Penetration testing is also known as a pen test, which is used by security and IT professionals to assess the security of a hardware or software application to see if there are weaknesses or vulnerabilities. There are different types of penetration testing that can be used to gauge and pinpoint vulnerabilities. Penetration tests are similar to ensure that the doors and windows to your home and locked. If you leave it unlocked, intruders may have a chance to break in and wreak havoc. Similarly, it is the case with hardware and software applications. If you do not lock the virtual doors, unauthorized users such as cyber-criminals could gain access that leads to data leaks, stolen information, and many other security issues. Thus, investing in a reliable pen testing company becomes compulsory for organizations that are looking forward to enhancing their security.
According to a report by Fortunly, the U.S. alone suffered 1473 cyber attacks over the last year, which led to 164.6 million successful data breaches. They also added that the cost of the cyber attacks that occurred in the banking sector reached $18.3 million annually. Simply said, financial institutions cannot afford to leave their sensitive information and systems at such complicated risks.
Choosing the Type of Pen Testing Your Business Needs
One of the major reasons a company needs to administer penetration testing is the reason that testers can simulate a real-world attack without causing any destruction. There are a number of vulnerabilities that can occur and their cause can be associated with things like coding errors, unpatched software, or even using a weak password that can compromise sensitive data and information. A certified team of ethical hackers can perform penetration tests, that uncover your vulnerabilities, and then find remedies so that the security of an organization is sound. But the real question is what are the various types of penetration testing and which one should an organization pick for its business?
Different Types of Penetration Testing
There are several categories and variations when talking about the types of penetration testing that a business can use to audit the security of a business’s infrastructure. The five most commonly include network service tests, web app tests, client-side tests, wireless network tests, and social engineering tests.
Network Service Tests:
It involves security testing against network-based attacks such as those performed on firewalls, routers, proxy servers, etc.
Web-App Tests:
These tests target auditing web-based applications for security vulnerabilities.
Client-Side Tests:
This type of pen test is performed by a pen testing company to audit the security of local vulnerabilities such as a workstation that can be easily exploited, or weaknesses in programs that clients may use such as Adobe or Microsoft.
Wireless Network Tests:
These tests are carried out to analyze the security of connections between devices connected to a business’s Wi-Fi including smartphones, laptops, tablets, and any other device that can connect to the internet.
Social Engineering Tests:
It can include both remote and physical tests.
In remote attacks, pentester tries to trick a user into giving sensitive information such as their login credentials.
Whereas physical penetration testing analyzes the way someone can physically gain access to sensitive information such as documents that are not shredded before disposal, office doors that are left unlocked, and even physical files that are left open on the desk of employees in a financial institution.
Conclusion
Penetration testing is one of the most critical IT security practices for scanning systems, networks, and applications for vulnerabilities and security loopholes that could lead to breaches and exploits. Pen-tests are often performed by third parties, but as these external tests can be expensive and become dated quickly, many organizations perform their own tests with various testing tools that are used by a pen testing company. Most of these tools scan ports or WiFi, a few test applications and others focus on the web and web-facing applications as the biggest place for success. Many of them work lists of known vulnerabilities and potential issues and also attempt to penetrate an organization’s defense mechanisms. These tools are also used to audit organizations for security compliance and to resolve problems existing within the enterprise. There are some confusions between vulnerability scanning and pen-testing. They are used to find potential vulnerabilities whereas the other one attempts to exploit them. However, these days the tools and suites addressing this area are used to conduct both functions to achieve the security level in organizations.
Penetration Testing Techniques in 2021 