Cyber Month: Penetration Testing – A Pivotal Role In Evaluating Security Defences

15 Oct 2024

What is Penetration Testing (Pen Tests)?

Penetration testing or Pen testing, is a security exercise that simulates a cyberattack to evaluate your computer system’s security defences. It involves using the same tools and techniques that an attacker might use to identify vulnerabilities in the system.

It’s one of the most crucial aspects of any cyber security journey and plays a pivotal role in evaluating your security defences. It’s a “final line of defence” against potential attackers and ensures your security posture is always up to date. By incorporating regular Penetration testing into your risk management strategy, you can ensure a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating potential security threats.

At the end of the testing period a report is produced, revealing any security issues uncovered including an assessment by the test team listing the levels of risk for each vulnerability with recommendations for remediation. Advice might also be included about your internal security processes and organisational risk.

Types of Pen Tests

There is a whole spectrum of Penetration test types, designed to perform slightly different tasks and reporting. In very general terms they are:

  • “White” or “Open” Box Testing – Full information about IT Systems is made available to the testers in order to assess vulnerability and management controls. This will uncover the existence of known software vulnerabilities and common misconfigurations in an organisation’s systems.
  • “Grey” or “Black” Box Test –  Little or no information is shared with the testers about the internal IT Systems or targets. This method more accurately models the risk of an outside malicious attack. However, the lack of information can also result in vulnerabilities remaining undiscovered in the time allocated for testing.
  • Targeted” Test – is a security assessment that focuses on evaluating the security of a specific system or application within an establishment.

Scoping

Scoping is the process used to determine which systems, devices and networks to test during the Penetration test. It’s the first phase of a Pen test and establishes the groundwork for the entire process and ensures you can extract the most value from the project. It ensures the following:

  • Objectives: Clearly establishes the objectives for the test to ensure it meets the organisation’s security goals.
  • Assets: Identifies all assets that need testing to prevent vulnerabilities from being overlooked.
  • Communication: Establishes clear channels of communication between the testing team and the organisation to avoid misalignment in objectives and scope.
  • Testing methods: Determines the testing tools and methodologies to ensure comprehensive and effective testing.
  • Budget and resources: Assesses the available budget and resource constraints.
  • Motivation: Pinpoints the motivation for the Penetration test.

Penetration Testing by CREST Accredited Organisations

Penetration tests should only by performed by qualified and experienced staff so we recommend a CREST accredited organisations such as Cyber-Q Group (one of our Cyber Security strategic partners).

For more information on our Penetration tests or learn more about our Cyber Security solutions, please click here.

Reach out to an expert today

Interested in how Academia can help?
Fill out this form and we’ll get back to you in no time!