subject: Combat Security Breaches Of Network Penetration Testing [print this page] Network penetration testing is often termed as pen test and is a testing process that is conducted to review the perimeters of a network for security breaches and other network vulnerabilities. This process is also known as ethical hacking as the test is carried on by a group of security experts who have been sanctioned by the organization to hack the network in an initiative to recognize the probable vulnerabilities. As and when the vulnerabilities are discovered it becomes easy for the enterprise to safeguard itself against any further network attacks.
The way network penetration testing works
Network penetration testing operates on the premise that hackers and third party intruders have greater knowledge of network weaknesses than the enterprises running the networks. It is said that hackers are always a step ahead of the network security professionals. Hence it is not required that the network security team performs the same tests making use of similar ways that the intruders would use to create security breaches.
A standard network penetration test on most occasions comprise of two stages. The first stage comprises of detecting the potential vulnerabilities within the network and then the second stage works towards exploiting these vulnerabilities. The second stage is carried on with the approval of the enterprise. The reason for this is because it is technically an illegal operation in order to breach the network security.
Network penetration testing companies generally deploy security professionals who have the desired knowledge with the same method that the hackers make use to attack a network. They are trained and have the expertise in performing this test in a way that it does not jeopardize the enterprises critical data or give rise to any other application risks. Today eminent companies specializing in data center solutions have introduced advanced network penetration testing programs that offer benefits such as:
Covers all sorts of vulnerabilities comprising data-in-motion leakages
Offers automated testing
Results in business logic verification
Provides coverage to all attack paths via loophole correlation
Provides an online vulnerability management dashboard
The reporting is compliance friendly
Offers research driven delivery
There is threat modeling, expert validation as well as automated exploitation
What is the result of network penetration testing?
As soon as a network penetration test is complete, the security professionals or experts create a report for the enterprise that comprises of potential vulnerabilities within the network system. This report offers a way to analyze the network system from an external cyber criminals perspective. This is done so that the required steps can be implemented to offer optimum network security.
