A Brief Introduction to Penetration Testing
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The document discusses penetration testing and provides details on: 1. The 5 stages of a penetration test: planning and reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access, and analysis and WAF configuration. 2. Penetration testing methods like external testing, internal testing, blind testing, and double-blind testing. 3. How penetration testing and web application firewalls (WAFs) work together, with testers using WAF data to find vulnerabilities and WAFs then being updated based on test results.
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A Brief Introduction to Penetration Testing
- 1. What is Penetration Testing • Step by Step Process & Methods What is Penetration Testing Step by Step Process & Methods EC-Council
- 2. Penetration Test Means... • A penetration test is a simulated cyber-attack against your system to check for exploitable vulnerabilities. • Pen testing can involve the attempted breaching of any number of application systems, (e.g., application protocol interfaces (APIs), frontend/backend servers, etc.) to uncover vulnerabilities, such as Un sanitized inputs that are susceptible to code injection attacks. • Insights provided by the penetration test can be used to fine- tune your WAF security policies and patch detected vulnerabilities. EC-Council
- 3. Penetration Testing Stages The pen testing process can be broken down into five stages. EC-Council 01 02 03 04 05 PENETRATION TESTING STAGES Planning and reconnaissance Test goals are defined and intelligence is gathered. Scanning Scanning tools are used to understand how a target responds to intrusions. Gaining access Web application attacks are staged to uncover a target's vulnerabilities. Maintaining access APTS are imitated to see if a vulnerabiliy can be used to maintain access. Analysis and WAF configuration Results are used to configure WAF settings before testing is run again.
- 4. 1. Planning and reconnaissance The first stage involves: • Defining the scope and goals of a test, including the systems to be addressed and the testing methods to be used. • Gathering intelligence (e.g., network and domain mail server) to better understand how a target works and its potential vulnerabilities. EC-Council 2. Scanning Understand how the target application will respond to intrusion attempts: • Static analysis – Inspecting an application’s code to estimate the way it behaves while running. • Dynamic analysis – Inspecting an application’s code in a running state. 3. Gaining Access This stage uses web application attacks, such as cross-site scripting, SQL injection and backdoors, to uncover a target’s vulnerabilities. Testers then try and exploit these vulnerabilities, typically by escalating privileges, stealing data, intercepting traffic, etc., to understand the damage they can cause. 4. Maintaining access The goal of this stage is to see if the vulnerability can be used to achieve a persistent presence in the exploited system— long enough for a bad actor to gain in-depth access. The idea is to imitate advanced persistent threats, which often remain in a system for months in order to steal an organization’s most sensitive data.
- 5. EC-Council 5. Analysis The results of the penetration test are then compiled into a report detailing: • Specific vulnerabilities that were exploited • Sensitive data that was accessed • The amount of time the pen tester was able to remain in the system undetected This information is then analyzed by security personnel to help configure an enterprise’s WAF settings and other application security solutions to patch vulnerabilities and protect against future attacks.
- 6. EC-Council Penetration Testing Methods External testing: External penetration tests target the assets of a company that are visible on the internet, e.g., the web application itself, the company website, and email and domain name servers (DNS). The goal is to gain access and extract valuable data. Internal testing: In an internal test, a tester with access to an application behind its firewall simulates an attack by a malicious insider. This isn’t necessarily simulating a rogue employee. A common starting scenario can be an employee whose credentials were stolen due to a phising attack
- 7. Penetration Testing Methods (contd.) EC-Council • Blind testing: In a blind test, a tester is only given the name of the enterprise that’s being targeted. This gives security personnel a real-time look into how an actual application assault would take place. • Double-blind testing: In a double-blind test, security personnel have no prior knowledge of the simulated attack. As in the real world, they won’t have any time to shore up their defenses before an attempted breach. • Targeted testing: In this scenario, both the tester and security personnel work together and keep each other appraised of their movements. This is a valuable training exercise that provides a security team with real-time feedback from a hacker’s point of view.
- 8. Penetration Testing & Web Application Firewalls EC-Council • Penetration testing and WAFs are exclusive, yet mutually beneficial security measures. • For many kinds of pen testing (except for blind and double-blind tests), the tester is likely to use WAF data, such as logs, to locate and exploit an application’s weak spots. • In turn, WAF administrators can benefit from pen testing data. After a test is completed, WAF configurations can be updated to secure against the weak spots discovered in the test.
- 9. Thank You For Watching! Want to learn Pentesting? Join our next batch for penetration testing certification at EC-Council