Penetration Testing Berlin

A penetration test, or "pentest" for short, is a security check that emulates an attack by a malicious party on a network or application to identify security vulnerabilities. This test is coordinated in advance and conducted in such a way that no system is damaged. At the end of the test, you will receive a report that includes the problems and vulnerabilities found, along with suggestions on how to fix them.

Unlike penetration testing, vulnerability assessment does not determine in detail whether the vulnerability can actually be exploited or what impact it has. A vulnerability scan usually uses automated vulnerability scanners such as Nessus or even Nmap. Vulnerability scanners only cover standard scenarios and do not take into account the specifics of the IT infrastructure in question.

Vulnerability scans are therefore more of a first step in the technical analysis of vulnerabilities than a complete process for securing systems. They are also often used as part of a security audit or as one of the first steps in penetration testing. In all cases, penetration testing goes further and examines the discovered vulnerabilities in detail.

The pentester attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities and assess the resulting opportunities for the attacker. This helps determine the impact of a vulnerability. Due to the manual nature of a penetration test and the creativity of the pentester, the chances of finding serious vulnerabilities are much higher with professionally conducted penetration tests than with standardized vulnerability scans.

In black-box testing, the pentester attempts to attack the target without any prior knowledge of addresses, systems, applications and processes. The main argument for this approach is that this scenario comes closest to the real world and thus simulates a real attack scenario. However, this is only partially true because a real attacker does not have just a week or two like a contracted pentester, but has the entire time, including months or years, to prepare the attack. In fact, some of the most successful hacker attacks have taken place over a period of up to 12 months.
This bias means that black-box testing is often inconclusive and gives customers a false sense of security. Redlings therefore recommends black-box testing only in exceptional cases. The argument that attackers (must) implement a black-box approach also only works to a limited extent, since a long preparation time can lead to extensive internal informtions.

In a white-box test, the pentester receives all relevant information about the target system(s). The advantage is that this approach saves time - and thus costs. It is also generally true that white-box tests are more effective in improving the security of IT systems and should usually be preferred.
Generally speaking, black-box testing can be a suitable means of uncovering security issues against a specification (e.g., a Web API interface), but is very poorly suited to identifying flaws within specific components. In the latter case, white-box testing should be the preferred means.

At the beginning of the process, we try to familiarize ourselves with your company and the scope of work so that we are able to provide an accurate quote. We gather this information on purpose so that we don't come back and ask for more testing time (and additional costs). The more information you are willing to share with us, the better we can provide an estimate.

However, some customers want a black box approach, where only a limited amount of information is provided, to simulate a real attack and the response to it. In this case, we still need to capture the size/complexity, that is required for testing, and therefore have some fundamental questions about scope.

The terms "penetration tester" (also "pentester" for short), "white hat hacker" and "ethical hacker" are often used interchangeably. The terms "ethical hacker" and "white hat hacker" cover all hacking activity aimed at improving IT security. What they all have in common is that activities that are illegal or do not comply with the Code of Ethics are refrained from.
Formally, a penetration test is only an "ethical hack" with very clearly agreed rules, a formal procedure as well as a defined goal.