Penetration Testing
Let us Build, Implement & Manage Your Penetration Testing Program!
Penetration tests are critical to any organization’s cybersecurity program – they help companies of all sizes identify vulnerabilities within their network and protect systems from malicious attackers .
Lark Security’s penetration testing services seek out vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your network, systems, applications and processes and attempt to exploit them to determine your organizational risk.
Penetration Testing or Pen Testing is a form of ethical hacking. It refers to the process of simulating a cyber attack against your systems or networks in order to exploit vulnerabilities. In web application penetration testing, the penetration tester uses publicly available information to try and breach the web application firewalls (WAF). Ethical hacking and penetration testing guides organizations on how they can strengthen and improve their network security.
A standard penetration test typically involves attempting to breach your application systems such as your servers and API to uncover any vulnerabilities. This information can then be used to improve your overall security program and security policies as well as to remediate vulnerabilities and patch systems where necessary.
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There are 5 types of penetration testing methodologies:
Internal Penetration Testing or Gray Box Penetration Testing
An internal pen test exploits vulnerabilities in your network from the perspective of a malicious attacker who has gained access to your application.
External Penetration Testing
An external pen test exploits vulnerabilities in your network from the perspective of a malicious outside attacker who is trying to gain access to your application using the company’s assets that are visible on the internet.
Targeted Penetration Testing or White Box Penetration Test
A targeted pen is a great way to educate your security team on how hackers access systems. In this approach, the penetration tester is given the all access privilege to access your systems and assess misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. Essentially your security team and the penetration tester work together to try and infiltrate the system and implement corrective actions.
Blind Penetration Testing or Black Box Penetration Testing
A blind pen test is where the penetration tester is given only the name of the organization then they need to identify company assets and try to infiltrate them – this approach gives a more detailed account of how an attacker could infiltrate the system.
Double-blind Penetration Testing
A double-blind pen test is where your security team have no prior awareness of the simulated attack- this approach allows you to test a real life scenario and see how the companies security defences would work if there was a real attempt to breach the system.
There are several types of penetration tests that an organization can do – below are a few of the most common types. It is crucial that an organization complete the most advanced penetration testing that will best protect their network.
Network Penetration Testing
Identifies weaknesses in your network to uncover where a malicious attacker may be able to gain access.
Web Application Penetration Testing
A form of website penetration testing that is automated penetration testing.
Physical Penetration Testing
This type of pen test attacks physical access points, network devices, as well as doors, locks, alarms and other types of access control within a facility to uncover where a malicious attacker may be able to gain access. This type of pen test is usually completed by data centers, hospitals, manufacturing facilities as well as government and military organizations.
Social Engineering Penetration Testing
This is a form of human security penetration testing. The pen test targets employees and attempts to make them reveal sensitive information so that the hacker may gain access to the network
Mobile Application Penetration Testing
This pen test uncover vulnerabilities within the code and architecture of your Android/ IOS app.
Penetration testers then use a variety of penetration testing tools and penetration testing software to identify vulnerabilities. These tools can typically scan through scripts, code and virtual machines for penetration testing to uncover loopholes and errors within the network. The final deliverable of penetration testing is a Penetration Testing Report which includes details of the scope, the vulnerabilities that were uncovered, how long a malicious attacker may remain undetected and the data that was compromised. Once the organization has addressed all vulnerabilities they may retest and achieve a Penetration Testing Certification that can be used for regulatory compliance.
Why Penetration Testing is important!
There are many benefits to conducting regular penetration testing, including:
Preventing a data breach that could compromise sensitive data, affect operations, destroy company reputation and lead to data breach fines and ransomware.
Developing an accurate understanding of how effective your security management program works.
Developing an accurate understanding of how effective your breach notification systems and incident response controls would work in case of a real breach.
Identifying vulnerabilities realtime, accurately and consistently.
Improving information security programs by staying ahead of threats.
Meeting the objectives of regulatory compliance requirements and other business stakeholders.
Budgeting and justifying cost for security activities
Lark Security Penetration Testing Experts will help you:
Develop your comprehensive Penetration Testing Program
Conduct your Penetration Testing
Evaluate each risk against defined risk criteria
Provide remediation Support to mitigate risk.
Provide final Penetration Testing Report as required by business stakeholders and for cybersecurity audits.
Lark Security Penetration Testing Process
Lark Security helps organizations build and implement repeatable Penetration Testing Programs.
By exploiting weaknesses, we can help you better understand the implications of potential attacks on your organization as well as help you identify opportunities to improve systems, processes, policies and procedures.
Our penetration testing processes are tailored to meet the requirements and information security objectives of our clients.
Lark Security Penetration Testing Methodology
1. Ongoing Planning
We begin by understanding your business and your security and compliance requirements before building out your Penetration Testing Plan.
