Penetration Testing

An intruder will not want to spend months attempting to open a well-locked door but, will look for vulnerabilities and loopholes in information systems where security is not a priority. Small vulnerabilities can have serious consequences and put the system at risk. The best way to mitigate these risks is through penetration testing.

To prevent potential breaches and strengthen existing security controls against a qualified attacker, the Pixery team offers penetration testing based on a multi-stage attack plan that targets specific network infrastructures and applications.

What are penetration tests?

Penetration tests are tests that allow you to check how well your company’s information system is protected against hacker attacks. Penetration testing is a pre-test to prevent possible attacks from malicious people who want to sabotage your company’s IT activities. This test identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the entire system, including internal and external network systems, databases, web, and mobile applications, and attempts to prevent potential attacks before they occur.

Penetration testing, also known as pen testing, is performed by our authorized and professional staff by conducting a preliminary scan of your system within the scope of legal permissions and specifically to uncover the vulnerabilities of your system. After the vulnerabilities are revealed, the necessary security measures are taken to predict what attacks these points might be exposed to and how your system’s security protocols can be breached.

Penetration testing simulates the actions of real hackers to test vulnerabilities in your website, corporate infrastructure, mobile applications, and all other information technology systems. It is used to identify areas of the system that are vulnerable to intruders and to take security measures against unauthorized and malicious users or organizations.

To prevent potential intrusions into your organization and strengthen existing security controls against a qualified attacker, the Pixery team provides penetration testing based on a multi-stage attack plan targeting a specific network infrastructure and applications.

Full view of vulnerabilities

We provide detailed information about real security threats, along with “false positives” that help identify the most critical and least important vulnerabilities so that remediation can be prioritized, necessary security patches implemented, and security resources allocated.

Regularity compliance (POPIA, KVKK, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, FISMA)

Detailed reports generated after penetration testing help avoid penalties for noncompliance and allow auditors to perform the necessary security controls.

Job: Productivity-enhancing communication

The Pixery team provides specific guidance and recommendations to avoid financial pitfalls by identifying and addressing risks before attacks or security breaches.

What are the preparation steps for the penetration test?

The target may be some unwanted actions in the system that may be of interest to an attacker. For example, the most delicious biters are services where it is easy to get financial benefits related to money transfers.

From the point of view from which it makes sense to consider the security of the test object, any role can be taken as the model of the intruder. This can be an external anonymous user, a customer, an office visitor, or a newly hired employee entering the company’s website, or it can be a system administrator or a mid-level administrator.

Any role can be used as a model of the perpetrator in situations when it makes sense to regard the security of the test subject. This can be an external anonymous user, a customer, an office visitor, or a newly hired employee entering the company’s website, or it can be a system administrator or a mid-level administrator.

Black Box

This method assumes that no information about the system under test is provided and that the person performing the penetration test must gather all information of interest on his or her own.

White Box

Situations where information that contains a complete description of the system is requested. This method allows the contractor to transfer all information about the system it requests, such as a security-related network diagram, a description of the system’s internal architecture, and implemented protection tools.

Grey Box

Additional information and documents, such as some software version information and various account information, are the desired penetration testing method for a description of the desired architecture. In this option, the customer submits a limited set of pre-agreed information to the experts.

Identifying the type of intruder (customer, employee, or other third party) for vulnerability screening is critical to learn the role of potential attackers.

Typically, penetration testing can take 2-3 weeks. During this time, interim results are delivered and a detailed report (according to POPIA, KVKK, GDPR, BDDK, TSE, PCI DSS, ISO 27001 standards) is prepared for you based on the results. After the vulnerabilities are fixed by the testers, the audit is performed again. (Verification test).

Compliance with international standards (penetration testing as part of POPIA, BDDK, GDPR, KVKK, ISO 27001)

When we look at cyberattacks in today’s world, these attacks are almost impossible to detect with human eyes or personnel. In today’s age of technology, there is no electronic device that does not receive IP. There are aspects of technology that make our lives easier, but there is also the problem of cybersecurity that comes with it. Regulations such as POPIA, GDPR, KVKK, ISO -27001 have also been issued to bring attention to this problem and the risks and measures those institutions should take against cyber-attacks.

Why should we have a Penetration Test?

There are many adjustments in the information technology infrastructure that determine the level of security. No matter how much you think you have met all the security rules, there is no end to the methods attackers will use to damage your system.

It pays to have your system tested by cybersecurity experts to avoid major problems in the future against new techniques used by hackers.

Penetration testing can have different objectives, which can be divided into the following main types: Penetration Testing Processes include:

  • Port Scanning

  • Passive information gathering
  • Types and description of network devices
  • Operation in the network infrastructure to determine the system types
  • Types of adjacent peripheral devices in the network infrastructure
  • Collection and analysis of the information obtained
  • Definition of “entry points”
  • Description of attack vectors
  • Attempt of penetration
  • Detection of vulnerabilities
  • Verification of the received vectors
  • Solutions for critical vulnerabilities
  • Report (in accordance with POPIA, KVKK, GDPR, BDDK, TSE, PCI DSS ISO 27001 standards).

Penetration testing is performed using a variety of specialized programs and applications (password selection, searching for vulnerabilities in IP network ports, malware detection) and covers a large number of test points.

  • Information collection (scanning customer data in open sources, collecting data on employee releases),
  • Technical infrastructure investigation (identifying and collecting data on available resources, operating systems, software, and applications),
  • Vulnerability and threat assessment (detecting vulnerabilities in security systems, applications and software using specific programs and utilities),
  • Data extraction and processing (in this phase, a real attack by an attacker is simulated in order to obtain information for the purpose of collecting data on existing vulnerabilities for later analysis as well as hacking the system and calculating economic risks),
  • Report preparation (processing of the received information, preparation of recommendations and instructions to eliminate existing vulnerabilities, pentest reporting in accordance with the standards POPIA, KVKK, GDPR, BDDK, TSE, PCI DSS ISO 27001).

Result report penetration test

  • Detailed description of the defined vulnerabilities
  • Recommendations for the elimination of the found vulnerabilities
  • Description of the developed attack vectors with the results of their applications
  • Possibility to prepare presentations for the company management

Result report penetration test

Penetration testing is a mandatory security check for some information security standards. For example, requirement 11.3 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) governs external and internal implementation within the payment information infrastructure at the network and application levels.

Our company is authorized to perform vulnerability assessments in accordance with trust level requirements and to conduct penetration testing in compliance with regulatory requirements.

After you have received a penetration test?

Once you have the results and reports (pen test report according to POPIA, KVKK, GDPR, BDDK, TSE, PCI DSS ISO 27001), a new schedule should be created to identify vulnerabilities and insecure points and improve security by closing the gaps as soon as possible. With this schedule, the validation test is performed.

Companies that perform penetration tests

The topic of cybercrime has been on the rise lately. New methods of cyberattacks are popping up all the time. The news from global news outlets is full of reports of cyberattacks. The problem is global, and the threat is growing. The important point here is the companies that offer penetration testing. Many companies that perform penetration testing use automated software that does not detect all critical vulnerabilities and defenses and do not generate attack vectors. In addition, such companies may not have sufficient expertise to find vulnerabilities themselves, as advanced hackers often do. Therefore, in reality, there may be inadequacies in the service. And this can sometimes create dangerous situations for the customer.