The modern virtual landscape faces a myriad of threats. Unfortunately, even the strongest defenses have been known to give way to sophisticated attackers.
Comprehensive security solutions are best poised to protect vulnerable systems and information. One strategy can determine where weaknesses exist and how they can be fixed: penetration testing.
A key component of modern cybersecurity, penetration testing is valuable because it approaches security from a unique standpoint. Even well-guarded systems contain weaknesses that can easily be exploited to stage devastating attacks. Ethical hackers have the key role of uncovering these issues because they cannot be addressed until they are known.
This represents an important opportunity, not only for organizations that require comprehensive protection, but also for aspiring cybersecurity professionals. The role of an ethical hacker can be highly rewarding and, as organizations strive to improve their security posture, demand for skilled pen testers continues to grow.
To reveal these trends, we will answer major questions below, including, what is a penetration test and what is a penetration tester? Keep reading to learn why this role is so critical and to discover how to become a penetration tester.
What Is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing represents a unique and effective approach to cybersecurity that mimics real-world cyberattacks but authorizes security professionals to carry these out. The goal is to find weaknesses before bad actors have the chance to uncover and exploit potentially devastating vulnerabilities. IBM defines this as a “security test that launches a mock cyberattack to find vulnerabilities in a computer system.”
Why Is Penetration Testing Crucial for Safeguarding Information Systems?
Penetration testing plays a critical role in boosting cybersecurity. Its importance stems, in part, from its inherently proactive nature. Pen testing strives to catch problems before they lead to attacks. This can help organizations improve their security posture and overall defense but may also improve their response in the event of a real-world cyberattack.
Identifying Vulnerabilities
Even the most comprehensive cybersecurity solutions consistently fail to pinpoint vulnerabilities. When these issues remain unknown, they are far easier for threat actors to exploit without being detected. If identified early enough, vulnerabilities can be patched or otherwise resolved, thereby limiting the potential for future breaches.
This is especially crucial given the increasingly clear reality that DiD (defense-in-depth) may no longer be sufficient on its own, as evidenced in Pentera’s State of Pen Testing survey. Pen testing functions as a valuable supplement to these efforts.
Compliance with Security Standards and Regulations
An increasingly complex series of rules and regulations governs our digital infrastructure and aims to protect vulnerable users. Penetration testing boosts compliance simply because so many regulatory bodies now require regular testing.
Pen testing is necessary for maintaining compliance with everything from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and may even play into Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance.
Minimizing Potential Impact
In addition to preventing breaches, penetration testers can help organizations ensure that they are well-equipped to respond to any incidents that do occur. Strategic mitigation is crucial, and efforts to address breaches will be far more prompt and more productive if organizations have a strong understanding of their overall security posture.
Enhancing Security Awareness and Training
Security awareness is crucial in all areas of modern organizations, as social engineering attacks make it increasingly easy for threat actors to gain access to sensitive information. Employees and other stakeholders need to be aware of these risks and should be prepared to identify potential social engineering efforts or other signs of suspicion. Pen testing can play into training efforts by allowing for customization based on the unique security issues that specific organizations or departments face.
Maintaining Trust and Confidence
As traditional security systems fall victim to sophisticated breaches, many stakeholders worry whether their investments in cybersecurity initiatives will actually prove worthwhile. Pen testing can confirm the value of these initiatives while also acting as a powerful safeguard. If problems are not caught by DiD mechanisms, there is a strong chance that they will be uncovered by pen testers.
The Role of a Penetration Tester
Penetration testers fulfill an important function: they uncover cybersecurity problems and expand awareness of security best practices. Also known as ethical hackers, these hard-working professionals mimic threat actors, but for a noble reason. This is to determine how cybercriminals might behave under various conditions.
Main Responsibilities of a Penetration Tester
Penetration testing is a dynamic job that continually presents new challenges, methodologies, and opportunities. Generally, pen testers can be expected to carry out these critical tasks:
- Planning and preparation: Pen testers do not simulate attacks haphazardly. Initiatives need to be purposeful and therefore, carefully planned. This may involve gathering details about the target and planning the scope of future pen testing efforts.
- Conducting assessments: The pen test itself is often referred to as an assessment. This involves reconnaissance, during which information about the target is gathered and probes are completed to reveal open ports. Enumeration is also important as this helps pen testers extract even more information about the target environment.
- Analysis and reporting: Penetration testing can produce a wealth of data, which, if analyzed, may reveal relevant cybersecurity trends or patterns. As they conduct assessments, pen testers document their work in detail. This is fundamental for compliance purposes and can also influence future security training initiatives.
- Post-testing: Following the main testing phases, testers may complete post-testing processes that convey results and insights to clients or other stakeholders. Post-testing initiatives may involve in-depth analysis, reporting, and prioritization to reveal which vulnerabilities are most urgent or severe. Based on those priorities, recommendations for remediation can be developed and shared.
Key Technical Skills of Successful Penetration Testers
Penetration testers must possess a range of technical skills, which form the basis of their assessments and analyses. Essentials include:
- Networking knowledge: Penetration testers should be thoroughly familiar with top networking protocols, such as HTTP, DNS, and TCP. Also essential is a thorough understanding of the TCP/IP model’s layers, which should help pen testers recognize how various protocols can work together.
- System and application security: Pen testers must be well-informed about operating systems, including their architecture and default configurations. They must also be familiar with a myriad of network devices and security controls. Ideally, these professionals will have a strong command of web application testing techniques.
