You will often come across clients asking you to perform penetration testing, especially as emerging government regulations begin to make the practice mandatory. Even MSPs who do not carry out their own pen testing will most likely partner with another provider who can ensure this valued service is available to their clients.
Pen tests allow organizations to test their IT systems, networks, and web applications for potential security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a malicious actor. They must identify potential entry points and will simulate an attack to better understand existing vulnerability to threats like malware and ransomware. The information learned through a penetration test helps IT managers understand their security weaknesses and make strategic decisions to mitigate them. A pen test report provides an organization with insight into how to prioritize its cybersecurity strategy and properly layer various tools and techniques to gain optimal coverage.
Practice makes perfect, as they say, and regular pen testing will help an organization or IT security team maintain a state of readiness. There are three methods of simulating cyberattacks for a penetration test:.
A black-box assessment is usually carried out during the initial phase of a penetration test. The pen tester β acting as a malevolent hacker β is given no information about the internal workings or architecture of the target system.
As you would imagine, this is to simulate the real-world risk of an outside threat mapping the system and looking for any vulnerabilities. The next level of the test simulates an attack by a threat who has at least some knowledge of the internal security system.
