With the growing number of cyber-attacks and the sophistication of hacker methods, software, and network vulnerability testing is becoming an integral part of IT departments. One of the most effective ways to identify weaknesses is to conduct mobile and application security penetration testing. In this article, you will learn about the specifics of this procedure.
What Is Vulnerability?
A vulnerability is a weak point in software, hardware, or security protocols. It can be caused by various reasons:
- programming errors;
- incorrect system or hardware configuration;
- outdated firmware;
- design flaws;
- the human factor, and so on.
Before a vulnerability is discovered, it only poses a potential threat. To exploit a vulnerability, an exploit is created – malicious code. After that, the exploit is used to attack the vulnerable system. Attackers can use the vulnerability until the consequences become noticeable.
What Is Penetration Testing?
A classic pentest is a simulation of a cyberattack, or authorized hacking of a system, as well as modeling of data leaks. The purpose of such testing is to identify vulnerabilities and check the security of the system. After testing, specialists record and analyze the weak points of the system and select ways to eliminate them.
A pentest differs from a vulnerability assessment. The first is about a real hack or leak, and the second is about theoretical calculations and possible protection. Penetration testing is performed by pentesters (cybersecurity specialists).
Types of Penetration Testing
Network service testing is one of the most commonly performed penetration tests. During such testing, an attack is carried out on a computer network. There are two main types of network pentests: external and internal.
External pentest. Penetrators remotely simulate the behavior of hackers from the outside to find weaknesses in infrastructure components that are connected to the Internet. These can be servers, firewalls, switches, routers, employee computers, and printers.
Internal pentest. Penetrators try to hack a system from the inside. For example, by scanning subnets, domain servers, or file servers, or using stolen employee credentials. This helps to identify vulnerabilities that can be exploited locally, such as abuse of access levels.
Social engineering testing helps to identify how easy it is to gain access to company resources from employees through deception, persuasion, or blackmail. In this case, they can both take over an employee’s account and intercept all the information that passes through them electronically: letters, data from closed sites, etc.
There is evidence that 98% of cyberattacks are based on social engineering. Information security at the personnel level often depends on people’s awareness of digital hygiene. Opening attachments from spam letters, clicking on questionable links, and storing logins and passwords on a piece of paper near the work computer are all weak points from a social engineering perspective.
Application testing identifies vulnerabilities in applications and related systems:
- web applications;
- web sites;
- mobile applications;
- Internet of Things applications;
- cloud applications;
- application programming interfaces (APIs);
- databases;
- components, such as plugins, as well as scriptlets and applets – fragments of code that run on a page or in an application.
Application testing often begins with checking the OWASP Top 10. This is a list of the most common and critical vulnerabilities in web applications from the international non-profit organization OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project).
Common vulnerabilities in web applications include the possibility of introducing malicious code, incorrect settings, and authentication failures. If pentesters discover a vulnerability, they try to exploit it to gain unauthorized access to the application and its systems.
Physical penetration testing is carried out to detect vulnerabilities and problems in physical infrastructure elements, such as electronic locks, CCTV cameras, and sensors.
Movies often show how attackers create a duplicate of someone’s badge and use it to enter closed rooms, such as server rooms. Physical penetration testing checks the reality of such an operation.
Client-side penetration testing helps to find weaknesses or security flaws in the software that employees use. Vulnerable programs can include email clients, browsers, office applications, and even graphic editors.
This type of testing can identify specific attacks, such as form interception, HTML injection, and malware infections.
Wireless network penetration testing is performed to check the connections between all devices that are connected to the corporate Wi-Fi. These can be smartphones, laptops, tablets, and IoT devices.
Wi-Fi attacks on companies are quite common due to the many threats to wireless networks, from unauthorized access points to weak encryption algorithms.
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Penetration Testing Methods
Black box testing is performed under conditions where the pen tester knows almost nothing about the company’s infrastructure. Such testing is as close as possible to simulating a real cyber attack by unknown attackers.
Black box testing is also called trial and error, and it requires a high level of technical skills from the pen tester.
White box testing (also known as transparent or glass box testing) is performed by a pen tester who has full knowledge of the system and access to the source code and environment. The purpose of this method is to perform an in-depth security audit of business systems.
White box testing can produce more thorough results than black box testing, but there are also disadvantages. The pen tester may spend a lot of time determining which areas of the system to focus on, and he may also need complex and expensive tools, such as code analyzers and debuggers.
Grey box testing is when a penetration tester has partial knowledge of a system or partial access to an internal network or web application.
Blue, Red, And Purple Teams
Depending on the complexity of the testing being performed, several different teams may participate:
- The Blue Team defends the company against attacks and simulates incident response measures taking into account the company’s policies and available resources.
- The Red Team simulates or actually carries out attacks. This team is usually small and consists of ethical hackers, programmers, and social engineers, led by a senior testing manager or senior security consultant. Red team members are most often recruited from outside the company.
- The Purple Team combines the roles of the Blue and Red Teams. The Purple Team may be made up of attackers and defenders, or it may serve as a conduit between the Blue and Red Teams.
Final Thoughts
Conducting pentests is a critical process aimed at ensuring software security. Such testing helps to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities before they are exploited by attackers. In the context of the constant growth of cyber threats, pentesting is becoming not just an option, but a necessity for every company. If you are looking for a mobile or web application security pentesting company, we recommend paying attention to the ImmuniWeb AI platform.
