Penetration Testing (Pen Testing)
Let Holocron unlock your network’s vulnerabilities with our expert penetration testing capabilities.
What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration Testing is a critical aspect of cyber security that involves either scanning for or simulating an attack on a computer system, network, or application to identify potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses to known and evolving cyber threats.
Sometimes referred to as “pen testing”, penetration testing is a rigorous type of cyber security testing that focuses on finding vulnerabilities before malicious parties do. During our penetration testing services, our cyber security team will test for weaknesses, conduct vulnerability scans, and simulate a real-world attack. This process of identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses helps you safeguard your business, operations, assets, infrastructure and information against cyber threats.
Who needs Pen Testing?
Any organisation who handles sensitive data, processes financial transactions, or has an online presence should consider getting a penetration test done. This includes businesses of all sizes, government agencies, healthcare providers, financial institutions, and e-commerce websites.
Holocron’s penetration testing services can help these entities identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers and take proactive measures to strengthen their security posture.
Additionally, compliance regulations such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and GDPR may require regular pen testing to ensure the protection of sensitive information, so our pen testing services can help meet these requirements.
Based in Brisbane we provide pen testing services to businesses across Australia.
Holocron Cyber is a leading cyber security and penetration testing company with our head office located in Brisbane. We are a national service provider with resources in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. We harness cutting-edge cyber security techniques, the best pen testing tools, and deep industry expertise to ensure your systems are protected against today’s cyber threats. Our it security testing services are conducted by cyber security experts with deep experience in penetration testing services and other advanced cyber security processes.
Our Penetration Testing Framework
All of our pen testing follows a strict penetration testing execution standard for technical cyber security testing. This testing aims to find security vulnerabilities and enable these to be addressed.
Planning and Preparation
The Holocron penetration testing team will work with the organisation to define scope, identify key assets and systems to be tested, and agree on the penetration testing methodology. Our penetration testing team will also gather information such as IP addresses, network diagrams, and application documentation.
Vulnerability Scanning and Analysis
The penetration testing team will conduct vulnerability scanning to identify potential entry points for an attacker. Our cyber security team will analyse the results of the scan to identify potential vulnerabilities that require further testing.
Exploitation and Pen Testing
During this stage, our team of penetration testers will conduct targeted testing to exploit identified vulnerabilities and assess the level of risk they pose to the organisation. Our pen testing team will attempt to gain access to systems and data to identify potential weaknesses and report on their findings.
Reporting and Remediation
During the final stages, our team of penetration testers will compile a detailed report of their findings and provide recommendations for remediation. The report will include a summary of vulnerabilities to real world attacks uncovered during our penetration testing, their potential impact on the organisation, and recommendations for mitigation.
Holocron's Pen Testing Service
A penetration test usually involves the use of intrusive methods or attacks conducted by qualified and trusted industry professionals, utilising methods similar to those used by intruders or hackers. Care is taken not to adversely affect normal operations while these tests are conducted.
What does Holocron's Penetration Testing services involve?
- Foot printing
- Public Information & Information Leakage cross-referencing
- DNS Analysis
- Port Scanning
- System Fingerprinting
- Services Probing
- Exploit Research and in some instances application
- Manual Vulnerability Testing and Verification of Identified Vulnerabilities
- Intrusion Detection / Prevention System Testing
- Password Service Strength Testing
- Remediation Retest (optional)
Internal Penetration Testing
Internal pen testing, also referred to as internal network penetration testing, provides protection from internal threats and ensures that internal user privileges cannot be misused. This helps to identify any vulnerabilities in your internal networks and helps to prevent internal network penetration by identifying areas that need to be secured. A successful attack may occur through a valid communication channel, as a result of human error or a software defect in the perimeter.
The security level of each system adjacent to the compromised host will determine the degree to which the attacker can further penetrate the infrastructure. It is therefore recommended that testing is performed on critical systems in the DMZ or on the internal network, using black box techniques.
Testing of the corporate user network may also identify the impact of poor access controls and help to mitigate the impact of a malicious or disgruntled employee and the potential for internal network penetration.
External Penetration Testing
External pen testing consists of a review of vulnerabilities that could be exploited by external users with or without credentials. The assessment will determine whether existing implemented security controls, such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, or implemented application defences are operating as expected.
Our experts assume the role of an external attacker during our pen testing services, and attempt to exploit vulnerable systems to obtain confidential information and compromise the network perimeter. We build scenarios utilising a compromised system as a pivot point to further penetrate network infrastructure, to demonstrate the potential impact of a successful compromise.
