Penetration testing (often referred to as “pen testing”) is a type of simulation attack conducted with your permission to assess the security of your systems. Penetration testing experts use methods similar to those of attackers to find weaknesses in your system before a real cyber attack occurs, showing you how your business or organization might be affected. They will examine how resilient your system is against attacks from both known and unknown sources. A comprehensive penetration test evaluates all aspects of your system.
Benefits of Penetration Testing:
- Identifies Vulnerabilities: Finds weaknesses in systems that could be exploited.
- Assesses Security Controls: Checks the robustness of security controls.
- Compliance Checks: Ensures compliance with data protection regulations and standards (PCI DSS, GDPR, KVKK).
- Management Insights: Provides examples and damage budget analyses based on current security posture and potential vulnerabilities.
Types of Penetration Testing:
For ideal risk management, a comprehensive penetration test is required, covering all areas of your environment.
- Network Applications Scanning
- Mobile Applications
- Network Scanning
- Cloud Scanning
- Containers (e.g., Docker)
- Embedded Devices (IoT)
- APIs
Difference Between Penetration Testing and Automated Testing:
Penetration testing is primarily a manual effort, although pen testers use automated scanning and testing tools. However, it goes beyond these tools by using knowledge of the latest attack techniques to provide deeper tests than automated vulnerability assessments.
Manual Penetration Testing:
Manual penetration testing uncovers vulnerabilities and weaknesses not listed in popular lists (e.g., OWASP Top 10) and tests business logic that automated tests might miss (e.g., data validation, integrity checks). It also helps identify false positives reported by automated tests. Pen testers, thinking like potential attackers, analyze data to target their attacks in ways that automated testing solutions cannot.
Automated Testing:
Automated testing produces results more quickly and requires fewer specialized professionals than a fully manual penetration testing process. Automated testing tools monitor results automatically and sometimes transfer them to a central reporting platform. Additionally, the results of manual tests can vary from test to test, but automated testing will yield the same results each time it is run on the same system.
Penetration Testing Approaches:
Penetration testing can be conducted in three different ways: Black Box, White Box, and Gray Box.
- Black Box Approach:
In a black box test, the penetration tester assumes the role of an average hacker with no internal knowledge of the target system. Testers are not provided with architectural diagrams or source code. Black box testing identifies vulnerabilities that can be exploited from outside the network.
- White Box Approach:
White box testing, also known as clean box, open box, or logic-driven testing, is on the other end of the spectrum from black box testing: testers are given full access to source code, architectural documentation, etc. The main challenge with white box testing is sifting through the large amount of available data to identify potential weak points, making it the most time-consuming type of penetration test.
- Gray Box Approach:
Gray box testing is the step after black box testing. While a black box tester examines a system from an outsider’s perspective, a gray box tester has access and information similar to that of a user with potentially elevated privileges. Gray-box pentesters typically have some knowledge of the internal features of a network, including design and architectural documentation and internal accounts.
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