To start a penetration testing project for your medium-sized online retail
company, here’s a structured approach that will guide you from setting
up your environment to actually beginning the testing phase. This setup
includes preparing the tools, defining the scope and objectives, and
ensuring legal and procedural compliance.
### Step 1: Establish Goals and Scope
1. **Define Goals:**
- What do you hope to achieve with this penetration test? For instance,
identifying weak points in your network security, testing the
effectiveness of current security measures, or compliance with specific
security standards. - Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
2. **Determine Scope:**
- Clearly delineate which systems, networks, and applications are
included in the penetration test. This might involve the public-facing
website, internal applications, and network services. - Decide which
types of attacks or tests you will perform (e.g., black-box, white-box, or
gray-box testing).
3. **Get Authorization:**
- Ensure you have written permission to conduct the penetration test.
This protects you legally and clarifies the boundaries of what you can and
cannot do.
### Step 2: Preparatory Setup
1. **Configure Testing Tools:**
- **Kali Linux VM:** Set up Kali Linux, a popular penetration testing
distribution containing tools like Metasploit, Nmap, and WireShark.
- **OWASP VM:** Prepare the OWASP vulnerable VM for testing web
application security.
- **Victim and Hacker Machines:** Ensure both the victim machine
(possibly a simulated version of your company’s server) and the hacker
machine (your Kali Linux setup) are ready.
2. **Create a Test Plan:**
- Detail the methodologies and tools you will use for each type of test
(e.g., network scanning, vulnerability scanning, exploitation). - Plan
should include timelines, expected outcomes, and backup plans in case of
unexpected issues.
### Step 3: Information Gathering
1. **Open Source Intelligence (OSINT):**
- Use tools like Google dorks, Shodan, or social media to gather
information about the target company that can be publicly accessed. This
includes employee information, system details, and potential entry points.
- Document all findings meticulously as they will guide your testing
strategy.
2. **Network and Web Reconnaissance:**
- Perform network sweeps to understand the network structure, identifying
live hosts, open ports, and services.
- Use tools like Nikto, Burp Suite, or OWASP ZAP to perform initial scans
on web applications to gather more information about technologies and
potential vulnerabilities.
### Step 4: Risk Assessment and Vulnerability Scanning
1. **Automated Scanning:**
- Use automated tools to scan for known vulnerabilities. This could
include vulnerability scanners like Nessus or OpenVAS. - Assess the
severity of these vulnerabilities using CVSS scores or similar metrics.
2. **Manual Testing and Verification:**
- Manually verify identified vulnerabilities to confirm they are not
false positives.
- Try to exploit some of the vulnerabilities in a controlled manner to
understand their impact.
### Step 5: Exploitation Phase
1. **Exploit Vulnerabilities:**
- Attempt to exploit the confirmed vulnerabilities to understand the
depth of potential intrusion and the data that could be compromised.
- Use controlled exploits to assess the impact on confidentiality,
integrity, and availability of data and services.
2. **Document Findings:**
- For each exploit, document the method used, the outcome, and the
potential business impact.
### Step 6: Reporting and Recommendations
1. **Compile Findings:**
- Prepare a detailed report that summarizes your methods, findings,
impacts, and recommendations for mitigating identified risks. - The
report should be clear enough for non-technical stakeholders to
understand.
2. **Presentation to Stakeholders:**
- Present your findings to the relevant stakeholders, explaining the
risks in a non-technical manner and discussing possible security
improvements.
### Step 7: Cleanup
1. **Revert Changes:**
- Ensure that all changes made during the testing are reverted to leave
the systems in their original state.
2. **Follow-Up:**
- Schedule a follow-up to review implemented security measures and
discuss any further actions.
This systematic approach ensures that the penetration test is thorough,
effective, and minimizes potential disruptions or damage to the
operational environment.
