IT/Networking

What is Penetration Testing | Know types & stages of Penetration Testing

Last updated at 19-11-2021

Hacking through companies and attacking their vulnerable spots in their security and other data sensitive areas has become a very common thing these days. Hacking is becoming lethal and easier day by day thanks to technological advancements that have created easy to use tools which can even make a newbie go pro without breaking much sweat. 

The purpose of penetration testing is that the companies that are vulnerable to attacks find about their weak spots and with penetration testing they can find out their vulnerabilities before the hackers do and patch those vulnerabilities to make them more secured from future attacks and hackers.

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing is when organizations want to assess their networks, applications, devices or their security systems by launching cyber attacks on their systems just like real world attacks so that they can find vulnerabilities in it and patch it so that they are more secured and less vulnerable if they ever get attacked by a hacker. 

With the help of Penetration testing potential flaws that can make them vulnerable to cyber attacks come to surface and this way the organizations know how well they are equipped for a full-scale cyber attack.

Why do you need Penetration Testing?

Before a real world scenario occurs and you find out about your vulnerabilities then it’ll be too late because you would’ve already lost your important data and the organization would be in great loss.

So it’s better you and your organization is prepared and using penetration testing will help you expose your flaws in the security system and pen testers will keep you one step ahead of these attacks.

Penetration Testing can help you improve your:

• Security Controls - Full information about your security layers system and their vulnerabilities and how they can be fixed.
• Finding Vulnerabilities - Real time vulnerabilities so you are prepared for them anytime.
• Prepared for future attacks - After penetration testing your organization will be prepared for any potential cyber attack.

Stages of Penetration Testing

1. Planning 

• Goals and scope of the testing, Why the test is being conducted and on what system and which testing methods will be used?
• Gathering data which include network, domain names and servers

2. Scanning 

• Scanning for error codes and this can be done by two methods 
• Static analysis - This inspects how the code of the application is running and can scan the entire code in one go.
• Dynamic analysis - This method is better because it will give you real time view of the application on how its code is performing and how efficient the application is.

3. Vulnerability Check by Getting Access

• In this stage attacks are launched on the applications to see how they are holding up and how easy it is to hack into the system. 
• This can be done by SQL injection and backdoors and by stealing data and gaining access it will tell us about the application's vulnerabilities.

4. Patch the Vulnerabilities

• After checking for potential vulnerabilities, we need to patch them and fix the errors that could lead to cyber attacks. This will minimize the risk of losing big and sensitive data in the future.

5. Analysis

• The results are then compiled in a report where the vulnerabilities in the system are mentioned and the data that was accessed and how much time did the pen tester do undetected.

What are the different types of Penetration testing?

There are different types of threats that your business might be facing and to tackle these there are different types of penetration testing for different problems.

1. Network Security Penetration Testing -

Experts use penetration testing to find vulnerabilities in networks, network devices like routers and switches and hosts where your website is being hosted and its data is being stored.

 Hackers will look for ways to exploit these and get the information they want. Therefore, penetration testing of network security is a must since there is a risk of important data being stolen and harming the company.

2. Physical Penetration Testing -

Experts will test company’s security controls and if exploited it hackers can easily get access to cameras, door locks and sensors which can cause chaos and can be used for theft compromising the security and this could lead to data breach also.

Industries that are most concerned about these attacks can be:

• Banks
• Government Offices
• Casinos
• Retail Service
• Armored transport 

3. IoT Security Penetration Testing -

Experts test all types of the hardware and software of the business that can leave them vulnerable to attacks and if hackers find a loophole in this they can access business’s sensitive data and can even take over the company’s systems. 

Insecure protocols, weak passwords, weak network can lead to possible cyber attacks therefore IoT penetration testing is done to find loopholes and to patch them before hackers get to them.

Conclusion

It will be ideal if your organization/business is already into penetration testing because not only it will protect you from future cyber attacks but it will also help you keep your private data and information safe that could cost you millions if stolen. So if you’re not pen testing already you should opt for it because it’s better to know about your vulnerabilities first before your enemy does.