Penetration Testing & Red Teaming Services
Penetration Testing Service assesses an organization’s defense by simulating an attack on their network. The process forms an important preventive measure. By identifying existing vulnerabilities and how an attacker would exploit them, organizations are empowered to proactively mitigate their most glaring security flaws. The process equips security teams with the knowledge and tools to circumvent an attacker’s next move.
The quality of a penetration test lies in its ability to provide actionable insight. Rather than just outlining an organization’s vulnerabilities and how they were exploited, Cloudsec provides comprehensive post-simulation advisory services. A project report outlines all of the identified security vulnerabilities, along with a
risk assessment and mitigation recommendations. Cloudsec also provides hands-on training to ensure that mitigation steps can be implemented. We deliver presentations to various client stakeholders ranging from executive
Cloudsec has an industry-leading team that has an extensive background in information security consulting services and their experience covers a wide range of security domains including internal networks, web and mobile applications, as well as specialized areas such as RFID, ATM, EDC, and telecommunication infrastructure. We also support an emerging specialist focus on airport security, including physical and cyber penetration testing.
PENETRATION TESTING VS RED TEAMING
PENETRATION TESTING
- Scope defined and provided by client
- Employees are typically aware of the test
- Rules are well defined
- Systems are tested independently
- Focus on prevention controls
- Techniques: mapping, scanning and exploiting
- Result: vulnerabilities of specific systems
RED TEAMING
- Red team identifies potential scope
- Can be Internal/External/Social Engineering
- Limited number of employees are aware
- Systems are tested simultaneously
- Focus on detection and response
- Techniques: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs)
- Result: Resilience against realistic attacks
Goals of a penetration test vary greatly based on the scope of review. Generally speaking, the goal of a penetration test is to validate the effectiveness of security controls designed to protect the system or assets being protected.
A Penetration Test should always document the goals of the project. Penetration Test reports and deliverables outline the expectations, scope, requirements, resources, and results.
A Penetration test should be performed for a variety of reasons. Some of the more common reasons why companies perform network penetration tests include:
- Most relevant regulatory standards require penetration tests are performed.
- Penetration testing can identify vulnerabilities inadvertently introduced during changes to the environment, such as a major upgrade or system reconfiguration.
- Penetration testing can be integrated into the QA process of the Software Development Life Cycle to prevent security bugs from entering into production systems.
- Organizations, especially those acting as data custodians, are being required to have testing performed by their customers. Penetration testing can demonstrate a commitment to security from a customer perspective and provide attestation that their assets or services are being managed securely.
- Penetration testing is a common requirement for internal due diligence as part of ongoing efforts to manage threats, vulnerabilities, and risks to an organization. Results can be used as input into an on-going Risk Management process.
- Penetration testing allows companies to assess the security controls of potential acquisition targets. Most organizations preparing to acquire an organization seek insights into the vulnerabilities they may introduce in doing so and plan for the costs they may be incurring to remediate.
- To support a breach investigation, penetration testing may tell an organization where the other vulnerabilities may exist in order to have a comprehensive response to the incident.
- Penetration testing allows companies to proactively assess for emerging or newly discovered vulnerabilities that were not known or have not yet been widely published.
- Penetration testing serves as an aid to development teams who are writing new web applications. Many development lifecycles include penetration testing at key stages of the process. Correcting flaws are typically less costly the earlier in the development lifecycle that they are discovered. Additional testing prior to go-live on a production-ready build can identify any remaining issues that might require attention before loading users on the application.
It depends, as a variety of factors should be thought-through when considering the frequency to conduct penetration tests. When determining what is appropriate include considerations such as:
- How frequently the environment changes: Tests are often timed to correlate with changes as they near a production ready state.
- How large the environment is: Larger environments are frequently tested in phases to level the testing effort, remediation activities, and load placed on the environment.
- Budgetary factors: Testing should be scoped to focus on the most critical assets according to a timeline that is supported by the allocation of security budgets.
When a penetration testing provider is hired, the hiring company should expect that every penetration test team includes a dedicated project manager, a skilled and experienced test team, resource coordinator(s), and a point of escalation. The test team should include individuals with in-depth experience across multiple technologies including client platforms, server infrastructures, web application development, and IP networking. The individuals on the team should hold valid certifications relevant to their role such as Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) or equivalent credentials.
