¿Do you know what the phases of a penetration test are?What happens and what tools are required in each of them?
A pentest or intrusion testing refers to the controlled simulation of cyberattacks, in order to find and report the vulnerabilities of a computer system. These vulnerabilities are security flaws that range from the human factor to programming errors.. He pentesting It is a way to practice hacking ethically and it is the right way to make a profit from it. Black hat hackers, who are dedicated to using these techniques to harm others, operate outside the law and obtain money in exchange for harming others.
Thats why he pentesting It is an important task in cybersecurity, which allows us to avoid most attacks from malicious hackers. To understand how this process works, below We will describe the phases of an intrusion test.
Phases of a penetration test
Passive recognition
Passive recognition is normally the first phase of an intrusion test. It refers to collecting as much information as possible about a system without having to interact with it.. This includes open source research (OSINT) and any other investigative work that does not involve a computer interaction between the hacker and his target. Because of this, it is an information collection technique that leaves no trace.
Active enumeration
Active enumeration requires direct interaction with the system, since refers to scanning the network and listing all devices connected to it. This scanning process can be done with tools such as Nmap, Zenmap or Nessus, among others, and generates a lot of noise in the systems.
It is necessary to keep in mind, when doing exercises pentestingthat In most countries it is illegal to scan a network without prior authorization from its owner. If you want to practice, it is recommended that you use CTF games or programming programs. bug bounty.
Vulnerability scan
After scanning the network and the devices that are connected to it, a exhaustive search for all possible vulnerabilities present in the system. Vulnerabilities are computer failures that endanger the security of a system and can be:
Old versions of software.No patches of security.Configuration errors in storage and network systems.Settings storage or network default.Weak passwords and usernames.Unknown vulnerabilities or zero day.
The most used programs for identifying vulnerabilities in systems are:
Nmap.Nessus.OpenVAS.Metasploit.Nexpose.
Exploitation
Exploitation is a phase in which system vulnerabilities are taken advantage of to infiltrate it. During this stage, no malicious tasks are carried out, only the system is entered through programs called exploits. The exploits are software specifically programmed to take advantage of a computer vulnerability. The malicious tasks are executed later, in the post-exploitation phase, by means of software malicious software known technically as payloads.
Post-exploitation
The post-exploitation phase includes techniques of privilege escalation, establishing persistence, and executing payloads.
Privilege escalation refers to gaining the system administrator user permissions to be able to execute malicious tasks at a deeper level. Establishing persistence is using techniques to make the software malicious program to run every time the system boots. payload refers to the harmful defects that, as such, are exerted on the system, that is, attacks with malwaredata exfiltration, etc.
Documentation
The preparation of a security report is one of the most important and essential phases of a penetration test, since hacking would be unethical if the security flaws found are not reported. A complete security report includes information such as:
Explanation of the method and tools used. Presentation of the results. Analysis and conclusions.
How to learn more?
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