The rise of new sophisticated cyber threats has pushed the need for superior cyber protection. Penetration Testing is an ethical cyber-attack done on a computing system. It aims to evaluate the depth of the safety measures taken while developing the web and app.
This kind of testing is done to test the security of a network. The cyber-security experts perform this exercise to check if there are any vulnerabilities in a network system. They use the same process and tools to break the security coding executed by the developers.
Penetration testing, also called pen testing, is a proactive cyber security effort. It minimizes an organization’s security breach events by evaluating safety efficiency.
In this post, we will discuss different types of penetration testing. You can also read here why this cyber security is crucial for your organization.
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Different Types of Penetration Testing:
A pen tester may perform the testing internally or externally, with or without prior knowledge about the system. Their goal is to find safety deficiencies in your network system that may open the door to attackers.
Depending on the environment, three categories of pen testing exist, black box, white box, and grey box. Each category has different types of testing that we have discussed below. Read What Are The Different Types Of Penetration Testing? to know more about it.
1. White Box Penetration Testing
White box penetration testing is also known as crystal or oblique box pen testing. The tester needs all the system information, including network maps and credentials to perform this testing.
The testing involves as many attacking aspects as possible for a target. It needs less time and reduced cost and is ideal for testing a specific system.
2. Black Box Penetration Testing
In this category of testing, the tester doesn’t get any prior information about the network system. Here the tester faces the scenario as does a common attacker with no inside information.
It is the most demonstrating and authentic testing. The process reveals how a hostile with no knowledge of the system breaks the security. Correspondingly, black box penetration testing is expensive as it ensures more powerful security extents.
3. Grey Box Penetration Testing
A grey box penetration test, also known as a translucent box test, involves limited information about the network system. The tester gets some data like login credentials to break into the client security system.
This category of testing is useful in evaluating the level of accessibility privileged users gain. It also estimates possible damage from those users’ end.
4. External Network Penetration Testing
In this kind of pen testing, the tester uses publicly available information about your company. They mainly focus on externally facing assets like an app or email.
The testing team tries to find out if any vulnerabilities are there in this open data. They try to break the security or attempt to gather private data using this information.
In external pen testing, the assessment team remotely tries to break the security firewall. They gather information from data leakage, OSINT, etc. to break the system password. The hackers use these elements to exploit the security.
5. Internal Network Penetration Testing
This type of pen testing aims to find out the possible impact caused due to an internal vulnerability. The testing team assumes a grudge insider possesses authentic access to the internal network.
These testing assume an environment where a cybercriminal or an ill-minded person is present in the disguise of the employees. The testing team evaluates the impact if those malicious insiders breach confidential data. Pentesters focus on the information the hackers may disclose, alter, misuse, or destroy.
6. Social Engineering Testing
This type of testing aims to judge the liability of the employees in respect of exposing confidential information. Social engineering testers can try to mislead a staff to provide private data.
A standard example of social engineering trick is phishing emails. Hackers may use a similar ID of the manager to send an email to a staff asking for login credentials or other data.
7. Wireless Penetration Testing
Hackers can target some organizations by breaching their Wireless security. Someone within the area of your wireless internet connection can catch the conversation. It may result in exploitation of your network vulnerability.
Moreover, tools for wireless hacking are now available in the market. Hackers can access the data simply by pointing and clicking the switch.
A wireless pentester helps to ensure the safety of your Wi-Fi and wireless devices. It also suggests the users maintain the protocol.
8. Application Penetration Testing
This type of pen testing is useful for finding loopholes within your applications. The application pen testers focus on the entire process including design and development, implementation, and real use.
The assessment team tries to discover deficiencies in the security protocol of the app. Hackers generally target the externally-facing web applications run on end-user devices.
Why is Penetration Testing Crucial For your Organization?
Internal IT teams are always pressed for time. Outsource service desk services to save time for your IT Team so that they can focus on security & scalability of your IT infrastructure. Penetration testing is crucial to ensure the cyber security of your organization. There are different categories and types of pen testing available. Each of them works on specific scenarios with the common goal of protecting your network system from hackers. Want to know more about the benefits of penetration testing?
Here are the prime benefits of Penetration testing for your company.
Unveil Vulnerabilities
Penetration testing analyzes deficiencies in your application configurations and network system. During this test, activities, and practices of your staff that may lead to data breaches come to light.
You get a report detailing your security vulnerabilities. So you know which software and hardware need improvements. It will help you improve the overall security of the entire system.
Exhibit Actual Risks
Penetration testers try to manipulate recognized susceptibilities. It means you know what an attacker could do in the reality.
The assessors may access critical data and manage operating system commands. However, a vulnerability that is theoretically high risk isn’t that risky at all. The reason is the difficulty of exploitation. Only an expert can perform such a high level of analysis.
Test your Cyber-Protection Capacity
Cyber-attack is common these days experienced by businesses. So you should be able to notice attacks in advance and respond sufficiently on time.
Penetration testing specifies the effectiveness of your cyber protection technique. From the testing report, you will know where and how to enhance the safety measures.
Conclusion:
Penetration testing is an ethical cyber-attack performed to analyze the scenario of a practical attack. There are different types of pen testing used in different environments based on business nature.
Pen testing provides you with a detailed report on your cyber protection status. It helps you take necessary action to upgrade the security protocol before the attackers exploit the system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration Testing is a planned attack on a computing system. It aims to evaluate the safety efficiency of a network system. The pentester assumes the same scenario and technique the real attackers follow to breach the security protocol.
How Many Types of Pen Testing are There?
There are three categories of pen testing black box, white box, and grey box based on the testing environment. Each category has different types like external and internal networks, social engineering, application testing, and wireless testing.
Is Pen Testing a Good Approach?
Penetration testing helps ensure the cyber security of your organization. Different types of pen testing work on specific scenarios with the common goal of protecting your network system from hackers.
