The world is increasingly connected, and no company can do without the Internet. That is why IT security now affects every company without exception. But every company is different and accordingly has different requirements and prerequisites for its own IT security. With pentesting, the security gaps in your own company can be exposed and eliminated. But what is a pentest which pentest is the right one?
Pentest definition
A pentest is a security test in which a so-called "pentester" attempts to penetrate a computer system or network, for example, in order to check its security and uncover any existing vulnerabilities. This test is often performed by companies to ensure that their systems and networks are protected against external attacks. A pentest also uses various techniques and tools to check the system's security for possible vulnerabilities and improve it if necessary.
What types of pentests exist?
The dimension must be clear in order to find the right one in the multitude of scenarios
The different types of pentests are classified as Black Box, White Box or Grey Box. But how can this classification help in deciding the right pentest?
Mit der Art des ausgewählten Pentest werden gewisse Ergebnisse vorgegeben. Je nachdem, für welches Szenario man sich entscheidet, ist auch schon die Richtung und das Ergebnis des Pentests eingegrenzt. Weitere Faktoren, die die Wahl des Pentests einschränken, sind der ökonomische Nutzen (Aufwand, Kosten) und die Realitätsnähe der Szenarien. Ziel sollte es sein, beides zu optimieren.
In addition to the classification of pentest into white-box, black-box and grey-box scenarios, there are other types and designations that we would like to discuss in the following section for the sake of completeness.
Types of pentests
An external pentest (also called external pentest) is a security test in which the pentester attempts to penetrate a company's network and systems from the outside. The counterpart is the internal pentest, where the attack is to be simulated by an insider. Internal pentests are often used, for example, to penetrate an employee's email account (phishing attack).
A blind penetration test (also known as a closed-box penetration test) is a form of security testing in which the testers have no information about the system or network under test. They begin the test with no prior knowledge and attempt to uncover potential vulnerabilities and security holes. This type of pentest can be considered more realistic, as in real life it is possible that attackers have no information about the target and therefore have to sneak their way into the system.
A network pentest is a security test that uncovers potential vulnerabilities and security gaps in the network infrastructure. The entire internal infrastructure is assessed, checked for security risks and action measures are developed to close any identified security gaps. A network pentest is suitable for companies of all sizes, since nowadays almost all companies work with sensitive data and process or send it via the internal network, for example.
An application penetration test (sometimes also referred to as an app penetration test or simply app testing) is a type of security test that aims to uncover any vulnerabilities and security risks that may exist in an application (e.g., a computer program or mobile app).
These tests are performed by experts who try to attack the system in the same way a hacker would (also called "ethical hacking"). The goal is to verify the security of the application and ensure that it has no vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers. Unlike other types of penetration testing that focus on the entire network or system, an application penetration test specifically targets individual applications and attempts to identify and fix vulnerabilities in those applications.
Social engineering is a special form in which attackers try to obtain confidential information from people by getting them to voluntarily grant them access to corresponding information. This can be done in various ways, for example, by the attackers posing as trustworthy people (e.g., as employees of a company or as service providers) and thus persuading the victims to reveal confidential information such as passwords or access data to them. In social engineering, attackers usually do not need technical skills. Instead, they use their skills in psychology and social influence to deceive victims and elicit confidential information from them.
This can also happen indirectly via phishing attacks, among other things, which is why so-called phishing simulations are also used more frequently in penetration testing. Employees should also be regularly sensitized to such attacks through awareness training.
In addition to
In addition to the types of pentests mentioned, there are countless other classifications. These include cloud penetration testing, client penetration testing and red teaming. We would be happy to advise you individually on the sensible use of pentests for your company.
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Using pentests in a targeted and effective way
The formulation of a clear goal is a basic prerequisite for the success of the pentest and also makes sense from a time and economic point of view. You have to consider what you want to achieve with the pentest. The goal can range from "simply seeing the weak points" to "identifying where the biggest business-relevant problems in the company lie". Is the priority to protect sensitive data from strangers or to protect against a business outage due to cyber-attacks, or is the focus on meeting legal obligations or quality management?
In fact, it is often worthwhile not only to decide on a single scenario from the three categories, but also to take a look at the possibilities of the scenarios in the other two categories. For example, choosing a pure black box scenario carries the risk of not uncovering internal sources of danger at all. In many companies, it is very obvious problems that reveal these scenarios. New interns or working students in the company often gain unintentional or unknowing access to all of the company's sensitive data. Also a common danger is low sensitivity of employees in handling passwords. Such scenarios, however, are often not considered in black-box pentests. A carefully chosen scenario that covers a realistic middle ground between black box and white box can reveal both in this case. Therefore, it is also always useful to select both a black box pentest scenario and a social engineering pentest.
In most cases, it is too time-consuming and often too cost-intensive to test a company's entire IT infrastructure and perform all possible types of pentests. Therefore, it is helpful to check in advance which area is most vulnerable and where the greatest damage could be done to the company. Once a decision has been carefully made for a suitable pentest, ideally 20% of the testing effort can cover 80% of the security vulnerabilities, even according to the Pareto principle.
What is the difference between a pentest and a vulnerability assessment?
Penetration testing and vulnerability analysis are two different types of security testing, both of which are used to identify vulnerabilities in a system or, for example, in a network environment. The main difference between the two approaches is that penetration tests actually attempt to access and target these vulnerabilities to determine whether they actually pose a security risk, while vulnerability assessments are limited to simply detecting vulnerabilities.
Typically, penetration testing is performed by security professionals (known as pentesters) who attempt to attack the system in the same way a hacker would, while vulnerability assessments are often performed by internal IT teams who regularly monitor the system and identify and remediate vulnerabilities. In general, penetration testing provides a higher level of security because it actually actively attempts to exploit vulnerabilities and determine if they pose a security risk.
Solutions require priorities, the pentest alone is not enough
Once the pentest has been carried out with the objective and the right scenarios by the commissioned pentesters, a list of weak points is obtained. However, this mere list has not solved a single problem, nor has it provided any advice. In order to respond well to vulnerabilities in corporate IT, they must first be prioritized, because of course not all problems can be fixed at once. To do this, the risks that are frequent and have a large impact should be prioritized (e.g., using the Eisenhower matrix). A well-dimensioned pentest can provide this prioritization for the most part. The goal should be to fix the most realistic, costly and damaging scenarios to the business first. So you have to think about which areas in the company are vulnerable, which of them are particularly important and become aware of the serious threats and risks you are exposed to. To do this, it is essential to know your own requirements.
The most important thing, however, is to react to the results of the pentest and take action. If I remain passive after the pentest and do not change anything in the company to ensure greater IT security and close my own security gaps, then any pentest, no matter how comprehensive and cost-intensive, will be ineffective.
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