Penetration testing is also referred to as pen testing. It is a process that involves attacking a computer system to check for vulnerabilities. This type of security measure can be used to enhance a web application's firewall.

Pen testing can be carried out on various application systems, such as those used in developing web applications. The objective of penetration testing is to pinpoint vulnerabilities in the various systems that are used by web applications. These include the API interfaces, backend servers, and frontends.

You can learn more about WAF (Web Application Firewall) security policies and identify potential vulnerabilities through software testing services.

5 Stages of Penetration Testing

The penetration testing process has five phases. It can be performed in various ways. 

1. Reconnaissance

The first phase of a penetration test is reconnaissance. During this phase, the tester collects as much information as possible about the target system. This phase gathers information about a network's topology, operating systems, and applications. The goal is to analyze as much data as possible to develop an effective attack strategy.

A test's scope and goals are defined to help identify the systems that will be tested and the methods to be used to gather intelligence. For instance, gathering intelligence on a network or a mail server to understand how it works.

2. Scanning

After collecting all the necessary data, the tester moves on to the next step, scanning. This involves identifying open ports and monitoring the network traffic. Since attackers often use ports to access certain resources, this phase aims to find as many as possible to test the exploitation capabilities of the attacker.

The step is to analyze the behavior of the target application after it has been attacked. This process can be done using a variety of techniques.

• Static analysis. It is a process that analyzes an application's code to estimate how it performs while running. 

• Dynamic analysis. It is a more practical method of inspecting that code in a running state. This allows you to see how the application is performing in real-time.

3. Vulnerability Assessment and Maintaining Access

In the third phase of a penetration testing process, the researcher performs a vulnerability assessment to identify potential weaknesses and determine if they can be exploited. 

This stage aims to see if a susceptibility can be used to maintain a constant presence in an exploited system, allowing an attacker to access it for a long time. The goal is to simulate advanced persistent threats, which typically remain in a system for months to steal sensitive data.

4. Exploitation and Gaining Access

After identifying a vulnerability, the next step is to try and access the target system using a tool known as Metasploit. This method is usually performed using a simulation of real-world attacks. 

This stage involves performing web application attacks to find and exploit vulnerabilities in a target's software. Testers usually take advantage of these vulnerabilities by escalating concessions, blocking traffic, or stealing data.

5. Reporting and Analysis

After the exploitation phase, the tester prepares a report summarizing the test's findings. This report can be used to identify and fix any vulnerabilities that were discovered during the investigation. 

A report is then prepared to show the details of the vulnerabilities discovered during the penetration test. These include the amount of time the pen tester could remain unnoticed.

This information is collected by security personnel to help them identify and fix vulnerabilities in an organization's applications. They then use this data to implement effective security measures.

5 Basic Penetration Testing Methods

1. Internal Testing

An internal test is a simulation that shows how an attacker would behave if they had access to an application behind the firewall. This is not a case of an employee being rogue. Instead, a typical scenario occurs when a person's credentials are stolen through a phishing attack.

2. External Testing

An external penetration test is a process that aims to analyze a company's assets, such as its websites and email addresses. It is also a way to extract valuable data.

3. Blind Testing

A blind test is conducted to see how an attacker would perform in an attack on an organization. The tester only gets the name of the target. This provides security personnel with a live view of the attack.

4. Double Blind Testing

In a simulated attack, security personnel is unaware of the attacker's intentions. They also have no time to prepare their defenses.

5. Targeted Testing

In this scenario, the security personnel and the testers work together to keep track of the attacker's movements. This exercise helps them develop their skills and provides real-time feedback from the attacker.

Bottom Line

Although pen testing and WAFs are exclusive security measures, they can still be used together to achieve various goals. For instance, in pen testing, the tester uses logs and other data to identify and exploit weaknesses in an application.

Pen testing can satisfy some of the security auditing requirements, such as SOC 2 (Service Organization Control) and PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). However, using a certified WAF to achieve these standards is not always necessary. With pen testing, you can improve the efficiency of WAF by implementing a more effective and flexible configuration.

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