A penetration test (aka a pen test) is a cyber-attack performed on your computer system in a simulated environment to check for possible vulnerabilities. In the world of web application security, a pen test is used to augment a web application firewall (WAF).
What Does A Penetration Test Do?
Penetration testing involves attempting to breach multiple application systems like the application protocol interfaces (APIs) and frontend/backend servers to find vulnerabilities in the system, like incomplete inputs that are an easy target for code injection attacks.
The resulting insights from a penetration test can be used to improve your WAF security policies and fix any detected weaknesses.
Stages of Penetration Testing:
A pen test is performed in five stages. These are:
Planning and reconnaissance:
In the first stage, the testing aims and goals are defined, along with the systems that will be tested and the testing methods to be used. We also try to gather the information to help us understand how a target works and its potential weaknesses.
Scanning:
The next step involves understanding how a target application will react against different attack attempts. This can be done with:
· Static analysis: Inspecting an application’s code to predict how it will behave while running, using tools to scan the entire code in one pass.
· Dynamic analysis: Inspecting how an application’s code behaves while running in real-time.
Gaining Access:
This is when the attack is performed using web application attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting to find the target website’s vulnerabilities.
These vulnerabilities are then exploited by stealing data, stopping traffic, and more, finding out the damage they cause.
Maintaining Access:
In this phase, exploitation is prolonged to understand if the vulnerability allows the attack to gain deeper access. This is done to mimic advanced persistent threats that often stay in a system for months in an attempt to steal a business’ sensitive data.
Analysis:
Lastly, the test results are organized into a report that expands on specific vulnerabilities exploited and the sensitive data that testers gained access to. It also details the amount of time the pen tester could stay in the system without being detected.
This information helps security personnel to reconfigure the organization’s WAF settings and other security solutions to fix any vulnerabilities and protect against possible future threats.
Methods of Penetration testing:
Penetration testing can be done either externally, internally, targeted, blind, or double-blind.
To understand more about the significance of penetration testing, contact Lean Security. Our AI-powered web application penetration testing service helps uncover potential risks to security by using advanced methods. You can book a pen test for your organization by calling us at +61 (2) 8078 6952.
Remember, with web security; it’s better to be safe now than sorry tomorrow.