Phases of Pentesting

Hello friends,

Today, I want to talk about an important aspect of cybersecurity: pentesting (penetration testing). I'll explain the phases of this process. Pentesting is a series of controlled attacks aimed at evaluating the security of a system. The goal is to identify security vulnerabilities and determine how to fix them. Now, let's dive into the main phases of pentesting in detail.

1. Planning and Reconnaissance

This phase involves gathering as much information as possible about the target system. Information gathering is typically done in two ways:

• Passive Reconnaissance: Collecting information without directly interacting with the target system. This includes DNS queries, WHOIS lookups, social media research, and open-source intelligence (OSINT) methods.
• Active Reconnaissance: Directly interacting with the target system to gather information. This involves IP scans, port scans, and service scans.

The information collected during the reconnaissance phase is recorded and analyzed for use in subsequent phases.

2. Scanning

Using the information gathered during reconnaissance, the scanning phase identifies potential vulnerabilities in the target system. This phase can be divided into two main categories:

• Network Scanning: Identifying the structure of the target network, active devices, and open ports. This is typically done using tools like Nmap.
• Vulnerability Scanning: Identifying potential security vulnerabilities in the target system. This is performed using vulnerability scanning tools like Nessus or OpenVAS.

The scanning phase helps to identify weak points in the system and potential attack vectors.

3. Gaining Access

In this phase, the pentester uses identified vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to the target system. Various attack techniques are used:

• Social Engineering: Manipulating users to obtain sensitive information or install malware.
• Exploitation: Using identified vulnerabilities to infiltrate the system. This is typically done with tools like Metasploit Framework.

Once access is gained, pentesters conduct an in-depth analysis of the system and gather more information.

4. Privilege Escalation

This phase involves increasing the level of access within the target system. The goal is to gain higher privileges to potentially cause more damage. This can be:

• Local Privilege Escalation: Elevating a low-privileged user to administrator or root privileges.
• Remote Privilege Escalation: Elevating privileges in a system accessed remotely.

Privilege escalation demonstrates how severe vulnerabilities can be exploited to cause significant harm.

5. Maintaining Access

This phase involves making the gained access permanent. Pentesters use various methods to maintain access and cover their tracks:

• Backdoors: Creating hidden entry points in the system to maintain access.
• Malware: Using software to maintain persistent access and hide tracks.

Maintaining access allows attackers to stay in the system for extended periods and return at will.

6. Covering Tracks

The final phase of pentesting involves erasing evidence of the activities conducted. This is critical to avoid detection. Covering tracks includes:

• Clearing Log Files: Deleting or altering log entries that record the attack.
• Removing Malware: Deleting tools and software used during the attack.

Conclusion

Pentesting is an essential process for evaluating the security of a system. The success of this process depends on carefully and meticulously executing each phase: reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, privilege escalation, maintaining access, and covering tracks.

I hope this article has helped you understand the pentesting process and its phases. Feel free to share your questions and experiences in the comments.

Stay safe!