Types of Penetration Testing for 2022

Penetration Testing, also referred to as pen tests, are used by security and IT professionals to assess the security of a hardware or software system to see if there are weaknesses or vulnerabilities.

There are several types of penetration testing that can be used to gauge and pinpoint these vulnerabilities. In this post, we’ll discuss five of them as well as three different approaches to executing them.

We liken pen tests to making sure that your windows and doors are locked, and that your garage door is shut. If you were to leave your home unlocked and open to intruders, there is the chance that someone could break in and wreak havoc.

It’s the same with your hardware and software systems. If you don’t lock your virtual doors, unauthorized users such as cyber criminals could gain access leading to data leaks, stolen information, and a whole host of other issues.

In March 2020 Fortunly reported that, “The United States suffered 1,473 cyber attacks over the last year, leading to 164.6 million successful data breaches.” They went on to say, “The cost of cyber attacks in the banking industry reached $18.3 million annually per company.” Simply put, your financial institution can’t afford to leave its sensitive information and systems at risk.

Deciding the Type of Pen Testing You Need

The number one reason that your company needs to administer penetration testing is so that you can simulate a real-world attack without actually causing any destruction. There are many vulnerabilities that can occur and their cause can be attributable to things like coding errors, unpatched software, or even using a weak password.

Our team of certified ethical hackers can perform penetration tests, uncover your vulnerabilities, and then find remedies so that the security of your organization is sound. The question is, what are the various types of penetration testing, and which one is right for your business?

3 approaches used for penetration tests

Before we get to the types of tests that exist, let’s discuss the three approaches used for penetration testing. They are Black Box Testing, White Box Testing, and Grey Box Testing.

Black Box Testing: With a black box penetration test, also referred to as external penetration testing, the tester has little if any information about the IT infrastructure of the business or its systems. This is the closest to a real-world attack a tester can get because most hackers wouldn’t actually know the inner workings of your network ecosystem.

White Box Testing: In contrast, during a white box test, the penetration tester has full knowledge of your network ecosystem. The goal of this test is not to assess whether or not an outside attacker can penetrate your systems and infrastructure. Rather, the goal is to do an in-depth audit of code and overall security beyond the user interface and into the back-end parts of a system.

White box testing is also called internal penetration testing, glass box testing, open box testing, transparent box testing, or clear box testing. Three types of white box testing include condition testing, path testing, and loop testing.

Grey Box Testing: This type of testing combines aspects of both black and white box testing into one. In this test, the penetration tester will have some knowledge about the network ecosystem and/or be given access to a web application or an internal network.

For example, an authorized user that has a login and password. The grey box test could then be administered to see if they can hack their account to gain admin-level access, or hack their way into the internal software code.

Your business may require one or all of these types of tests to adequately audit your security.

5 Types of Penetration Testing

There are several sub-categories and variations when it comes to the types of penetration testing a company can use to audit the security of a business’s infrastructure. The five most common are Network Service Tests, Web Application Tests, Client Side Tests, Wireless Network Tests, and Social Engineering Tests.

1. Network Service Tests: This involves security testing against network-based attacks such as those on firewalls, routers, proxy servers, etc...

2. Web Application Tests: These are targeted tests auditing web-based applications for security vulnerabilities.

3. Client Side Tests: These tests are geared towards auditing the security of local vulnerabilities such as a workstation that can be easily exploited, or weaknesses in programs that clients may be using such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

4. Wireless Network Tests: Wireless assessments analyze the security of connections between devices connected to a business’s wifi including smartphones, laptops, tablets, and any other device that can connect to the internet.

5. Social Engineering Tests: Social engineering tests can include both remote and physical tests.

Remote attacks try to trick a user into giving sensitive information such as their login credentials.

Physical penetration testing analyzes ways someone can physically gain access to sensitive data such as doors that are left unlocked, documents that aren’t shredded before disposal, and even files that are left open on the desk of employees in a financial institution.

What Happens After Penetration Testing is Complete?

Regardless of the types of penetration testing that is performed for a business, once testing is concluded, testers should be able to provide patches to vulnerabilities, mitigate threats, and remedy weaknesses. After they have provided remedies to potential areas for security breaches, a good penetration testing company will then offer to retest to ensure that all areas of concern have been addressed. That’s where Rivial Security comes in.

Rivial Security features an army of certified, ethical hackers that offer multiple testing methods for your unique business infrastructure to assess your risks, and then remove them.

Our audits and assessments have been called “valuable and actionable.” We go the extra mile to guarantee your satisfaction. Contact Rivial Security to learn more about our Network Penetration Testing today.