We run multiple penetration tests regularly to update this plan where needed and measure effectiveness.
2. Penetration Testing
During this phase we properly configure your penetration tests to scan your network, identify open ports, evaluate system information and correlate information with known vulnerabilities.
We also configure any automated scans using the latest tools and techniques to streamline the processes.
3. Evaluation and Remediation
In this phase we reference the company’s risk management strategy to validate vulnerabilities and evaluate the risk. We then work with you to address each of the vulnerabilities for remediation, mitigation or acceptance; before running another test to confirm resolution.
4. Penetration Testing Policy
We will develop, review and improve your penetration testing policy and other documentation to comply with regulatory standards as required for:
– NIST Penetration Testing
– PCI Penetration Testing
– HITRUST Penetration Testing
– HIPAA Pen Testing
– SOC 2 Penetration Testing
– Penetration Testing FedRAMP
5. Reporting
The steps taken across this entire assessment, the pen test results and all remediation activities are documented and can be referenced to improve the program anytime. Additionally, the final delivery of the assessment is a Penetration Testing Report as required by business stakeholders and for cybersecurity audit. Typically, penetration tests are completed annually or following significant changes to the network.
FAQs
What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration Testing is a form of ethical hacking. It refers to the process of simulating a cyber attack against your systems or networks in order to exploit vulnerabilities.
What is Pen Testing?
Pen Testing is a form of ethical hacking. It refers to the process of simulating a cyber attack against a company’s systems or networks in order to exploit vulnerabilities.
What does an effective penetration test consist of?
An effective penetration test works with a third party penetration tester and consists of a full penetration testing plan which defines all scope and assets and how each application’s security will be measured.
What could be the consequences of not doing penetration testing?
If you do not complete your penetration testing at least once a year, you are at risk of a data breach. If you do not identify and remediate weaknesses within your network your sensitive data could be breached. This would affect operations, destroy company reputation and lead to data breach fines and ransomware.
What is the main difference between vulnerability scanning and penetration testing?
Vulnerability scans are typically done quarterly, use technology and are automated, however penetration testing is done annually, completed by a security expert and is more comprehensive.
Penetration Testing Definition?
Penetration Testing is a form of ethical hacking. It refers to the process of simulating a cyber attack against your systems or networks in order to exploit vulnerabilities.
How to set up a lab environment for Penetration Testing?
Oftentimes a penetration test is performed in a lab environment on a clone of the production environment in order to protect the production environment from negative outcomes related to the testing. It is important for the lab to be a direct replica of the production systems. This is best achieved in public or private cloud infrastructure using infrastructure-as-code deployment techniques to ensure parity with the production environment.
How to do penetration testing?
There is no one way to do penetration testing - there are different types of penetration tests. Work with a penetration testing expert to identify your scope, potential vulnerabilities and ultimately the best plan for completing your penetration testing.
How to do a network penetration test?
Network Penetration Testing identifies weaknesses in your network to uncover where a malicious attacker may be able to gain access.
Who typically performs penetration tests?
Penetration testing is usually completed by ethical hackers or certified penetration testers.
What is the primary purpose of penetration testing?
The primary purpose of a penetration test is to identify weaknesses in your network and the type of damage that a data breach may cause. This information is then used to remediate vulnerabilities and better protect your business against malicious attacks.
What is online penetration testing?
Online penetration testing targets the assessment to an organization’s online assets such as web applications, PCs and AWS penetration testing to exploit vulnerabilities.
What is the end result of a penetration test?
The final deliverable of penetration testing is a Penetration Testing Report which includes details of the scope, the vulnerabilities that were uncovered, how long a malicious attacker may remain undetected and the data that was compromised. Once the organization has addressed all vulnerabilities they may retest and achieve a Penetration Testing Certification that can be used for regulatory compliance.
Penetration Testing Cost?
The cost of penetration testing depends on a variety of factors including the size of your organization, the number of assets in scope and the maturity of your cybersecurity program. A penetration tester will best guide you on which type of pen test is applicable to your organization and how much it will cost.
Can vulnerability management be done remotely?
Yes - smart technology allows us to complete most penetration tests remotely.
How to perform penetration testing?
Network Penetration Testing identifies weaknesses in your network to uncover where a malicious attacker may be able to gain access. Penetration testing is usually completed by ethical hackers or certified penetration testers.
About Lark Security
Lark Security is the leading provider of Cybersecurity Audit Readiness Solutions. The company is dedicated to helping organizations build, improve and manage resilient cybersecurity programs that guard sensitive data, comply with industry regulations and provide competitive advantage. Lark Security is recognized as a trusted and experienced advisor for audit readiness solutions to comply with HITRUST, PCI DSS, SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, HIPAA, CMMC, ISO 27001, NIST and FedRAMP.
Email – info@lark-security.com
Phone – (303) 800-1872