5 Stages of The Penetration Testing Process

Penetration Testing is also known as ethical hacking. It is an approved replicated cyber-attack done on a computer system. These tests are implemented to assess the security of the system. It must not be confused with vulnerability evaluation. This test id executed to see the weaknesses. These are also referred to as vulnerabilities. It incorporates the possibility for illegal parties to attain access to the data and features of the system. This process strengthens the system allowing the whole risk assessment to be accomplished.

Usually, the procedure recognizes a specific objective and the target systems, after which it goes through the information and commences different techniques to achieve that goal. Penetration tests adopt the following methods:

• White box- Information regarding the system and the background are given in advance for the testers
• Black box – Fundamental information such as the company’s name is given
• Gray box- Combination of black box and grey box (some knowledge of the target is exposed to the auditor)

In other words, a penetration test can assist to determine the vulnerabilities of the system to attack and assume the degree of vulnerability. The increased dependence on the software and apps has resulted in an increase in the demand for penetration testing. In fact, organizations are looking for the best pen testing companies that can assist them to resolve all the security-related glitches.

Security problems that the penetration testers encounter must be reported to the owner of the system. These penetration testing reports must evaluate the possible effects on the company and propose remedies to decrease the risks.

Keeping this scenario in mind, we are presenting to you the list of the stages a company goes through while conducting penetration tests.

Investigation

This stage includes collecting significant information on the target system. This data can be utilized for attacking the target. For example, open-source search engines can be incorporated to look for information that can be utilized in a social engineering attack.

Scanning

At this stage, technical tools are incorporated to enhance attackers’ knowledge regarding the system. For example, Nmap can be utilized for scanning open ports.

Attaining Access

The attacker can incorporate a payload to damage the system being targeted. For this, the data is utilized, which is collected during the investigation and scanning stages. For example, Metasploit can be incorporated to automate attacks. The attacks are called vulnerabilities.

Maintaining Access

This stage requires fulfilling the steps incorporated in being able to be determined within the target environment. This is done in order to gather the maximum amount of data possible.

Clearing the Traces

The attacker must clear all the traces that include the victim system. This includes any sort of data collected and log events. It is done in order to remain anonymous.

After the attacker has exploited the vulnerability they can probably attain access to various machines. As a result, the process repeats. They find more vulnerability and make attempts to exploit them. This process is called pivoting.

In The End…..

After viewing the discussion above, it can be concluded that these are the five-stage of penetration testing that all the pen testing companies incorporate to guarantee flawless app security. This is given a lot of significance by the financial, healthcare, and e-commerce organizations because a lot of private and confidential data is saved. Any security harm or breach can lead to the loss of trust among the people.