Penetration Testing

What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing (also known as pen testing) is a security exercise in which a cyber-security professional tries to uncover and exploit flaws in a computer system. The goal of this simulated attack is to find any vulnerabilities in a system’s defences that attackers may exploit. Penetration testing is frequently used to supplement a web application firewall (WAF) in the context of web application security. The penetration tester’s findings may be utilised to fine-tune your WAF security rules and address discovered vulnerabilities.

Types of Pen Tests
• Open-box pen test: In an open-box test, the hacker will be given certain security knowledge about the target organisation ahead of time.
• Closed-box pen test: This is also known as a “single-blind” test since the hacker is provided no background information other than the target company’s name.
• Covert pen test: This is also known as a “double-blind” pen test since nearly no one in the organization, including the IT and security specialists who will be reacting to the attack, is aware that it is taking place. To avoid any complications with law enforcement, it is extremely important for covert testers to have the scope and other information of the test written down ahead of time.
• External pen test: The ethical hacker goes up against the company’s external-facing technologies, such as its website and external network servers, in an external test. The hacker may not even be permitted to enter the company’s building in some situations. This may entail launching the attack from a faraway area or executing the test from a nearby vehicle or van.
• Internal pen test: An ethical hacker conducts an internal test using the company’s internal network. This type of test can help you figure out how much harm a dissatisfied employee can do from behind the company’s firewall.

Conclusion
The ethical hacker will communicate their results with the target company’s security team after executing a pen test. This data may then be utilised to deploy security updates to address any flaws detected during the test. Rate limitation, additional WAF rules, and DDoS mitigation, as well as stronger form validations and sanitization, are all possible improvements.