Network security, and by extension network penetration testing, advance as swiftly as the technology upon which they are based. You need industry professionals if you want penetration testing services that go beyond a basic vulnerability scanner.
Infrastructure and Network level vulnerabilities are still one of the most often used attack vectors by malwares and hackers. These flaws frequently result in a large-scale security breach when sensitive data is lost or exposed if they are exploited.
Weak passwords, encryption problems, obsolete software and operating systems, missing security updates, and improperly implemented security policies are all examples of common network-level vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to infiltrate the network and data of your company.
By doing a security assessment of your network, you can get an overview of the vulnerabilities that could be used by an adversarial user to get access to your network services that are accessible through the internet or a physical connection to your business environment.
Network and Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment
A vulnerability assessment gives an overview of the vulnerabilities that may be present for an attacker who has obtained access to your network. Without going into the same level of detail as a manual penetration test, this automated assessment offers organizations a cost-effective way to quickly detect potential security vulnerabilities on their network.
A network’s vulnerabilities are found through a vulnerability assessment. The method is used to calculate how vulnerable the network is to various flaws. Automated network security scanning technologies are used for vulnerability evaluation; the results are listed in the report. Some of the findings in a vulnerability assessment report may be false positives because no attempt has been made to exploit them.
An organization’s network infrastructure is reviewed and analyzed as part of a network vulnerability assessment in order to identify cyber security threats and lax network security. Either manually performing the evaluation or using vulnerability analysis tools is acceptable. Software is preferable because it produces more accurate results and is less prone to human error.
The effectiveness of a company’s network security is determined through a vulnerability assessment. Along the way, it finds any security flaws that can jeopardize the network’s privacy, cyber security, and general company operations.
What Risks Are Created by Network Vulnerabilities?
Threat actors can enter your internal network through network vulnerabilities, which present a number of concerns for your company. For instance, network vulnerabilities can stop departments from communicating with one another or with consumers, resulting in operational disruptions. Data breaches caused by network vulnerabilities can also seriously harm your company’s reputation and subject it to costly fines for failing to protect sensitive data.
The root causes of network vulnerabilities:
There are weaknesses and flaws in many organizations. Using old or soon-to-be-out-of-service equipment/services can make it simple for hackers to access vital data and internal information. Additionally, your network may be at risk if you are not up to speed with patching.
Let’s go over some of the typical reasons why networks are vulnerable.
- Weak passwords: Using shared, out-of-date, and unprotected passwords make it possible for hackers to access your network and steal vital data.
- Unsecure backup techniques: Using conventional backup techniques without encryption exposes your network to risk. Additionally, failing to maintain regular backups and storing backed-up data off-site increases the risk of someone gaining access to your network.
- Poor user tracking: Lack of user monitoring results in insufficient accountability for user actions, which strengthens the vulnerability of the network.
- SNMP community: Another way to expose your network to risk is to keep the default SNMP community string set to “public.”
- Unauthorized or excessive access: Employees who use a system that is not assigned to them or who have access to areas of the network beyond the scope of their duties may be a major factor in information theft.
Why Do You Need a Network Penetration Test?
In order to find and exploit security flaws, network vulnerabilities, and threats like open ports, weak hardware, or out-of-date software running on the network, network penetration testing simulates a hacker attack on your network assets.
Penetration testing’s goal is to establish the validity of any discovered vulnerabilities. If a pentester is successful in finding a potential weak point, they consider it legitimate and include it in their report. The report may also contain theoretical results that point to un-exploitable vulnerabilities. Do not mistake these theoretical conclusions for false-positive results.
A network penetration test offers your company a rare bird’s-eye view of the efficiency of your security system. Younger businesses might not yet be in control of their network security. In contrast, larger, more complex networks in more established businesses are sometimes disregarded as components—especially as more businesses adopt cloud-based services. There is a chance that there could be disastrous breaches in either of these cases.
Penetration testing of infrastructure – Testing your organization’s network’s overall cyber resilience using penetration testing is a great idea. Today, penetration testing is a common tool used by companies to strengthen their cyber security. The main objective of the penetration test is to identify whole infrastructure vulnerabilities so that you can stay one step ahead of any potential attackers.
