What Are The Different Types Of Security Penetration Testing
What Are The Different Types Of Security Penetration Testing
Whatever your industry, Information Security is a priority. The number of reported cyber incidents continues to rise, and securing against cyber threats is increasingly important. This leaves many asking “what are the different types of penetration testing?” Here’s a review on the various approaches to security penetration testing and what they accomplish.
Penetration tests are a great way to detect holes in your security defenses. With the help of security experts you can identify vulnerabilities and learn what actions to take to protect your business and prevent attack.
Penetration tests are more aggressive than a vulnerability scan, which relies mainly on automated tools to identify weaknesses. Regular penetration testing (also known as pen testing and sometimes called security testing) involves manual effort to dig deeper than a scan and helps keep a company current by examining the effectiveness of security controls in real time.
Penetration testing can target servers, network endpoints, wireless networks, network security devices, mobile and wireless devices, software applications, as well as physical entry points. The primary types of testing, though, are network, physical, and application penetration tests with social engineering elements thrown in, too.
Network Penetration Testing In network penetration testing, testers identify exploitable networks, systems, hosts and network devices (i.e.: routers and endpoints) to find vulnerabilities. This pen test simulates an attack to:
Understand the organization’s level of risk
Reveal openings hackers might use to compromise or take over systems or networks
Address and fix security flaws
Physical Penetration Testing Also known as physical intrusion testing or physical security penetration testing, this type of pen testing attempts to compromise perimeter security, intrusion alarms, motion detectors, locks, sensors, cameras, mantraps and other physical barriers to gain unauthorized physical access to sensitive areas.
Application Penetration Testing Application penetration testing employs globally accepted and industry standard frameworks to attempt to compromise, gain access, or take over apps, be they software, web applications or mobile applications. The testing identifies application security flaws and helps companies to see their software through the eyes of both hacker and experienced developer.
Social Engineering Testing This type of testing attempts to exploit human error. The testers will try to test your employees’ risk of being affected by social engineering. Bad actors often take advantage of human faults to set their plans in motion. Remember that people can be manipulated much easier than machines.
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