- Programming and scripting: Programming languages and scripting languages play a significant role in pen testers’ everyday tasks and can prove especially useful for essentials such as reconnaissance. Pen testers should be familiar with scripting frameworks and should also understand secure coding principles.
- Cryptography: Because cryptography plays such a fundamental role in securing data, pen testers must understand basic concepts such as encryption and decryption, along with symmetric and asymmetric key algorithms, hash functions, and cryptographic protocols. They should be familiar with the diverse types of cryptographic attacks that threat actors might carry out and how these can be mitigated. Moving forward, knowledge of quantum cryptography can give pen testers a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving cybersecurity job market.
Types of Penetration Testing
Different situations may call for distinct types of pen testing, and, ideally, ethical hackers will know which strategies to pursue based on the circumstances at hand. Common approaches include:
- External penetration testing: Designed to mimic attacks that might occur outside a given organization’s network, external pen testing aims to exploit vulnerabilities uncovered in VPNs, firewalls, web servers, and other accessible resources. Techniques could include vulnerability scanning, reconnaissance, or even social engineering.
- Internal penetration testing: Contrasting external pen testing, internal strategies simulate attacks that might occur within a particular network, through which testers move laterally as they escalate privileges. This approach often relies on port scanning, although weak access controls and misconfigurations can be exploited.
- Blind penetration testing: Offering limited information to the tester, blind pen testing aims to simulate situations in which threat actors initially know little about the target organization. This approach risks missing certain vulnerabilities and may sometimes prompt a longer testing period.
- Double blind penetration testing: Taking a test beyond conventional blind approaches, double blind pen testing calls for careful planning and can sometimes be difficult to execute. However, it also promises the most realistic depiction of real-world attacks.
- Social engineering testing: Because social engineering represents such a considerable threat, pen testers increasingly strive to discern whether employees can be tricked into disclosing sensitive information via simulated attacks that mimic phishing.
- Web application testing: Focused on web-based software, web application testing aims to uncover errors or bugs before websites go live. This process can reveal issues such as SQL injections or cross-site scripting (XSS).
- Client-side testing: Emphasizing the user’s web browsers, client-side testing ensures that the user interface functions as intended. This functions more on responsiveness than pen testing (which is more security-focused) but can play a supplemental role in enhancing web performance and security.
- Cloud security testing: Centered around the security posture of cloud-based solutions, cloud security testing aims to protect cloud environments against breaches. While pen testing can involve both cloud-based and on-premises initiatives, the expanded influence of the cloud means that cloud security testing is increasingly common and increasingly necessary.
Core Penetration Testing Tools
Pen testers utilize a variety of tools, which help them accurately imitate real-world threat actors. Different tools or technologies may be relevant in different situations, but the following are particularly paramount to today’s penetration testers:
- Network scanners: Meant to identify vulnerabilities or weaknesses within network infrastructure, network scanning often involves service identification and port scanning. This process is also crucial for monitoring and managing networks.
- Vulnerability scanners: As critical tools designed to systematically scan specific environments, vulnerability scanners may compare the characteristics of these environments against known vulnerabilities. These scans can be automated but serve a vital role in the bigger picture of vulnerability management.
- Exploitation tools: Typically used during the initial stages of pen tests, exploitation tools help ethical hackers find and leverage weaknesses. This category of tools may encompass some of the vulnerability and network scanners identified above.
- Post-exploitation tools: Used following pen testing’s initial access phases, post-exploitation tools help pen testers further infiltrate systems or escalate privileges. Common examples include data exfiltration tools for transferring vulnerable data to external systems.
Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS)
Penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) offers a systematic and structured approach to penetration testing, recognizing that it is more effective when integrated into comprehensive cybersecurity plans and protocols.
What Is PTaaS?
PTaaS integrates manual and human-based competencies and processes to allow for continuous penetration tests. This approach leverages the benefits of human intelligence while expediting workflows.
Features of PTaaS
PTaaS emphasizes comprehensive coverage, as continuous testing increases the odds that vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Expedited remediation is also a core function of PTaaS. As soon as vulnerabilities are revealed, PTaaS can integrate with ticketing systems or even deliver on-demand consulting services so that issues are quickly addressed and resolved.
Benefits of PTaaS
While conventional pen testing can provide a powerful snapshot of security posture at a specific moment in time, cybersecurity is increasingly fluid. PTaaS builds adaptability into pen testing by employing a continuous approach. This solution is also highly appreciated for its scalability, making it a top option for organizations with fluctuating security concerns or demands.
PTaaS Challenges
Although PTaaS has much to offer, there are a few challenges worth considering. Privacy concerns must be addressed, as involvement with PTaaS will naturally expose organizations’ sensitive data to extensive cloud infrastructure. Organizations must vet PTaaS vendors carefully to ensure that strong encryption measures are implemented.
How to Become a Penetration Tester
Do you feel driven to make a difference in the fast-paced field of cybersecurity? You could have a promising future as a penetration tester or ethical hacker. To thrive in this field, you will need to develop a broad-based technical skill set.
This is best obtained while pursuing a targeted degree, such as the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Cybersecurity. You may also want to consider seeking respected credentials such as Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP).If you are ready to take the next step, check out Baker College’s BS in Information Technology and Cybersecurity. We are proud to be designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. Reach out today to learn more.