Penetration Testing Methods and Best Practices
Penetration testing is one of the best ways for any organisation to go about improving their overall cybersecurity posture. To put it simply, penetration testing is a simulated cyber attack on a company’s systems. When done correctly by a specialist tester, it has the ability to identify any vulnerabilities that may exist within the system, allowing businesses to address them before they’re exploited by an actual attack.
When looking to carry out a penetration test, finding the tight testing provider is crucial. You want to know that whoever you selected has your businesses best interests at heart, is competent enough to expose the key vulnerabilities within your system, and has the experience to provide you with the most comprehensive coverage.
Penetration Testing Methods: What You Need to Know
Penetration testing is one of the best possible ways to proactively measure and identify vulnerabilities. Through simulating the techniques used by an actual attacker, it gives you one of the most comprehensive looks at how your businesses cyber defenses work in real time. This allows you to take a proactive response to improving your security posture, addressing issues before they have an opportunity to be exploited.
There are countless methods to penetration testing, but to make things a bit simpler, you should always look to choose a provider that follows current industry standards. For example, the OWASP Top 10 is an extremely comprehensive standard that represents an extremely broad consensus on what the current most critical security risks are to web applications. Penetration test providers should be using standards such as these to form the base of their testing protocols in order to provide you with the best service possible for your business.
There are also numerous certifications you should also look out for when trying to select an appropriate penetration testing service. For example, CREST certification is one of the highest markers of quality achievable in the field, and is a fantastic indicator of a testing provider who adheres to the highest levels of rigour and quality.
Common Penetration Testing Methods and Their Benefits
There are typically three main methods of penetration testing used by specialists:
- Black box penetration testing is arguably one of the most true-to-life forms of penetration testing. It involves a team with no prior knowledge of a business’s cyber infrastructure carrying out a penetration test to determine the strength of the overall security posture.
- White box penetration testing on the other hand, involves the testers having full knowledge of the target systems, and full visibility into the IT environment. While this may be less realistic than black box testing, it allows for a high level stress test of a system’s security capabilities.
- Grey box penetration testing is something in between black box and white box testing. The testers can have partial or incomplete knowledge of the target systems, allowing for testing that both simulates real-world attacks, but also provides an extremely thorough test.
Each of these approaches has its advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately it depends on the needs of the organisation in question. At DigitalXRAID, for example, we make sure to take your security goals into consideration before we determine which type of testing to proceed with. While we have expertise in all three, we may choose one over another for a variety of reasons. Perhaps a company is concerned about insider threats. In that case, we may look to use white box testing to better simulate this exact scenario.
Pen Testing Best Practices
Penetration testing is best used as a proactive way to secure your organisation’s digital infrastructure. With that in mind, it’s important to conduct regular penetration testing in order to stay ahead of evolving threats. The frequency here will depend on your organisation’s size, overall risk profile, the frequency of updates conducted and the industry you work in.
In addition, you should also work with a provider who is capable of providing multiple different types of tests that can cover all potential areas of vulnerability — web app, mobile, or external assets for example.
Finally, you should prioritise a thorough review of post-test reports that provide actionable insights you can then work on improving. The whole point of penetration testing is to find vulnerabilities that you can then fix. Without taking action on the insights provided from each test, you’ll never be able to improve your company’s security posture.
Different Penetration Testing Services Explained
Similarly to how there are multiple different ways to conduct penetration testing, there are also multiple testing services that can be provided, with DigitalXRAID offering expertise in each and every one.
- Internal penetration testing imitates an insider threat and is often carried out following or in conjunction with an external test.
- External penetration testing evaluates the vulnerabilities of external assets, including cloud infrastructure, email and file sharing facilities.
- PCI DSS compliance testing looks specifically at the security of payment processing functions, particularly the handling of sensitive financial data supplied by customers.
- Red teaming mimics a real-world cyber attack and often goes beyond the scope of traditional penetration testing to provide an extremely comprehensive security overview of specific vulnerabilities.
- Web app penetration testing simulates an attack on specific web apps to ensure that they’re secure from attack.
- Mobile app penetration testing looks to specifically protect mobile applications from a variety of attacks aimed at infiltrating their systems.
How to Choose a Pen Testing Provider You Can Trust
There are a few easy methods you can use when evaluating a potential penetration testing solution, all of which should make it that bit easier to find a provider you can actually trust.
First, investigate whether or not the testing provider has any of the recommended penetration testing certifications. For example, a CREST certified provider would rank within the top 1% of security service providers globally, signalling a dedication to the highest level of security. At DigitalXRAID, we’re proudly CREST certified for a number of services.
Second, examine the methodology used by your potential provider — if any. Having no methodology at all should be a significant red flag, as it likely means the testing provided is less rigorous and less intensive than you require. At DigitalXRAID, for example, we use the OWASP Top 10 methodology as a base in order to ensure we’re consistently addressing the most critical security risks to web applications. While we still tailor our offerings to each individual client, having a standard methodology to work from ensures that we can guarantee the highest level of protection from the outset, that our experts then work from to provide an even more bespoke and secure service.
Finally, look to the experience of the penetration testing provider you’re considering working with. Do they have an extensive history of working with companies of all shapes and sizes? Does their track record speak to their history of stellar work? Have they received any awards for their efforts in protecting businesses from cyber attacks? All of these can inform you on how strong a prospective penetration provider’s credentials are for helping your business. And, in DigitalXRAID’s case, the answer to all three is a resounding yes!
Why Penetration Testing Is Critical for Business Security
Penetration testing should be a core strategy for enhancing your company’s cybersecurity posture. Working with a trusted provider is one of the best decisions you can make to protect your business, and at DigitalXRAID, we have the expertise and the experience to provide a tailored solution that can not only ensure you remain compliant with security standards, but also resilient against even the most sophisticated attacks.
Get in touch with our team of experts today and take the next step in protecting the future of your business.
