What is Pentest (Penetration Test)?
Pentest is the name given to the test applied by institutions and companies to detect security vulnerabilities and deficiencies before an attack, by simulating possible attacks against their systems and networks by experts.
Steps of Pentest
There are steps to be followed and a defined roadmap when applying pentest. By following these steps and adhering to the roadmap, it will be possible to perform a healthy and accurate pentest. We can list these steps as follows;
- Scoping: With this step, the scope of the test is planned according to the agreement prepared between the company performing the penetration test and the institution.
- Information Gathering: In this stage, information and data are collected about the target. That is, pentest experts try to gather as much information as possible about the target systems.
- Vulnerability Scanning: It is quite important to identify possible risks in the most effective way for the security and protection of information, and to detect the security vulnerabilities that may arise from these risks. In other words, vulnerability scanning is the step of detecting vulnerabilities on the system.
- Exploitation: The goal in this step is to try to gain a privilege on the system using the information obtained and the vulnerabilities found before the pentest.
- Privilege Escalation: The goal in this stage is to obtain a more privileged user account than the user obtained on the compromised system. Many methods are used, such as detecting running applications on the target system and summaries of user passwords.
- Lateral Movement: In this step, after gaining access to one user, an attempt is made to compromise the accounts of other users on the network.
- Reporting: This is the most important stage of pentest, and the vulnerabilities found and solution suggestions are clearly identified.
You can visit the relevant online companies on their websites for pentest and other information security services.
