Penetration Testing

3. Which application is used for Step #2 in the hacking process to perform a vulnerability assessment scan?

* Check existing security scan reports, from WireShark and NetWitness Investigator, and see if we can identify data leakage, and setup new policies and procedures for monitoring web servers and applications.

Companies should develop a control that requires that routine vulnerability assessment of their customer facing web sites, network infrastructure, and associated systems (such as database systems). Vulnerability assessment can help identify potential weaknesses to systems and also provide a sort of feedback to the organization’s IT department on their current operational policy and security posture. The cost of performing a routine vulnerability assessment is considerably less than that of an actual data breach.

Our company is looking for security threats inside and outside their network. The best way to see what our network is vulnerable to is to use penetration testing (pen-testing) to find the leaks in and out of our network. Penetration testing is a network security approach that simulates an attack from an intruder trying to get unauthorized access to the infrastructure. With this type of testing the intent is to discover flaws in the security settings of the system before they can be exploited. Information Assurance Research Corporation (IARC) should conduct penetration testing on a regular basis, so we have the ability to locate weaknesses in the hardware and software, check the security controls currently established and determine if the

Penetration testing is the attempt to identify security weaknesses within the IT infrastructure of an

Penetration testing is usually performed once a year. The test is designed to be short and to the point at identifying what, if anything, has been compromised.

The penetration tools provided in this document allow us to review our network from a security standpoint. This paper focused predominantly on phase two of a penetration test, the exploitation phase; however, a successful penetration test typically starts with the reconnaissance phase. In this phase, the tester attempts to gain as much information about the target company and its network as possible. He or she will test the physical infrastructure (how do people gain access to the building?) and other organizational aspects of the company to find a weakness and a way to get in. Also during this portion of the test, the penetration tester will use tools such as NMAP, whois.com, and other resources to obtain information regarding the network

10. There are four phases of penetration testing, according to NIST. They are planning, discovery, attack, and reporting. In the planning phase, rules are identified, management approval is finalized, and testing goals are set. The discovery phase starts the actual testing. Techniques commonly used in the discovery phase include port scanning, DNS interrogation, whois queries, search of the target organizations web servers, search of the LDAP, packet capture, NetBIOS enumeration, and Banner grabbing. While vulnerability scanners only check that a vulnerability may exist, the attack phase of a penetration test exploits the vulnerability, confirming its existence. The reporting phase occurs simultaneously with the other three phases of the penetration test.

3.1.6 Vulnerability testing: by conducting vulnerability tests allows the organization to see if the system can be penetrated and if there are any weak areas in the system. If vulnerabilities are found this allows the organization time to fix the problem.

Company XYZ, a mid-sized corporation, is in the middle of satisfying their regulatory compliance needs.  The manager of security at the company has been tasked by the CIO (Chief Information Officer) to report on the company’s current security posture. You are called upon as a 3rd party penetration tester, based on your industry reputation of being both careful and thorough to report on company XYZ’s security posture. The only information available about the company is the generalized information found on its company Website which includes a contact page, home page, customer login portal, copyright and acceptable use

* Suggest three (3) penetration testing methods that you would use for a small day care business. Provide a rationale to support your response. Note: The day care is located in the heart of downtown, currently uses a Website, databases, file servers, printers, both wireless (802.11x) and Ethernet access to the Internet, and card readers for physical entry for its employees.

In the current society, business, organizations and government are very dependent on computers and Internet. Adequately protecting an organization 's information assets is a requisite issue. Many organizations have deployed security software or devices, such as firewalls or intrusion detection systems, to help protect their information assets and to quickly identify potential attacks. IBM Systems Journal states that "some organizations came to realize that one of the best ways to evaluate the intruder threat to their interests would be to have independent computer security professionals attempt to hack into their computer systems" (IBM 2001). This might be a good way to evaluate the system vulnerability. However, to allow a penetration test team break into their systems, the organization may have faces some risks. For example, the penetration test team may fail to identify significant vulnerabilities; sensitive security information may be disclosed, increasing the risk of the organizations being vulnerable to external attacks (The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants). Some organization even send their system administrator to be trained Ethical Hacking as a career course in Tertiary

Penetration testing is when a company pays a specialist to try and break into their network and relay back to them any vulnerabilities they may find. Now

This report documents the results from the penetration test of the Ernst and Young Credit Union external website (http://10.55.3.101). Full authorisation has been given to conduct the test, which was carried out in a manner that simulates an attack from a malicious user. The objectives were to:

Mobile devices present the most obvious challenge to mobile testing. There are countless devices out there consumers could use to access your app and ensuring your app works on all of them can be difficult.