As cybersecurity threats continue to intensify, penetration testing and management of IT vulnerabilities have become essential for identifying and mitigating system weaknesses. Organizations in every industry face unrelenting challenges in securing intellectual property, data stores, personally identifiable information and other critical assets. A proactive penetration test, including IT vulnerability analysis, is crucial for detecting risks that could lead to devastating cyberattacks before they are exploited.
Penetration testing – commonly referred to as “pentesting” – includes techniques like white hat hacking and black box testing to simulate a cyberattack within an organization’s existing information systems and find security gaps. Utilizing advanced vulnerability assessment tools and exploitation tools, we get ahead of zero-day threats, reducing risks and protecting your most critical assets. With our team of ethical hackers, you can be confident that your systems are protected.
Only real-world tests of threat actor tactics, techniques and procedures can enable immediate cyber risk mitigation and peace of mind.
Meet the Team
Our team specializes in penetration testing, employing a range of methodologies, including vulnerability analysis and ethical hacking techniques. Specifically designed to mitigate your risks, these assessments address the most critical cybersecurity concerns and consequences that organizations face today – data breaches, operational shutdowns, hijacked data, reputational damage, financial penalty and substantial fiscal loss.
Comprehensive, Customized Testing
With a nuanced understanding of each client’s operations, technology, constituency and objectives, we are ideally equipped to investigate the most relevant cyber gaps, flaws, misconfigurations and deviations from information security best practices. As thorough as they are tailored, our tests probe the full range of technology environments and cyberattack scenarios, including:
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Internal Penetration Testing – Vulnerability analysis and exploitation executed from within an internal local area network, including network-level and host-based exploitation.
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External Penetration Testing
– Detailed vulnerability assessment of your internet-facing assets, using black box testing to simulate an external cyberattack.
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Cloud Penetration Testing – Vulnerability analysis of cloud-native environments.
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Social Engineering
– The execution of sophisticated email, SMS and/or phone-based social engineering campaigns in an attempt to gather sensitive information, bypass multifactor authentication or execute malicious code on managed end points.
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Physical Security Assessment
– The execution of in-person social engineering attacks in an attempt to gain unauthorized access to facilities.
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Wireless Penetration Testing – The identification and exploitation of IT vulnerabilities within an organization’s wireless network infrastructure.
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Web Application Penetration Testing – The use of vulnerability assessment tools to test application code-level vulnerabilities and protect against unauthorized access to organizational information or back-end systems.
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Source Code Analysis – A detailed review of application source code to identify vulnerabilities resulting from insecure application development practices.
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Password Analysis – A test of password hygiene by systematically attempting to crack end-user, service account and administrator passwords using powerful hardware components.
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Adversary Emulation – A collaborative purple team approach to test security monitoring and alerting strategies in response to the most common attacker tactics, techniques and procedures.
- Red Teaming – An unannounced penetration test of the effectiveness of existing incident response capabilities.
Ethical Hackers and Penetration Testing
Our ethical hackers are certified to conduct an extensive range of cybersecurity assessments, including penetration tests, to identify existing IT vulnerabilities. Using white hat hacking techniques and detailed vulnerability analysis, these professionals provide insight and recommendations that can help you secure your system and prevent future threats.
Recommendations that Drive Mitigation
Once a penetration test is complete, our pentesters report the precise information required to prove the existence of each vulnerability and how it might be exploited by cybercriminals. Through ongoing vulnerability analysis, our ethical hackers provide long-term strategies to help prioritize remediation activities. Every finding is risk-rated. Our reports are comprehensive yet clear, presented in an easily understood narrative that describes the penetration test from beginning to end and details the overall attack chain.
Hands-on Risk Evaluation
Advancements in artificial intelligence and automation enable our team to tap commercial, open-source and custom software components to focus on specific environments and attack vectors. Every penetration test is led by experienced information security specialists and every decision is made in collaboration with the client. Using the latest vulnerability assessment tools to evaluate and mitigate IT vulnerabilities, we provide a hands-on approach to identify and address threats likely to be overlooked by those who rely on automated scripts only. It also limits any negative impact on production systems and end-users while yielding the most valuable results for clients.
Talented Cyber Specialists, Actively Engaged
In an arena that evolves faster than lightning speed, specialists must be directly and continuously engaged in industry research, interaction and innovation. Ours have identified previously unknown IT vulnerabilities in commercial software platforms, including cross-site scripting, SQL injection, privilege escalation and information disclosure. Working closely with vendors and external stakeholders, they identify remediation strategies and communicate these risks industry-wide by registering Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs).
