What Is a Pentest?
Pentests (also known as penetration tests) involve experts simulating realistic attacks on your IT infrastructure to assess the actual threat to your systems. They help identify and eliminate security vulnerabilities before real attackers can exploit them.
Web development is a dynamic field, with new security vulnerabilities being discovered all the time. This makes it all the more important that you protect your web applications not only reactively, for example through security audits and vulnerability assessments. With the help of a comprehensive web security check, you can act proactively and take early action to protect your systems.
A pentest goes far beyond a vulnerability assessment: While the latter is primarily designed to carry out automated scans and identify common security problems, pentests are more extensive. They check whether and how these security vulnerabilities can be exploited by external attackers.
That is why pentests are carried out manually. They cannot be fully replaced by automated security testing and should be specifically tailored to your systems instead.
Pentest: Benefits of Tailor-Made Web Security Checks
Identify Security Vulnerabilities Early On
Pentests provide transparency and assess the actual threat to your web applications. What are the flaws in your system? How could they be exploited by outsiders? Bring clarity to your IT security strategy.
Avoid Economic Damage
Falling victim to a hacking attack is extremely damaging to your reputation. In the event of a worst-case scenario, hackers leak confidential data, which can cause enormous damage to your corporate image, your customer relationships and thus to your profitability. Pentests have a preventive effect and protect your company from such attacks.
Adhere to Compliance Requirements and Ensure Data Security
Pentests not only help you avoid unpleasant surprises – they also make it easier to keep track of the various data protection and data security requirements, ensuring that you comply with the GDPR.
Types of Pentests: What Is the Difference Between Black, White and Grey Box Testing?
The three methods differ in terms of the amount of information available to pentesters in advance.
Black Box Testing
A black box test is carried out without any information about the IT environment. It is an attempt to simulate the behaviour of external attackers without insider knowledge.
White Box Testing
A white box test requires the testing team to have as much information as possible. This type of pentest is recommended by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), as it minimises the risk of overlooking security vulnerabilities.
Grey Box Testing
A grey box test is a mixture of a black box test and a white box test. The testing team only receives a certain amount of information before the pentest.
Why You Need a Web Security Check
With the help of a web security check, you can find out whether there is malware on your website and whether you make use of security protocols to protect yourself from cyber attacks. Is the SSL certificate for encrypting your data secure and valid?
Is your domain or IP address on a blacklist, for example due to a lack of security software or suspicious e-mail behaviour? What other security vulnerabilities are there? Benefit from the expertise of our pentesters and ensure the security of your website.
Pentest: A Professional Approach to Making Your Project a Success
1. Determine the Type of Test and Define Objectives
Based on your needs and requirements, we clarify in advance which type of pentest is to be carried out (black box, white box or grey box) and what the objectives of the test are. We work with you to define the exact test object and thoroughly explain the procedure. We also set out the legal framework and agree on a timeline, people to contact as well as escalation channels.
2. Gather Information
Based on your requirements and the selected procedure, our IT security experts draw up tailor-made assessment strategies that help identify potential attack vectors. For this purpose, they collect as much data as possible, including information about firewalls, network services and IP addresses.
3. Assessment and Threat Modelling
The previously identified attack vectors are then checked for security vulnerabilities using extensive tests. Our experts analyse potential vulnerabilities in detail to rule out false positives. They also determine the most relevant attack vectors and create suitable attack scenarios based on their findings.
4. Exploitation
Drawing on the threat modelling results, we attempt to exploit the identified security vulnerabilities and gain access to your target systems, taking advantage of both known vulnerabilities and previously unknown loopholes (zero-day exploits). If a vulnerability is successfully exploited, we re-evaluate it as part of another threat modelling process (step 3) and document our findings.
5. Reporting
Once the pentest has been carried out, we compile the results and make them available to you in the form of a report. This report contains a detailed breakdown of our activities, a list of the identified and successfully exploited security vulnerabilities, an assessment of their severity and potential solutions.
6. Presentation and Clarification
This step involves you receiving the results in the form of a clearly structured presentation. We evaluate the identified security problems and are on hand to answer specific questions and provide clarification.
