There are multiple steps the ethical hacker needs to follow to ensure a successful pentest that yields valuable insights. Similar to malicious attacks, ethical hacking needs careful planning. This provides valuable data on the company’s overall security and the staff’s readiness and how the two interact. In this staged attack, no one in the company is aware of the pentest, forcing them to react as if they’re encountering a malicious cyberattack. In addition to testing the company’s digital security measures (hardware and software), this test includes its security and IT staff as well.
Blind PentestĬontrary to a data-driven test, a blind test means the hacker gets no information whatsoever about their target other than their name and what’s publicly available. With a data-driven pentest, the hacker is provided with security information and data about their target. This simulates an attack of a former employee or someone who obtained leaked security data. Outsider pentests can overlap with social engineering pentests, where the hacker tricks and manipulates an employee into granting them access to the company’s internal network, past its external protection. It leaves them the option of hacking in through the company’s external tech like public websites and open communication ports. Outsider PentestĪs the name suggests, this type of pentest doesn’t give the hacker any access to the company’s internal network or employees. This relies on finding internal security flaws like access privileges and network monitoring, rather than external ones like firewall, antivirus, and endpoint protection. There are various examples of pentests depending on the type of attack the ethical hacker launches, the information they get beforehand, and limitations set by their employee.Ī single pentest can be one, or a combination, of the primary pentest types, which include: Insider PentestĪn insider or internal pentest simulates an insider cyberattack, where a malicious hacker poses as a legitimate employee and gains access to the company’s internal network.