What is the purpose of network pentesting?
- Safeguard your data: Every firm needs to protect itself from data breaches, and that’s the single most critical reason. Pen testing networks frequently operate like ethical hackers and attempt to accurately imitate cyber attacks. A little flaw could allow the leakage of private data, which would undermine customer confidence and more seriously violate a number of norms and regulations.
- Requirements for conformity: No matter the industry, certain requirements demand penetration testing services. For instance, the payment card industry’s data security assures that these checks for the safety of consumers’ sensitive information are conducted.
- Promoting general safety: Whether it’s the overall design of your company, sensitive information, or recently released applications, make sure that no ignored fault can jeopardize your integrity by conducting network pentests. SQL injections, improperly set firewalls, out-of-date software, and conventional viruses or malware are a few instances of such issues.
The procedures for Network Penetration Testing
- Reconnaissance
As part of their reconnaissance technique, today’s network security specialists disguise themselves as skilled hackers who are examining the system for any potential flaws or manipulation opportunities.
On the technical side, the expert scans for flaws in network ports, peripherals, and any other related software that might let hackers infiltrate the system. A vulnerability assessment can be quite helpful in this situation by giving insight into additional systemic problems of the same kind.
2. Discovery
Penetration testers execute live tests with pre-coded or custom-coded scripts during the discovery phase to uncover potential problems. They accomplish this by utilizing the knowledge gained during the reconnaissance method.
Since one script often only finds one issue at a time, several scripts might be needed to finish the job. Equal weight is given to errors’ technical and human components; for example, technical analysis would focus on SQL injections or lax peripheral security, while social analysis might concentrate on the disclosure of private data.
3. Exploitation
Pentesters use the data they gathered during the discovery phase, such as potential vulnerabilities and entry points, etc., in the exploitation phase, where they start to test the identified exploits on your network devices or IT systems.
Utilizing a distinct set of pentesting tools, the exploitation phase’s objective is to breach the network environment while avoiding detection and locating entry holes.
Penetration testing of infrastructure
Infrastructure penetration testing is one of the many different types of penetration tests.
You might also come across the following additional pen-testing types:
- Testing for Cloud Penetration.
- Pen-testing of mobile applications
- Web platform penetration testing
There are two subcategories of the discipline of infrastructure pen-testing that pen-testing teams can practice:
- Internal Network Testing:
The internal corporate network is tested as part of infrastructure penetration testing. An internal corporate network is made up of the following types of components:
The physical resources
- workstations and computers.
- Servers (non-cloud based) (non-cloud based).
- Physical records and memoranda.
- a hard disk and USB.
- Systems and Networks
- Keycard readers and systems.
- networks for copiers and printers.
2. External Network Testing:
On the other hand, any asset that has internet access will be part of the external network. This implies that anyone with an internet connection can access those systems and networks. Here are a few instances:
- Firewall (even though you would be thinking users or customers would not interface with the corporate firewall, the firewall itself is totally internet exposed)
- Like business websites, web servers
- Inbox servers
- Wi-Fi networks and public IP addresses
Need Network and Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing
To make sure your service is secure, you must run penetration tests and vulnerability assessments on it. Vulnerability analyses assist you in identifying potential flaws in your service. Penetration tests actively target your systems to discover flaws and show you how simple it is to exploit them.
In order to ensure the resilience of the crucial business services that your digital systems and technologies support, it is essential for business continuity and a key element of successful risk management to maintain the health of your network infrastructure and components.
The foundation of security penetration testing services is a methodical approach to vulnerability reporting and detection. Our penetration testing as a service offers precise repair guidance to help you safeguard your systems more effectively.
Following your assessment, you receive the following:
- A comprehensive list of all dangers found.
- The possible effects on business of any problem.
- Understanding of the simplicity of vulnerability exploitation
- Remedial actionable advice.
- Recommendations for strategic security.
Get in touch with Elanus Technologies