IT audits

What is ethical hacking?

Ethical hacking or penetration testing refers to the exploitation of an IT system with the permission of its owner in order to determine its vulnerabilities and weaknesses. It is an essential process of testing and validating an organization’s information security measures and maturity. The results of ethical hacking are typically used to recommend preventive and corrective countermeasures that mitigate the risk of a cyber attack.

An ethical hacker is an individual who is trusted to attempt to penetrate an organization’s networks and/or computer systems using the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker, but in a lawful and legitimate manner.

Attacking and defending

Protecting current systems and networks requires a broad understanding of attack strategies, and in-depth knowledge of the hacker’s tactics, tools and motivations. Effective ethical hacking is based on knowledge of the system network, equipment, user interaction, policies, procedures, physical security, and business culture. The increasing use of social engineering attack methodologies demands that every tester is also aware of the organization and habits of its IT users (staff).

What is a web application penetration test?

Many organizations in the United States use web applications in their daily operations. A web application penetration test aims to identify security issues resulting from insecure development practices in the design, coding and publishing of software or a website.

This generally includes:

• Testing user authentication to verify that accounts cannot compromise data
• Assessing the web applications for flaws and vulnerabilities, such as XSS (cross-site scripting)
• Confirming the secure configuration of web browsers and identifying features that can cause vulnerabilities
• Safeguarding web server security and database server security

The vulnerabilities are presented in a format that allows an organization to assess their relative business risk and the cost of remediation. These can then be resolved in line with the application owner’s budget and risk appetite, inducing a proportionate response to cyber risks.

Did you know?

• Applications are the initial target in 53% of breaches
• Breaches that start with website and application attacks account for 47% of the breach costs, making application attacks the most costly

Once an application vulnerability is exploited, attackers will find their way through the network to your data.

These attacks can be used to modify or capture data, steal user credentials or affect the operational performance of your application or website.

The benefits of a web application penetration test

Our penetration tests will help you:

• Gain real-world insight into your vulnerabilities
• Keep untrusted data separate from commands and queries
• Develop strong authentication and session management controls
• Improve access control
• Discover the most vulnerable route through which an attack can be made
• Find any loopholes that could lead to the theft of sensitive data

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Is a web application penetration test right for you?

If you are responsible for a website or web application, you should ask yourself:

• Could your application be exploited to access your network?
• Do you use an off-the-shelf CMS (content management system)? Is it vulnerable to attack?
• Could your identity credentials be hacked, or account privileges escalated?
• Is your API secure?
• Do you process or store payment details on your website?
• Does your application store personally identifiable information at the back-end?
• Can an attacker get direct access to your database using SQL

A network penetration test aims to assess your network for vulnerabilities and security issues in servers, hosts, devices and network services.

This generally includes:

• Identifying and assessing all Internet-facing assets a criminal hacker could use as potential entry points into your network
• Assessing the effectiveness of your firewalls and other intrusion-prevention systems
• Establishing whether an unauthorized user with the same level of access as your customers and suppliers can gain access to your systems via the external network

Clients will receive information about the identified vulnerabilities in a format that allows them to assess their relative business risk and the cost of remediation. This information can be used to resolve the vulnerabilities in line with the network owner’s budget and risk appetite.

Did you know?

• 72% of engagements resulted in at least one compromised password. Of those, 60% were easily guessed passwords, where the pen tester used generic password spraying, known defaults, and easily guessed organization-specific passwords.
• 96% of engagements that involved either a network or application assessment saw at least one vulnerability exposed to attackers

Breaking into external systems (those that communicate with the Internet) can be relatively simple if they have not been properly patched and secured against the latest threats. 

Once an external attacker has gained access to your network, they can access sensitive data, modify data, cause the system to operate abnormally or crash the system.

Is an external network penetration test right for you?

If you are responsible for your external network, you should ask yourself:

• Are my systems fully patched and properly configured?
• Are any systems or applications secured with weak or default passwords?
• Have I accounted for all the services exposed to the Internet?
• Could malware be present on my system?
• Is every device secured by a correctly configured firewall?
• Is my confidential information properly segregated or secured?

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The benefits of completing an external network penetration test

Our penetration tests will help you:

• Gain real-world insight into your vulnerabilities
• Identify any patches that need to be installed
• Reconfigure software, firewalls, and operating systems
• Identify needs for encryption or more secure protocols
• Find the most vulnerable route through which an attack can be made
• Find loopholes that an attacker could use to steal sensitive data

Our engagement process

Our CREST-accredited penetration testers follow an established methodology based primarily upon the Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM). This approach emulates attackers’ techniques using many of the same readily available tools.

1. Scoping: Prior to a test, our account management team will discuss the requirements for your network/infrastructure assessment to define the scope of the test.
2. Reconnaissance: IT Governance will enumerate your network assets and identify any holes in your systems where malicious actors could break in.
3. Assessment: Using the information identified in the reconnaissance phase, we test the identified hosts for potential vulnerabilities. 
4. Reporting: The results will be fully analysed by an IT Governance certified tester and a full report will be prepared that sets out the scope of the test and the methodology used along with the risks identified. This will provide your organization with the ability to produce an accurate threat and risk assessment.
5. Re-test: We can provide access to our testers and the raw test data to support and expedite remediation. We can also retest your systems so that you can be sure all the issues have been successfully resolved.

Our penetration tests comply with the Microsoft Rules of Engagement   

For Azure clients, this means we take care to limit all penetration tests to your assets, thereby avoiding unintended consequences to your customers or your infrastructure