There are plenty of evolving cybersecurity threats that keep the entire information security landscape on high alert. Cyberattacks involving malware, phishing, cryptocurrency, machine learning, and artificial intelligence put corporate data assets at constant risk. This threat is followed by multiple high-profile breaches in 2021, including the ransomware attack that compromised Colonial Pipeline’s fuel distribution across the eastern US.
In the future, this threat is only going to grow more acute because the global economy is constantly digitizing and putting sensitive data at risk. Therefore, companies must be proactive in pinpointing and fixing all vulnerabilities to avoid cyberattacks resulting in system data loss, downtime, and tarnished reputation.
The best approach to protect your business against cyber threats is to consider your firm from the attacker’s standpoint while looking for the best suitable security solution. And penetration testing serves this purpose.
What is Penetrating Testing?
A penetration test mimics a cyberattack to uncover vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Moreover, it involves breaking into multiple applications, such as web apps and APIs, to check for bugs such as unsensitized inputs, that might be exploited by code injection attacks.
Organizations can no longer afford data leaks in today’s digital ecosystem. Maintaining a safe system necessitates the ability to discover vulnerabilities and address possible risk areas before attackers do, which is made possible with penetration testing services.
Pen-testing can not only identify the conflicting areas, but it can also help organizations with other things like how to improve their current security posture.
Here enlisted are typical bugs that can be discovered with penetration testing:
Authentication & Encryption Flaws
Encrypting data is one of the most reliable strategies used by most organizations to ensure operations security. In some cases, cyber attackers intercept any communication to go through the authentication system that authenticates the digital identity of the sender, which can launch a man-in-the-middle attack.
Therefore, software quality assurance service providers determine the security of your communications and data storage systems via penetration testing to avoid these cyber threats.
Code/Command Injections
Any vulnerabilities in application or software development are attractive points for cyber attackers. This involves the execution of malicious instructions focused on querying or instructing backend databases. Hackers usually utilize this technique to steal credit cards and personally identifiable information. To avoid these safety threats, organizations address bugs or vulnerabilities and avoid potential calamity by opting for penetration testing services.
Insecure Network/Hos/Device Configuration or Setup
Insecure user passwords, open ports, and unpatched software are some of the basic vulnerabilities a hacker can use to exploit and breach your company’s systems. However, software quality assurance service providers offer crucial information through pen tests on how companies can maintain their infrastructure securely.
Managing Sessions
Web apps normally use session management measures, including identifying cookies or tokens. However, these restrictions can also be exploited by cyber attackers looking to gain greater privileges and hijacking sessions. This is where the need for session management testing emerges. It can assist you in determining if tokens and cookies are generated in a safe manner that is resistant to manipulation.
Penetration Testing Stages
Penetration testing is a thorough that consists of the following phases:
- Planning and Reconnaissance: requirement gathering and test goals are defined.
- Scanning: Accessing how a target responds to any potential instructions.
- Gaining Access: Web apps are staged to uncover any hidden vulnerabilities.
- Maintaining Access: APT is initiated to examine if access can be maintained with vulnerabilities.
- Analysis WAF Configuration: Results are used to write WAF before running pen- tests again
After completing a pen test, the expert will share their findings with the target company’s security team. This information can then be used to implement security upgrades to plug up any vulnerabilities discovered during the test. These upgrades can include rate limiting, new WAF rules, and DDoS mitigation, as well as tighter form validations and sanitization.
Final Thoughts
Penetration testing is a critically important and sometimes overlooked element of cyber security strategy. It can help organizations and individuals recognize bugs in their systems and improve their processes – to keep themselves protected from real-world hackers. Many believe that this trend is only going to continue growing over time as issues such as cyber warfare and hacking become more of a concern.
Software quality assurance service providers can help smaller businesses that may lack the resources or budget to conduct in-depth security assessments on their own.
