A week rarely goes by without reports of attacks on sensitive systems. It results in financial damage, and the reputation and trust of customers and partners crumble. To protect yourself against attacks, adequate countermeasures must be taken at different levels. Well-trained employees and processes that also take IT security into account are essential for effective protection. However, above all, the security check through a penetration test by an independent third party is an effective means. So, what is exactly a penetration test? A penetration test is an authorized, planned, and simulated cyber attack on a company or a public sector institution. The aim is to identify and eliminate previously unknown points of attack before hackers can use them to steal intellectual property or other sensitive data or otherwise damage an organization. During the penetration test, trained testers attempt to attack your IT systems using the methods of criminal hackers to determine the vulnerability of systems, after which appropriate protective measures can be taken.

Dealing with the client's security system, we can take different approaches which include color-based assessments. Black Box Black box tests are the most common and preferred by multiple organizations since analysts work at the same level as a typical hacker. The pentester does not know the details of the evaluated system in advance. The Black Box tests determine and detail the vulnerabilities in an exploited system from the outside. At a technical level, this type of testing relies on dynamic analysis of the programs running inside, as well as of the networks. While this kind of testing can be extremely fast, depending on the pentester's ability to find vulnerabilities, as well as implicit network failures, it has a downside. It implies that if the analyst fails to penetrate the perimeter - the failures found inside will remain hidden. White box Contrary to the gray box or black-box tests, white-box tests have full access to the source code of a system, as well as to the architecture, infrastructure, and documentation. In this sense, these kinds of tests are the ones that involve the longest amount of time, since the analysts must sort through an immense amount of information to find what is truly useful for the mission. One of the flaws of this kind of test is that they can generate blindness based on the deep knowledge they have of the system, which can often obviate the actions that a hacker without knowledge can commit. However, this is not a realistic attack, as the cybercriminal may not have all the attack details. Gray box A Gray Box test is a step up from a Black Box test, where the analyst has the same network access as an average system user. The Gray box test starts with incomplete information on the attacked system. This can be some key data, network topology, operating systems, their version, etc. Typically, this information will have a logical balance and can simulate what a cybercriminal would have after studying the system for a while. In this sense, he has more knowledge about the network infrastructure and architecture and has greater privileges, which can help implement a much more focused and efficient analysis. This also helps to generate simulations of persistent threats within a system, to evaluate the response capacity of users. The Gray box methodology allows deeper penetration and more exhaustive testing than the black box, without totally discarding the simulation element.

External network penetration testing. Anything exposed to the Internet needs some form of security testing. If an external host is compromised, it can lead to an attacker digging deeper into your internal environment. External network penetration testing is focused on the perimeter of your network and identifies any deficiencies that exist in the controls that protect against remote attackers targeting the Internet-facing systems in your environment. When performing external penetration testing, our penetration testers mimic real scenarios as best as possible to root out all potential vulnerabilities. Our external network penetration testing techniques include the following: ● Port scans and other network service interactions and queries ● Network sniffing, traffic monitoring, traffic analysis, and host discovery ● Spoofing or deceiving servers via dynamic routing updates (e.g., OSPF, RIP spoofing) ● Attempted logins or other use of systems with any account name/password ● Use of exploit code for leveraging discovered vulnerabilities ● Password cracking via capture and scanning of authentication databases ● Buffer overruns/underruns ● Spoofing or deceiving servers regarding network traffic ● Alteration of running system configuration except where denial of service would result ● Adding user accounts. Internal network penetration testing. Whether it’s disgruntled workers, previously terminated employees, or someone trying to steal trade secrets, there is a high chance of potential internal threats. Even without malicious intent, simple configuration issues or employee mishaps can also result in a network compromise, leading to the majority of attacks originating from within. Our internal network penetration tests target the networked environment that lies behind your public-facing devices. This service is designed to identify and exploit issues that can be discovered by an attacker who has gained access to your internal network: ● Internal subnets ● Domain servers ● File servers ● Printers ● Network devices ● Phones ● Buffer overruns/underruns ● Workstations and laptops Web applications penetration testing. Web applications are unique constructs, mixing various forms of technology and providing an interactive front for others to use. Some web applications are made public, while others might be internal applications existing on an intranet. No matter the location, there are always security variables. How well does your application handle input? Does it work with backend servers in a secure manner? Will your session management scheme hold up to penetration testing? Web application penetration testing tests for the following: ● Application logic flaws ● Forced browsing ● Access and authentication controls ● Session management ● Cookie manipulation ● Horizontal escalation ● Vertical escalation ● Brute-force password guessing ● Poor server configuration ● Information leakage ● Source code disclosure ● Response splitting ● File upload/download attacks ● Parameter tampering ● URL manipulation ● Injection attacks for HTML, SQL, XML, SOAP, XPATH, LDAP, Command ● Cross-site scripting ● Fuzzing

The price for our service results from the size and complexity of the pentest. The scope of the test objects and networks, the license fees for the scan tools used, and the nature of the tests affect the costs. If the follow-up tests are necessary, it also adds to the overall price. We discuss all the pricing criteria and create your non-binding offer in a personal consultation.

The penetration testing is recommended conduct at least twice a year, but the optimal quantity is determined after the analysis of the particular business. By default, you will receive our final report within 1-2 weeks of completing the penetration test. If an earlier transmission of the results is required, please let us know in the joint kick-off meeting. For time-critical projects, we will be happy to provide you with our results earlier, if possible.

After completing the pentest, you will receive a final report, which is divided into different sections: Management summary Here you get a non-technical summary of the project and the identified findings for the management level. All critical findings are concisely summarized. The procedure, scope, and tools It is a detailed description of the test methods used, the analyzed test object and scope, as well as the tools and scripts used during the pentest. Findings and Actions An important part of our final report is the detailed, technical description of all identified findings. You will also receive a comprehensive recommendation on how to fix each vulnerability, suitable for technical personnel (such as developers or administrators). Standardized risk assessment To assess our findings, we follow well-known standards such as the OWASP risk assessment method. The risk of a vulnerability is based on the probability of occurrence and its impact. If you are interested in a network penetration test, we would be happy to provide you with a free quote. All you have to do is leave your contact information and data about your company in our contact form, and we will contact you as soon as possible.