The significance of penetration testing has increased due to the growing complexity of data infringements worldwide. It has accentuated the need to reinforce information security systems. According to the National Vulnerability Database( NVD) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology( NIST), USA, an aggregate of 1,80,532 susceptible vulnerabilities was recorded only in 2020.
Penetration testing must uncloak these vulnerability deformities in a design or system. Ethical hackers perform and execute testing for telecom networks and systems. Passing this test process is mandatory because any form of hacking has highly adversary and countercultural implications.
Network Penetration Testing Types
Penetration testing can be classified in several ways. Some of these perspectives through which classification is done are as follows:
1. Overall security infrastructure of an organization
Internal network penetration testing: This test is executed to assess the damage that hackers can induce with initial entry into the system. Internal testing serves two purposes: to bring out the implicit threats within the corporate periphery and estimate how much harm is caused to the information assets by malicious activities.
External network penetration testing: These tests analyze the conclusiveness of a network's border defenses. It checks the credentials of extrinsic security controls to determine and prevent potential attacks.
2. The level of information provided and the amount of knowledge required
White box testing: The most advanced testing method is White box testing. This approach allows testers to authenticate and scrutinize the network's or system's internal workings. Therefore, these testers have as much understanding of the network as possible.
Black box testing: In black box testing, the ethical hacker requires only minimum knowledge. It is used for simulating brute-force attacks since the tester is ignorant of the intricacy of the internal mechanism of the target framework.
Gray box testing: The ethical hackers are furnished with a partial understanding of the network or system in Gray box testing. It lies in the mean of the two extremes mentioned above.
3. Components and attack vectors.
Social engineering: It is targeted at humans, one of the feeblest links in the system or network cybersecurity. Email phishing is the most common means to execute this.
Network infrastructure testing: This test probes the network for vulnerabilities and breaches that can be capitalized across various external and internal access points. They commonly target network zones like DNS-level attacks, IPS deception, and firewall bypass testing.
Wireless network testing: This test capitalizes on the susceptible wireless networks by exposing the breaches and vulnerabilities. It also analyses the probable damage that could be fostered.
Web-application security testing: This test focuses on the flaws or vulnerabilities in session management and application logic, like SQL injection attacks.
Guide to Running Successful Penetration Tests
Standard frameworks and methodologies are a must to conduct Penetration tests effectively. Successful penetration testing addresses all the vulnerabilities in the network or application system.
A successful network penetration test involves four vital phases as a systemic exertion.
1. Information gathering and determination of the scope
The information typically occurs at the onset of any web application security testing process. Nonetheless, it is an iterative and self-strengthening operation throughout the network penetration test. It helps in gathering added information about the target.
Testing experts connect with the institution to recognize every network asset, like firewalls. This information-gathering process also focuses on establishing the scope and clarity of the customer's expectations.
Penetration testing is a focused and disciplined exertion because it is not practically or financially possible to scrutinize the entire compass of an IT architecture. Hence, a significant part of the information-gathering stage also includes determining the ambit of the network penetration test.
2. Reconnaissance and discovery
Reconnaissance and discovery are investigative mechanisms. These are used to survey the universal security architecture of an institution. Ethical hackers need detailed surveillance to recognize the vulnerability loopholes and fix them effectively. In this testing stage, testing experts and security professionals covertly explore the resources and security stance of the target.
Active reconnaissance includes direct investigation and connecting with the target system to get an actionable reaction. Successful execution of a network penetration test involves understanding the essential techniques and tools required to conduct such reconnaissance. A few tools to execute penetration tests are as follows:
Port scanning: Port scanning allows a penetration tester to determine the network's security robustness and the services running on a machine. This tool identifies open ports, receives information, and assists in fingerprinting. By fingerprinting a network, security experts examine the security devices, such as firewalls, between the sender and the target.
Examples: TCP Port Scanner, Nmap or Network Mapper, NetScanTools, Port Authority, and many more.
Packet sniffing: Testers detect and monitor the data packets streaming across a network using these tools. Also known as network or packet protocol analyzers, Network administrators utilize them to observe their networks for the following reasons:
- discover spoofed packets
- detect stray IP addresses
- monitor suspicious packet streaming from a single IP.
- Wireshark, Nmap, and Network Mapper are some examples of packet Sniffing tools.
Ping sweeping: The technique substantiates multiple network addresses mapped to live hosts. This network surveying approach pings multiple IP addresses concurrently. The security engineer uses this network inquiry to shoot an array of ICMP ECHO packets to servers to monitor which ones respond. The ones that respond are the live ones.
Examples: PingPlotter Pro, ManageEngine OpManager and SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM).
3. Exploitation, execution, and escalation
This penetration testing stage involves exploiting the vulnerabilities detected in the security systems or networks during reconnaissance. This stage aims to monitor how much entry the ethical hacker can gain into the system without being detected.
SQL injection, buffer overflow, escalation of boons, and cross-site scripting are some attacks. Ethical hackers administer these simulated attacks in a controlled ambient. They choose the most straightforward exploit or the most captious attack vector based on the inputs collected during reconnaissance.
4. Reporting and remediation
After the conclusion of the penetration, the security professionals and tester teams must compile a report of their workings. The information must encompass a detailed elaboration of the operation, the vulnerabilities detected and the corresponding pieces of evidence, and the remediation recommendations.
Remediation includes several actions:
- software patches and updates implementation
- configurational or operational changes
- more robust security measures and tools
Conclusion
In a nutshell, penetration testing aims to make a system and network more robust and secure from all potential vulnerabilities. This is achieved by enabling security professionals to probe into the network and assess its effectiveness. By exposing the vulnerabilities, actions can be taken in the right direction to mitigate those to build robust and safe information and telecom system.
Originally Published:- https://www.atebits.com/various-phases-of-a-successful-penetration-test/