Highly credentialed, our team members hold the full range of certifications, including Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), Practical Network Penetration Tester (PNPT), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), among others. They present regularly at industry conferences to ensure the cybersecurity community is apprised of common gaps and misconfigurations. As new attack tactics and techniques appear, they publish articles describing these issues in clear, compelling language to help our clients, colleagues and peers remain fully equipped to spot and dismantle emerging threats.
Effective Remediation Strategies and Solutions
Following the identification of deficiencies, our penetration testing specialists are adept at leading the implementation of practical remediation solutions to IT vulnerabilities. The strategies we develop are informed by our extensive experience and the latest industry insights, such as those concerning Digital Assets: Cybersecurity Considerations in an Acquisition. Often, the client’s existing resources can be deployed. If not, our professionals customize solutions to protect multi-layered systems and those with large amounts of confidential data. A complete remediation program also includes internal training that educates employees on their vital role in safeguarding the organization and its data.
Risk Exists. Proactive Cyber Protection Is Essential.
Identifying and remediating technical cyber risk and IT vulnerabilities is a challenge for every organization, more so for those without a dedicated information security function. Working with knowledgeable advisors to continually harden networks, systems and applications against emerging threats is a cost-effective way to establish a mature information cybersecurity program. Proactively addressing material risks with effective vulnerability assessments before they are exploited is a must as cyberattacks become more costly – operationally, reputationally and financially.
FAQs
What is penetration testing?
Also referred to as “pentesting,” a penetration test is an ethical cybersecurity exercise where authorized security professionals, often referred to as “white hat” hackers, simulate cyberattacks against computer systems, networks and applications. The goal of this practice is to mimic the tactics often used by malicious actors, who are sometimes called “black hat” hackers, to identify flaws and vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. To most accurately simulate a real cyberattack, penetration testing should be carried out by an outside team of professionals that is unfamiliar with the system being evaluated. They can often uncover weaknesses and threats that internal teams – especially those who frequently work within the systems – might overlook. This is known as black box testing. Gray box and white box testing provide varying degrees of knowledge about the systems being tested to the pentesting team and can also help simulate advanced cyberattack scenarios.
What is the end result of penetration testing?
Once the penetration test is complete, the team’s observations are documented in a report that details each vulnerability discovered, along with supporting proof of security risks. Analysis of the potential impacts and risk ratings for each issue that has been uncovered are included. Recommendations for security improvements are provided to close gaps and strengthen system security; they outline specific steps that can be taken and are guided by information security best practices. At PKF O’Connor Davies, our goal is to help organizations understand where action is required while providing clear guidance to improve security.
What is the primary purpose of penetration testing?
The primary purpose of penetration testing is not just to uncover an organization’s system, network and application vulnerabilities. It also demonstrates how these issues can be exploited to obtain elevated access to an organization’s systems, or disclose sensitive information. Enlisting an outside team without intimate knowledge of your organization’s systems to conduct pentesting can help identify weaknesses of varying risk levels, from minor to critical, that could result in devastating security breaches if not effectively addressed and managed. It is important to enlist cybersecurity professionals with extensive experience in penetration testing to ensure you are receiving the most complete assessments and accurate findings. Once a penetration test has been conducted, the ethical hacking team should provide you with actionable recommendations to bolster security immediately while offering best practices for maintaining the integrity of your systems for the future. When you partner with the cybersecurity specialists at PKF O’Connor Davies, we work closely with you and your team to understand your specific business and technology risks and how to effectively address them.
What is ethical hacking?
Ethical hacking, also known as “white hat” hacking, employs the same techniques and tactics used by criminal hackers for the purpose of assessing a computer system, network or application to identify security flaws and vulnerabilities. Unlike malicious hackers (commonly referred to as “black hat” hackers), ethical hackers (like our team at PKF O’Connor Davies) are trained and experienced professionals hired and authorized by an organization to attempt to breach the system while working within established rules of engagement. They also adhere to a code of ethics, including only acting with consent of the owner of the system they are hacking, maintaining strict confidentiality and always acting lawfully and with internationally accepted methods. The goal of ethical hacking is to identify weaknesses, close security gaps and strengthen systems before bad actors can exploit them. Along with penetration testing, ethical hackers conduct a wide range of vulnerability and risk assessments to protect businesses from cyberattacks and their often devastating effects.