Penetration Testing

What is Penetration Testing ? Penetration test is a comprehensive way of testing an organization’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities. If a hacker were going to target you, A) how would they do it and B) would they be successful? Penetration testing — also known as pen testing — views your network, application, device, and/or physical security through the eyes of both a malicious actor and an experienced cybersecurity expert to discover weaknesses and identify areas where your security posture needs improvement. Why Do Companies need Penetration Testing ? Penetration testing examines the real-world effectiveness of your existing security controls when a skilled human actively tries to hack in. While automated testing can identify some cybersecurity issues, true penetration testing considers the business’s vulnerability to manual attack, too. After all, bad actors aren’t going to stop their attacks just because the standard automated test doesn’t identify a vulnerability. (Meet Compliance Requirements) What are Penetration Testing Types ? Application penetration testing — Identifies application layer flaws such as Cross Site Request Forgery, Cross Site Scripting, Injection Flaws, Weak Session Management, Insecure Direct Object References and more.Network penetration testing — Focuses on identifying network and system level flaws including Misconfigurations, Product-specific vulnerabilities, Wireless Network Vulnerabilities, Rogue Services, Weak Passwords and Protocols.Physical penetration testing — Also known as physical intrusion testing, this testing reveals opportunities to compromise physical barriers such as locks, sensors, cameras, mantraps and more.IoT/Device penetration testing — Aims to uncover hardware and software level flaws with Internet of Things devices including Weak Passwords, Insecure Protocols, APIS, or Communication Channels, Misconfigurations and more. What Tools do Penetration Testers use ? Why use a horse and buggy to cross the country when you can fly in a jet plane? Here's a list of the supersonic tools that make a modern pentester's job faster, better, and smarter. Kali LinuxNmapWiresharkJohn the RipperBurp SuiteSqlmap For more Awesome Penetration Testing Tools: Link. What are Penetration Testing professional Certifications ? The actual performance of a penetration test is a highly technical task. It also requires proper, ethical conduct and excellent report writing/communications skills. Many professionals become pentesters on their own, developing hacking skills through self-study and trial and error. While that can take care of the technical skill part of the job, in today’s market, it may not be sufficient to secure a good paying job. A good alternative that will let professionals develop their technical skills, adhere to an ethical code of conduct, and even show they can create meaningful reports is earning an ethical hacker certification: Global Information Assurance Certification Penetration Tester (GPEN). Link.eLearnsecurityq (PTS, PTP, PTX) Link. Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP). Link.Offensive Security Certified Expert (OSCE). Link. What are the skills required for Penetration Tester ? There are many skills required for a penetration tester to know at first. As a penetration tester, you’re required to dive deep into any system you may see during your PT engagement. therefore, its highly required to have the following skills and build more as you learn: Mastery of operating system.Good knowledge of networking and network protocols.Basic scripting.Programing Languages (helps for applications penetration testing).Network Firewalls and how it works. Systems Defense Mechanisms (with default settings).little knowledge computer fervencies.