Beginner’s Manual to Understand Website Penetration Testing

For those who are unaware, website penetration testing (also known as a pen test) is a cyber-attack against your computer system but a simulated one. This is set into action with the sole purpose of getting you acquainted with any vulnerabilities that actual cybercriminals can take advantage of. When looking at it from the perspective of web application security, penetration testing usually augments a web application firewall (WAF).

The importance of penetration testing

The opposite of security is vulnerability. Having said that, people are usually confused by vulnerability testing and pen testing. In simple terms, vulnerability is just the word used to recognize flaws and shortcomings in the system. These flaws can be used to expose the security threats in a system. With vulnerability scanning,

Users gain an idea about weaknesses in an application which makes it easier to come up with methods to repair and improve the overall security of the application.

You come to understand whether security patches are installed and if the systems are adequately configured to make attacks difficult.

Users understand whether their system can be accessed by unauthorized users which are done through tests that simulate real-time systems.

Users gain an understanding of the level of damage that can be caused and the type of data that damage can be caused

So it basically acts as a detective control method that shows you ways to enhance security programs. It also makes certain that known weaknesses do not resurface. So while this is what vulnerability scanning does, pen testing is more of a preventive control method that offers an overall view of the present security layer of a system. What method is going to be used is decided upon is based on what is expected during the testing process.

The kinds of penetration testing that exist

There are two types of website penetration testing that exist. This includes the following:

Internal Pen Testing

This testing is carried out within the organization itself through LAN. It also takes into account web applications that are hosted on the intranet. This makes it easy to recognize any vulnerabilities that may exist within the corporate firewall. Many people believe that attacks can only take place externally. As a result, developers do not pay attention to internal pen testing. The attacks that can occur include social engineering attacks, simulation of phishing attacks, and attacks using user privileges. It can also be in the form of malicious employee attacks by aggrieved contractors, employees, or other parties who have resigned but still have access to internal security passwords and policies. This pentest is performed by gaining access to the environment without valid credentials so that the possible route of attacks can be determined.

External pen testing

The other kind of penetration testing is external penetration testing. This kind of testing lays emphasis on attacks initiated from outside the organization. This is done to test web applications hosted on the internet. Testers are also known as ethical hackers. These professionals do not possess information about the internal system as well as security layers implemented by the organization. All they are given is the IP address of the target system so that external attacks can be simulated. There is no other information that is provided so it is the tester’s job to find out public web pages so that more information about the target host can be obtained. Based on this they can infiltrate it as well as compromise it. External pen testing encompasses testing the firewalls, IDS, and servers of the organization.

Whether you are looking for an information security audit or need website penetration testing, it is important that you get in touch with the right professionals.

Hi,I am Abhilash Tyagi, an active blogger since 3 years. I love to gain and share knowledge by means of writing. I write on topics like lifestyle, technology, fashion, Food, business. Follow me: @abetyagi