The Five Phases of Penetration Testing

There are five penetration testing stages: reconnaissance, scanning, vulnerability assessment, exploitation, and reporting. Let’s take a closer look at each of these phases.

Reconnaissance

The first phase of penetration testing is reconnaissance. In this phase, the tester gathers as much information about the target system as possible. This includes information about the network topology, operating systems and applications, user accounts, and other relevant information. The goal is to gather as much data as possible so that the tester can plan an effective attack strategy.

Scanning

Once all the relevant data has been gathered in the reconnaissance phase, it’s time to move on to scanning. In this phase, the tester uses various tools to identify open ports and check network traffic on the target system. Since open ports are potential entry points for attackers, the goal of this phase is to find as many as possible so that the tester can take advantage of them in the next phase.

Vulnerability Assessment

The third phase of the penetration testing process is vulnerability assessment. The tester scans all the data gathered in the reconnaissance and scanning phases to identify potential vulnerabilities and determine whether they can be exploited.

Exploitation

Once a vulnerability has been identified, it’s time for exploitation. The tester attempts to exploit the vulnerability and access the target system. This is typically done using a tool like Metasploit to simulate real-world attacks.

Reporting

Once the exploitation phase is complete, the tester prepares a report documenting all of the penetration test’s findings. This report can be used to fix any vulnerabilities found in the system and improve the organization’s security posture.