What are the Top 5 Penetration Testing Techniques

Before diving into the “techniques” of penetration testing, it is necessary that we first become acquainted with the various types of penetration testing, which are as follows:

1) Black Box Pen Testing

2) Grey Box Pen Testing

3) White Box Pen Testing

Black Box Penetration Testing

External penetration testing, often known as black box penetration testing, mimics an assault from outside the business.

A penetration tester/ethical hacker begins with the same techniques that a genuine attacker would use to target the company and exploit vulnerabilities. This essentially implies that a penetration tester would begin with minimal to no information about the target and then attempt to identify security bugs.

This will help the organisation in mitigating such scenarios and plan out an action strategy to counter such cases.

The dynamic examination of programmes and systems actively executing in the target network is the foundation of black box penetration testing.A penetration tester using the Black Box Penetration Testing approach would create his own map of the company in the same way as a genuine attacker would in order to exploit the targeted organisation.

White Box Penetration Testing

This sort of pen test, also known as internal testing, provides the tester with immediate access to the source code and software architecture

It is similarly to an attack carried out by an employee or hacker who already has access to the system.

The pen tester has the same permissions as an authorized user at the start. They then try to exploit weaknesses in system security and configuration.

Grey Box Penetration Testing

Gray-box testing, as the name implies, is the midway ground between internal and external testing. The tester is mimicking an external assault, except that in this situation, the hacker has just incomplete knowledge levels of a user.

Its goal is to find flaws in the code structure or application by combining white-box and black-box approaches.The hybrid test collects user inputs to determine what outputs the programmer generates in response.

You must now be accustomed to the THREE FORMS OF PENETRATION TESTING

Let us now understand the 5 major types of Penetration Testing Techniques namely:

1. Web Application Pen Testing
2. Network Service PenTesting
3. Mobile Application Pen Testing
4. Social Engineering Pen Testing
5. Physical Pen Testing

Let’s Start 🙉

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT)

The expansion of online apps has increased the amount of Internet resources allocated to software development and application configuration. However, because certain online apps may include sensitive data, this is a major new attack channel for hackers.

Web application penetration testing gathers data about the target system, identifies flaws, and attempts to attack them.

Some commonly exploited and tested vulnerabilities in WAPT are as follows:

1. SQL Injections
2. Cross Site Scripting Attacks (XSS)
3. Remote Code Executions (RCE)
4. File Upload Issues
5. Broken Access Control
6. Cache Server Misconfigurations
7. Cross Site Request Forgery
8. Mass Assignment Attack
9. Sensitive Data Exposures
10. Security Misconfigurations

and many more…

Network service penetration testing is used to identify exploitable vulnerabilities in the following locations:

1. Networks
2. Systems
3. Hosts
4. Network Devices

The main objective is to find and close them before hackers abuse them.
When done correctly, it has the potential to expose serious vulnerabilities that hackers can use to obtain access to sensitive data and control of the system.. The discovery process allows teams to find better ways to protect their private data and prevent system hijacking.

Mobile Application Penetration Testing (MAPT)

Mobile apps are quickly becoming the preferred method for users to interact with mobile devices. Applications extend the rich native capabilities of mobile devices beyond what is often feasible with online applications. With the expansion of mobile apps, mobile applications are processing more personal data and sensitive characteristics.

Mobile Application Penetration Testing, on the other hand, requires security testers/penetration testers to adhere to a precise methodology in order to assess the overall security posture of the application under scrutiny.

Experts, in a nutshell, duplicate dangers provided by various threat actors of varying skill levels. A mobile application penetration tester will be able to assess the mobile application’s resistance to numerous threat vectors. This will aid the organization since a penetration tester will use the same method as a real attacker to target the application and thereby minimize those risks by fixing it.

Some security issues commonly found in Mobile Application are as follows:

1. Sensitive Data Exposure
2. Insecure Data Storage
3. Insecure Communication
4. Insufficient Authentication and Authorization Controls
5. Reverse Engineering
6. Poor Encryption
7. Lack of Input Validation

Social Engineering Penetration Testing

Instead of developing expensive and time-consuming exploits that may fail, cyber criminals send bogus emails, steal credentials, and upload malicious attachments to cloud apps. It’s less difficult.

To reduce such risk factors, the first priority that any organisation must undertake is employee security by making them aware of the usual risks that occur when they get a bogus email and click on it.

Not just that, but raising awareness about several additional types of social engineering, such as:

1. Phishing
2. Vishing
3. Smishing
4. Tailgating
5. USB Drops
6. Watering Hole
7. Baiting
8. Dumpster Diving

Physical Penetration Testing

Physical penetration testing simulates the traditional way of closing security gaps.The penetration tester breaks through physical security barriers and attempts to access an organization’s security infrastructure, buildings, or systems. It tests the various physical controls which include:

1. Barriers
2. Cameras
3. Sensors
4. Locks
5. Alarms
6. Security Guards

This is often considered a retrofit, but if a hacker can physically bypass security and access the server room, it may be easier to control the network. Therefore, it is important to protect the physical security system as rigorously as the cyber security boundaries.

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Conclusion

In this blog post, we’ve briefly explained about  Top 5 Penetration Testing Techniques in 2022. We hope you enjoyed it! Stay safe from cyber-attacks!