7. Remediation and Review
Next up is the most important part: eliminating the identified security vulnerabilities. You can benefit from in-depth support by our IT security experts in this regard. Once the vulnerabilities have been fixed, we carry out another assessment and test whether they have been entirely eliminated.
Pentest During Ongoing Operations: Minimise Disruptions
To avoid disrupting your operations, our pentests are planned meticulously and are only carried out in compliance with strict quality standards. Nevertheless, temporary disruptions can never be ruled out completely. An alternative is to carry out pentests in a test environment. We are happy to advise you on this.
Protect Your IT Infrastructure with Our Pentesting Services
When it comes to improving your IT security, you can benefit from our wide range of pentesting services, helping you optimise your web applications.
Our Portfolio
- Comprehensive check of your system landscape to identify security problems – from front end to back end, including databases, cache servers and (REST) application programming interfaces
- Large variety of test standards – from OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, OSSTMM, BSI and NIST to PTES, with additional consideration of the OWASP Top Ten
- Choice between black, white and grey box testing, taking into account our in-depth advice
- Thorough examination of your cloud infrastructure (Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure), for example to detect configuration errors commonly found in Kubernetes clusters
Your Benefits
- Testing based on the practical guidelines for pentests and web security checks published by the BSI
- Compliance with strict technical, organisational and ethical standards
- Certified team of experts (e.g. CompTIA PenTest+)
These Pentest Tools Ensure Cyber Security
To protect your systems and conduct extensive testing, our team of experts draws on a selection of the most reliable pentest tools for web security checks.
- Kali Linux: The Linux distribution is part of the PTES standard and comes with a large number of tools for security testing, network scanning, vulnerability assessments, exploitation, forensics and more. Kali Linux has an intuitive user interface, provides comprehensive documentation and supports various working environments. Well-known tools include Nmap, Metasploit, Wireshark and Aircrack-ng.
- Burp Suite: The Java-based application offers a wealth of security features, ranging from fuzzing and automated scans to vulnerability assessments. Burp Suite can be extended as required via add-ons and makes it possible, for example, to test web applications and authentication mechanisms in many different ways.
- Nessus: The powerful vulnerability scanner checks a large variety of environments such as operating systems, applications, databases and networks for security vulnerabilities. The widely used tool provides detailed reports and recommendations on how to eliminate the identified loopholes. Nessus can also be integrated with other security tools and enables early detection of vulnerabilities, making it possible to initiate countermeasures.
- OpenVAS: The popular open source software framework offers useful features for identifying security vulnerabilities and scanning networks as well as systems. Thanks to its intuitive user interface, scans and reports can be managed with ease. Consequently, OpenVAS is ideal for detecting vulnerabilities and managing them effectively.
- Metasploit: The Ruby-based open source platform Metasploit comes with numerous features for simulating realistic attacks on your systems and networks. It exposes security vulnerabilities through manual and automated testing. Users can benefit from an up-to-date database that covers a wide range of attack scenarios.
- Steampipe: The innovative pentest tool can be used to test cloud infrastructures at configuration and code level. Security vulnerabilities are identified by querying cloud resources, for example. This means that Steampipe can test cloud infrastructures before systems and applications are deployed. By taking a proactive approach, the open source solution minimises risks and increases the efficiency of web security checks.
Other Cloud Services
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About Pentests
What are the most common security vulnerabilities uncovered by pentests?
Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure. These vulnerabilities usually result from insecurely configured services or outdated software libraries. This allows hackers to execute unauthorised database queries (SQL injection) or introduce malicious code (cross-site scripting or cross-site request forgery).
How often should you carry out pentests?
Cyber security is a game of cat and mouse. Since attackers are constantly developing new methods to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, you should carry out pentests on a regular basis. To ensure IT security at all times, our team of experts recommends one or two of these web security checks every year.
How much does a pentest cost?
In contrast to automated security tests such as vulnerability scans, pentests are carried out manually. They cannot yet be adequately replaced by automation. That is why it is not possible to quote a fixed price. The costs involved depend on factors such as the desired depth of testing, the scope of testing and the complexity of the web applications to be tested.
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