An explanation of pen testing
In this video, Informa TechTarget customer success specialist Ben Clossey explains what pen testing is and how organizations can use it to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Outsmart the hackers with pen testing.
A penetration test -- or pen test -- is a cybersecurity technique used to identify, highlight and ultimately mitigate vulnerabilities in an organization's security posture. Primarily used by ethical hackers, pen testing mimics cyberattack strategies to measure the hackability of an organization's systems, networks or applications.
It's a proactive approach to cybersecurity, as organizations use the insights it generates to fix weaknesses as they arise. Here, we'll explain the pen testing process.
Pen testing is often used interchangeably with ethical hacking, but these terms are slightly different. While ethical hacking is a broad term encompassing the whole IT environment, pen testing is a technique focused on a specific system or network.
The pen testing process can be broken down into six stages:
- Reconnaissance and planning, where target system information is gathered to gauge where vulnerabilities might lie.
- Scanning, where tools like war dialers and port scanners are used to find as many loopholes and vulnerabilities as possible.
- Obtaining entry, which involves making a connection with the target. Here, testers use actual attack methods like SQL injections to expose the system's vulnerabilities.
- Maintaining access, which imitates advanced persistent threats to ensure testers stay connected as long as possible to maximize data infiltration.
- Analysis, where the results are compiled into a report that includes the vulnerabilities the testers exploited, the type of sensitive data they accessed, and the amount of time they were connected to the target.
- Cleanup and remediation, where all traces of tools and processes used are removed so as not to be left in place for actual threat actors. At this stage, organizations should start remediating the issues found.
There are three different types of pen testing for companies to choose from, depending on their specific needs and available resources:
- White box testing, where testers know the internal workings about an organization's systems.
- Black box testing, where they have no internal knowledge.
- Gray box testing, which is a combination of the two.
So, when should an organization actually run these tests? Experts recommend at least once a year, when new network infrastructure or appliances are added to the network, when upgrades are performed on existing applications and when new office locations are established.
Regular pen testing is necessary for organizations to mitigate cyberattacks, but that's not its only benefit. Pen testing also helps an organization maintain a good reputation, better manage their compliance needs, gain a deeper understanding of ever-evolving attack methods and so much more.
Does your organization use pen testing? Let us know in the comments, and remember to like and subscribe, to Eye on Tech.
Tommy Everson is an assistant editor for video content at TechTarget. He assists in content creation for TechTarget's YouTube channel and TikTok page.
Sabrina Polin is a managing editor of video content for the Learning Content team. She plans and develops video content for TechTarget's editorial YouTube channel, Eye on Tech. Previously, Sabrina was a reporter for the Products Content team.