As a leading Brisbane cyber security company, our methodology is in accordance with best practice standards and incorporates guidelines from OSSTMM, NIST and OWASP.
Types of Pen Tests and Attacks Vectors
Network Penetration Testing
In a network penetration test, we test the network environment for potential security vulnerabilities and threats. This network pen test is a key part of the pen testing process and is divided into two categories: external and internal penetration tests. Both can be attacked using White-box or Black-box techniques.
Once obtaining access to an internal network (through compromising external services or by gaining access through internal mobile devices, social engineering or other means), we attempt to escalate privileges, and gain access to the critical data assets.
Social Engineering Penetration Testing
A social engineering penetration test can be part of a network penetration test. In a social engineering pen test, you may ask our team to attack users. This is where we use spear phishing attacks and browser exploits to trick a user into doing things they did not intend to do, thereby gaining a backdoor access into the network for unauthorised access. We'll conduct penetration tests focusing on these techniques within this step of the pen testing process.
Web Application Penetration Testing
Web application penetration testing is very common since your application may host critical data such as credit card numbers, usernames, and passwords. Therefore this type of penetration test has become more common than the network penetration test.
Mobile Application Penetration Testing
Mobile application penetration testing has quickly become common since most organisations use Android, iOS, Windows and Linux based mobile applications to provide services to customers. Mobile application pen testing is crucial to ensuring your mobile application's safety. This test is great if you want to make sure that your mobile applications are secure enough for users to rely on when providing personal information when using such applications.
Here's how Holocron's penetration testing services can benefit you
The following provides an outline of what sort of benefits an organisation may experience if they were to get regular penetration testing.
Reduce Business Risk
Penetration testing can help reduce the risk of a data breach, which can have a significant impact on an organisation's reputation, customer trust, and financial stability.
Identify Vulnerabilities
Penetration testing can help identify vulnerabilities that may be unknown to an organisation. By simulating attacks, testers can identify potential entry points for cybercriminals within your business systems and network infrastructure, and recommend ways to mitigate those risks.
Stay on top of evolving cyber threats
Cyber security is a field that is constantly evolving. Our pen test services give you a vulnerability assessment against new and emerging cyber threats and help ensure your continued cyber resilience. You may be protected against cyber security threats at one point in time, but without regular pen testing, you may be unaware of weaknesses to newer cyber security threats. Our regular pen tests allow us to identify weaknesses before they become a problem.
Improve Your Cyber Security Posture
Regular penetration testing can help organisations continuously improve their cyber security posture by Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. A security posture refers to the collective security measures, policies and overall stance or approach to protection from cyber threats. Improving your security posture is improving your defence against attacks.
Compliance
Many regulatory standards such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and GDPR require organisations to perform regular penetration testing to maintain compliance.
Gain Customer Confidence
Demonstrating a commitment to security through regular penetration testing can help organisations gain customer confidence and differentiate themselves from competitors.
Cost Effective
Identifying and fixing vulnerabilities before they are exploited can be much less expensive than dealing with the consequences of a successful cyber attack.
Prioritise Remediation
Penetration testing can help organisations prioritise which vulnerabilities to address first based on their severity and potential impact on the business.
The Risks of Not Conducting Regular Penetration Testing
Unidentified Vulnerabilities
Without regular penetration testing, an organisation may not be aware of vulnerabilities in its systems, networks, or applications that could be exploited by cybercriminals.
Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities
Attackers can exploit known vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications that have not been patched or fixed due to a lack of awareness or testing.
Data Breaches
A successful cyber attack can lead to data breaches, which can result in significant financial losses, damage to reputation, and loss of customer trust.
Regulatory Non-Compliance
Failure to conduct regular penetration testing can result in non-compliance with regulatory standards such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and GDPR, which can result in fines and legal penalties.
Increased Costs
Responding to a cyber attack can be much more expensive than conducting regular penetration testing to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before an attack occurs.
Loss of Customer Confidence
A data breach can lead to loss of customer confidence, which can result in a loss of business and difficulty acquiring new customers.
Talk to a cyber security expert about our penetration testing services today
Talk to one of our leading cyber security experts today, about how we can help you mitigate threats, improve your organisation’s security posture, and safeguard your business and business operations with our penetration testing services and other cyber security services.
30 min. consult with a trusted security expert
