Comprehensive Overview of Penetration Testing- Techniques, Tools, and Best Practices
Penetration testing is conducted by simulating a cyberattack on a system. This helps to assess the level of security in the system (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). A pen test is done by authorized IT personnel in an organization. However, an organization can still outsource penetration testing to individual experts or cybersecurity companies. By evaluating a system’s security, possible vulnerabilities are identified and addressed before they are exploited by hackers (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). Besides a computer system, pen testing can also be done on web applications and networks. This is carried out through penetration testing tools. The tools conduct a comprehensive test on integrated systems, including software, people, and hardware (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). They find all vulnerabilities in real-time, facilitating the mitigation process. Mitigation could include closing unused ports, blocking unused IP addresses, and patching the system using the available updates.
Penetration testing has become essential in the present time because of the increased use of technology (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). More gadgets are getting connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) regardless of their location. Hence, the rise in security risks and cyberattacks. Most businesses have been digitized, and security regulations have been imposed by the concerned authorities (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). For example, it is the responsibility of organizations to protect customer information. Therefore, organizations have to stay abreast with security measures against cyberattacks to avoid losing customers and being in trouble with the authorities. One of those security measures implemented by organizations is penetration testing (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). This enables organizations to be a step ahead of cyberattack criminals. If penetration testing is not conducted and the vulnerabilities removed, hackers could access an organization’s system and cause huge damage (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). For example, data illegally obtained from the system could be used to sabotage the organization or defraud customers.
According to Bozic and Penevski (2019), there are five stages of penetration testing. This includes reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access, and covering tracks. The reconnaissance stage is the first stage where a pen test expert starts by gathering information about the subject system (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). This information may consist of IP addresses, web server domain, and firewalls. Without the correct information on the subject system, pen testing would not be accurate. Stage two is scanning, where more information about the subject system is gathered (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). However, unlike in the first stage, reconnaissance, the scanning stage requires technical tools to extract information. The information gathered is more technical compared to the information gathered in stage one. Technical tools used include network scanning tools such as Nmap. While the technical information includes a server’s version, the running services on the server, the operating system in use, and the ports where services are running (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). The third stage is gaining access and identify vulnerabilities. To identify vulnerabilities in this stage, information from the reconnaissance stage and scanning stage is used (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). Therefore, the information should be correct and sufficient. Maintaining access is the fourth stage where exploitation is done. At this stage, the system is fully compromised, and the attacker could have full control of the system (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). This includes remote access. A cybersecurity expert performing the pen test, spends more time on this stage to identify how long he can maintain access to the system and further evaluate how far an attack can be launched in the subject system (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). The final stage, fifth, is the report generation stage, where all tracks are covered. Tracks of pen testing are covered just like a cyberattack hacker would (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). This ensures that the system is restored to how it was before the pen test or attack activities. The expert conducting the test would then provide a detailed report of all his findings and propose possible measures to avoid future attacks (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). It is expected that once the proposed measures are implemented, the system would be safe.
There are five methods of penetration testing; internal testing, external testing, blind testing, double blind testing, and targeted testing (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). In internal pen testing, a malicious attack from within the organization is evaluated. This means that the attack occurs within the organization’s network and not an external network. It could be by a malicious employee or an attacker masquerading as a legal employee (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). External testing is where pen testing is done on organization assets that are online. Some of these assets include web applications and online hosted servers (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). An attacker can launch an attack from any location to the online resources, unlike in the internal attack that has to be done from within the organization. In blind testing, the only available detail is the name of the subject system (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). Double blind testing is conducted by a pen test expert without notifying the cybersecurity personnel in the organization of the subject system. This simulates a real attack because the pen test expert acts as an attacker and finds the cybersecurity personnel unaware (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). Targeted testing involves the person conducting the pen test and the cybersecurity personnel in the organization. This simulation is done in real-time, with the tester making moves like those of the attacker while the cybersecurity expert in the organization counters the attack (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). The outcome is a learning process and practice on how to curb a cyberattack.
There is an increase in the use of web applications because of their convenience (Jaleel, 2019). These applications can be accessed from any location using the simplest and most available devices such as smartphones. For example, web applications are widely used in business transactions and medical systems, both of which handle confidential data (Jaleel, 2019). Therefore, it is important to conduct pen testing on web applications. Pen testing for web applications is conducted as external testing because they are online systems (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). Meaning they can be attacked by hackers from any location. To perform pen testing on web applications, double blind testing or targeted testing could be conducted. Double-blind testing would simulate a real-time attack without notifying the security experts in the organization (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). This would illustrate what a real attack would look like. The targeted testing would enable the organization to observe step by step how an attack would be launched and how the security experts would counter it (Bozic & Penevski, 2019).
Firewall pen testing is conducted by launching an attack on a network through the firewall (Kaur & Kaur, 2016). This could be done using a host that is on an external network to launch an attack on a host that is behind a firewall on an internal network. If the host behind a firewall is successfully exploited, it would mean that the firewall was also successfully compromised (Kaur & Kaur, 2016). In a secure network, the exploitation of a host behind the firewall would be prevented by the firewall (Kaur & Kaur, 2016). Firewall compromise could be a result of poor configurations or patching.
Pen testing is conducted because of the various benefits it provides (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). The first benefit is discovering all the information that is available to the public and poses vulnerabilities to the system. The second benefit is identifying and managing all unused services and ports that can be accessed externally, hence causing vulnerabilities (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). The third benefit of pen testing is that it enables cybersecurity experts to see systems that are poorly configured, making it easy for attackers to exploit. The configurations are rectified, and proper patching is done (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). Pen testing also facilitates the identification of weak passwords that could cause the system to be exploited, making it the fourth benefit. The fifth benefit is that a pen test can identify the absence of a competent antivirus, which is another cause of system exploitation (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). The sixth benefit is that with the information collected from a pen test activity, a report of vulnerabilities, possible exploitations, and mitigation measures can be obtained (Bozic & Penevski, 2019). This is important in preventing future attacks.
References
Bozic, K., & Penevski, N. (2019, January). Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Assessment: Introduction, Phases, Tools, and Methods [Paper presentation]. Sinteza 2019, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333292138_Penetration_Testing_and_Vulnerability_Assessment_Introduction_Phases_Tools_and_Methods
Jaleel, H. Q. (2019). Testing Web Applications. SSRG International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering (SSRG-IJCSE) –, 6(12), 1-9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340211224_Testing_Web_Applications
Kaur, G., & Kaur, G. (2016). Penetration Testing: Attacking Oneself to Enhance Security. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering, 5(4), 574-577. https://www.ijarcce.com/upload/2016/april-16/IJARCCE%
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Question 
Penetration testing is a simulated cyberattack against a computer or network that checks for exploitable vulnerabilities. Pen tests can involve attempting to breach application systems, APIs, servers, inputs, and code injection attacks to reveal vulnerabilities. In a well-written, highly detailed research paper, discuss the following:
What is penetration testing
Comprehensive Overview of Penetration Testing- Techniques, Tools, and Best Practices
Testing Stages
Testing Methods
Testing, web applications, and firewalls
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
Be approximately 4-6 PAGES IN LENGTH, not including the required cover page and reference page. (Remember, APA is double spaced)
Follow APA 7 guidelines. Your paper should include an introduction, a body with fully developed content, and a conclusion.
Support your answers with the readings from the course and at LEAST 2 SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLES to support your positions, claims, and observations, in addition to your textbook.
Be clear and well-written, concise, and logical, using excellent grammar and style techniques. You are being graded in part on the quality of your writing.