing is one of the most common types of penetration testing. A network penetration test includes looking for weaknesses in the network’s infrastructure by trying to penetrate:
- Access points
- Devices
- Firewalls
- Routers
- Servers
- Software
- Switches
Should any part of the network show weaknesses or vulnerabilities, corrections can be made to improve the strength of security and coverage of the network. Without a well-protected network, a company’s system can be compromised through attacks like:
- Firewall bypasses
- FTP/SMTP attacks
- IPS or IDS evasion attacks
- Man-in-the-Middle Attacks
- Open Port attacks
- Router attacks
- Server attacks
And many, many more.
Wireless Testing
Wireless testing looks at the wireless connections between the company’s WiFi and its devices, including:
- Desktops
- Laptops
- Tablets
- Smartphones
- Internet of Things (IoT) devices (such as smart security systems, locks, doorbells, etc.)
Evaluating the connection between devices and WiFi allows the tester to pinpoint weaknesses and strengthen connections to prevent complications like:
- Unauthorized WiFi access
- Privacy breach
- Data theft
- Malware installation
And more.
Social Engineering Testing
Social engineering testing is an essential type of penetration testing. It occurs when a tester takes the role of a malicious actor and tries to trick users (typically employees) into giving the tester sensitive information like their usernames or passwords. Testers look for information such as credentials to an employee’s:
- Email account(s)
- Web application account(s)
- Finance-based accounts
Among others. Tactics that the tester uses are the same tactics used by actual cybercriminals, which are social engineering attacks, like:
- Email phishing – Sending scam emails to a user in hopes that the user provides the data the sender is hoping to receive.
- Vishing – Making a scam phone calls.
- Smishing – Sending scam text messages.
Social engineering testing is vital to the security of your business because, according to today’s statistics, the vast majority of cyberattacks (more than 95%) use social engineering methods to compromise systems and intercept data. Why? Because it works. People are susceptible to falling for scams over email, text, or phone, and companies rely on multiple people to keep business moving forward. The more employees a company has, the more chances a scammer has to try and trick someone at the company into giving them the information they want to receive.
By testing employees, a company can identify those who fall for the tests and educate them on the signs of social engineering attacks to prevent them from falling for actual phishing, vishing, and smishing scams.
Web Application Testing
Web application testing looks at the security measures for any web-based application(s) that a company might provide for its clients or customers. This testing process evaluates all parts of the application, including:
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Caching
- Cookies
- Data validation
- Passwords
- Payment processes
- Sessions
Among others. Should the tester or testers find issues with any of the elements of a web application, the company can and should correct them as soon as possible to prevent any data breaches or compromised systems.
Physical Penetration Testing
Physical testing evaluates how easy or difficult it is for an unauthorized person to access the physical components of a company’s computer system. Most businesses keep their hardware locked away in a server room and should have systems in place to prevent easy access. Security can include:
- Access control systems
- Locks, security cameras
- Alarm systems
And other forms of physical security to protect what is inside the server room and keep malicious actors out. Physical testing evaluates the systems in place to ensure there are no weaknesses or vulnerabilities that would allow someone to slip through.
What Methods of Penetration Testing Are There?
There are a few ways a security expert can conduct penetration testing, including:
White-Box Testing
White-box testing—also called open-box testing, clear-box testing, auxiliary testing, and logic-driven testing—is a testing method in which the tester is given all information about the system, including source codes, infrastructure documentation, and anything else available regarding the computer system.
Because there is so much information to comb through, this is the most comprehensive and the most time-consuming testing method. It results in a thorough evaluation with complete reports about identified vulnerabilities.
Gray-Box Testing
Gray-box testing is a method of testing in which the tester is given some information and details about the system but not the full range of data. Usually, gray-box testing means that the tester has about the same amount of knowledge of the system as a user would have, and maybe a little more.
A tester may only be given partial information about the system, which results in a more efficient but still effective evaluation. This is especially beneficial for identifying weaknesses that a hacker with internal knowledge of the system could exploit.
Black-Box Testing
If white-box testing provides the tester with all available system information, and gray-box testing provides them with partial system information, black-box testing is the method wherein the tester evaluates the system without any prior knowledge or information. Sometimes called closed-box testing, black-box testing means that the tester emulates a typical hacker who does not have any knowledge of the system before attempting to hack it.
A black-box test is typically faster than the others since it requires the tester to identify external weaknesses first. If they cannot, the test is over. However, even if there are no identifiable external weaknesses, there could still be internal weaknesses that will likely go unnoticed and untreated.
Penetration testing is a crucial part of your IT security. At MHD, our experts ensure routine testing to keep your systems safe.
Are you concerned about the security of your computer system? Talk to the IT security experts at MHD. Our managed IT services include routine penetration testing to identify weaknesses in your computer system and correct issues before hackers have the opportunity to discover them. Keep your systems and your business safe with quality pen testing, among many other security services, from the experts.
To learn more about pen testing and other IT security services for your Florida business, contact an MHD specialist today: 833-MHD-INFO (833-643-4636).
MHD is your premier IT partner, serving businesses in and around Tampa, Florida, and West Palm Beach, Florida.
Recent Articles