Exploring the holistic approach of PenTesting

In today's digital environment, the threat of cyberattacks is real. Therefore, organizations need to be proactive in safeguarding their essential assets. Security testing of software systems is one of the most important ways to protect them. But not all security assessments are equivalent, and many businesses wrongly believe that "penetration testing" is the industry benchmark. The term is often misunderstood; to make matters worse, some organizations may require an entirely different strategy.

Pen testing, or penetration testing, is a critical security tool organizations employ to find weaknesses in their computer systems by simulating an attack. Various tools and methods are used to discover potential points of entry into a system. Penetration testing companies offer a thorough report outlining the possible threats to the organization's security and make suggestions for strengthening their defenses. Businesses can safeguard their sensitive data against online dangers by conducting effective pen tests.

Staying unaware of your system's issues can have dire consequences for your business. Thus, it becomes essential to have an idea of the problem. Let's understand the different types of cybersecurity penetration testing.

• Mobile penetration testing - Mobile application penetration testing entails checking for vulnerabilities in mobile applications to detect gaps in security and alert developers. The goal is to access private information or interfere with the app's performance to produce solid proof of system vulnerabilities.
• API penetration testing - API penetration testing involves finding vulnerabilities in an application programming interface. To test the application's attack surface, this is done by emulating the actions of a malicious user. After the security vulnerabilities are detected, developers take the required precautions using an API penetration test.
• Network penetration testing- Network penetration testing is a technique for determining how susceptible a computer network is to penetration. It entails modeling a malicious attack to find systemic weaknesses that an attacker might exploit. Network penetration testing is primarily done on the network infrastructure to find flaws.
• Cloud penetration testing - A critical security practice called cloud penetration testing involves scanning a cloud computing environment for weaknesses. It can be performed manually by a human tester or by security tools built into a CI/CD pipeline.
• Web application penetration testing - It is an essential procedure that locates any vulnerabilities in a web application and helps avoid consequences like identity theft, financial loss, and data breaches. A certified penetration tester will try to access the web application during this test by looking for vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and cross-site request forgery. It will determine whether the problems can be used to access data or take over the web application.

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• Blockchain penetration testing - It involves searching for both known and undiscovered vulnerabilities to evaluate the security of a blockchain network, application, or smart contract. This helps find security gaps, incorrect configurations, and vulnerabilities attackers could use.
• Social engineering penetration testing - By designing situations in which an attacker tries to deceive an employee into giving them access to sensitive data, social engineering penetration testing checks the security of an organization's personnel. It locates weak points and informs staff members about social engineering assaults and how to avoid them.

An approach to pen-testing varies depending upon the threat your system or organization faces. There are three different approaches penetration testers follow, which are mentioned below:

• Gray box - The gray box penetration test is used to assess the security of web applications. The goal is to acquire access to sensitive data or system architecture diagrams by starting with a minimal understanding of the program, such as user credentials. Testers can locate potential weaknesses and suggest particular countermeasures to deal with them, which leads to a successful assessment of the network's security.
• Black box - Black box penetration testing is used to assess a system's security without the tester having any prior information about the system, such as its operating system or type of application. This testing enables a thorough understanding of the system's defenses against actual attacks by employing the same methods and devices that hackers would use to attack the system.
• White box - In this method, the tester has complete knowledge of the source code and environment. Unlike the black box method, this approach does not exploit any vulnerabilities and works based on the program's working conditions.

Cybalt is an industry leader in delivering top-tier cybersecurity solutions. Our team of experts helps you identify the problem and present you with the best penetration testing services that your business needs, depending upon the prevailing threat. Using state-of-the-art tools and technology, our cybersecurity experts carry out the required procedure to make your systems impenetrable.