Penetration Testing: Know your vulnerabilities before hackers find them

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Penetration testing is an essential cybersecurity service that helps organizations find the hidden penetration points to their valuable digital assets. Organizations who rely on digital infrastructures, cloud applications or web platforms need to periodically check if their systems have unseen for remote lee ways. The main purpose is to find these openings, or “vulnerabilities” before hackers or malicious actors do. This way the organization has a report to start addressing such gaps depending on how critical or accessible they are. 

Because no system is 100% secure, pen-testing is an essential practice that provides valuable insights into parts of your system that external parties are able to see, even if unauthorized. 

Which organizations need penetration tests? 

Any organization with valuable digital assets like customer data, financial data, personally identifiable information, proprietary code (a.k.a. Mission critical assets) or user data run penetration tests periodically. These organizations could be: 

  1. Financial Services Firms (NBFS) 
  2. Banking institutes
  3. Web shops and online stores 
  4. Hybrid organizations (With connected systems distributed between cloud-based and on-prem) 
  5. Legal Services Firms 

In short, any company that relies on digital applications and systems, through which data is being transacted or stored, need to perform a penetration test at least once, to ensure their attack surface is well patched and secured. 

MHE helped multiple organization in testing their environments for security gaps. Our team also provided comprehensive guides for bridging the identified vulnerabilities and security gaps, using solutions from leading global partners.

What motivates organizations to perform penetration tests: 

  1. Identify Vulnerabilities and Security Gaps 
  2. Simulate external threat actors to assess the effectiveness of cybersecurity controls
  3. Ensure compliance to standards like PCI/DSS, HIPAA or ISO27001
  4. Respond to a recent incident
  5. Before the Go-live of a new application

Different approaches to penetration testing:

White box pentest – the inside-out approach: 

A white box penetration test, also known as a clear-box or glass-box assessment, is the most comprehensive and in-depth security audit you can conduct. Unlike other forms of testing where MHE’s team of ethical hackers have limited or no knowledge of your systems, a white box approach provides our team with complete access to your internal architecture. This includes:

  1. Source code
  2. Network diagrams
  3. Design documents
  4. System credentials

The primary goal is not just to find vulnerabilities an external attacker might discover, but to perform a meticulous and exhaustive review of your systems from the inside out. This allows our team to identify deep-seated security flaws, logical errors, and misconfigurations that would otherwise remain hidden. 

A team of expert architects and engineers examine the blueprints and construction of your digital infrastructure to find any structural weaknesses before they can be exploited.

This type of assessment is ideal for organizations that are serious about understanding and improving their security posture, especially for critical applications and internal systems. It is a collaborative effort between MHE and your technology team, designed to provide you with the highest level of assurance.

Black box penetration test – walking in the hacker’s shoes: 

A black box penetration test is a realistic and powerful method for assessing your organization’s security posture by simulating a real-world cyberattack. In this scenario, our team of ethical hackers is provided with no prior knowledge of your internal systems, source code, or architecture. We start with minimal information—often just your organization’s name or a list of public-facing IP addresses and domain names.

The primary goal is to discover vulnerabilities that a genuine external attacker could find and exploit. By approaching your systems from the outside-in, with no inside information, we can provide an unvarnished, real-world view of your attack surface and the effectiveness of your current security controls. This type of assessment is invaluable for validating your defenses, identifying unforeseen security gaps, and understanding your true risk from external threats.

This approach tests your organization’s ability to detect and respond to an attack in progress, providing critical insights into your monitoring and incident response capabilities. This provides your organization with an objective starting point to start actioning security upgrades or modifications on your current system. 

Common Scopes for penetration testing:

Network Penetration Testing (IP Ranges, VLANs)

Purpose & Objective of a Network Penetration Test:

  • Identify vulnerabilities in network infrastructure (e.g., routers, firewalls, load balancers).
  • Assess segmentation controls, exposure of internal services, and misconfigured network devices.
  • Simulate attacker movement laterally within or across VLANs.

Testing Methodology for Pentesting a Network:

  • External: Reconnaissance → port scanning → service enumeration → vulnerability scanning → manual exploitation
  • Internal: Post-compromise simulation; attempt privilege escalation, lateral movement.
  • Tools: Nmap (Free Edition Available), Nessus by tenable (Free Trial), BloodHound (Community Edition and Enterprise Edition available).
  • Techniques may include SNMP enumeration, default creds, exposed admin interfaces.

Reporting Expectations for a Network Pentest:

  • Asset summary (IP, hostnames, roles)
  • Findings grouped by severity with clear exploitation paths (e.g., pivot from exposed SMB to domain controller)
  • Topology diagrams for lateral movement.
  • Remediation: misconfigurations, patch guidance, segmentation improvements.

Testing Web Applications for Penetration tactics: 

Purpose & Objective for Pen testing a Web Application:

  • Uncover OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities and logic flaws in dynamic web facing assets.
  • Assess authorization controls, input handling, and session management.
  • Evaluate exposure of sensitive data or APIs.

Testing Methodology in a Web Application Penetration Test:

  • Dynamic analysis (DAST), manual testing, and some static review (if white-box).
  • Follow OWASP Web Security Testing Guide.
  • Techniques include:
    • Auth bypass
    • SQLi, XSS, CSRF
    • Broken access control
    • Business logic abuse
    • API endpoint fuzzing (if APIs are involved)

Reporting Expectations on a Penetration Test performed on an Application:

  • Each finding with:
    • Vulnerability class (e.g., IDOR)
    • Affected endpoints
    • Reproduction steps with payloads
    • Business impact (e.g., account takeover)
  • Risk rating (CVSS or custom scale)
  • Screenshots or Burp Suite output
  • Fix recommendations tailored to technology stack

Pen testing Cloud Services (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)

Purpose & Objective of pen testing cloud service:

  • Evaluate Identity and access management (IAM) controls.
  • Identify misconfigured storage (e.g., open S3 buckets), privilege escalation paths, and excessive permissions.
  • Validate secure service configuration and logging.

Penetration Testing Methodology for cloud services:

  • Manual and tool-assisted auditing (ScoutSuite, Prowler, Pacu).
  • Enumeration of roles, trust relationships, and security groups.
  • Check for:
    • Misconfigured IAM policies
    • Unused keys or credentials
    • Public buckets or services
    • Privilege escalation vectors

Reports to expect for Cloud Services Penetration Test:

  • Resource summary with misconfigurations
  • Attack paths (e.g., low-privilege user → admin role via Lambda → EC2 shell)
  • Mapping to benchmarks (e.g., CIS AWS Foundations)
  • Fix instructions with CLI/Infrastructure as Code (IaC) equivalents

Penetration Tests for Mobile Applications

Purpose & Objective of penetration testing performed on mobile applications:

  • Identify insecure data storage, API misuse, or client-side logic issues.
  • Evaluate protections against reverse engineering and tampering.
  • Simulate attacker access with root/jailbreak conditions.

Penetration testing Methodology for mobile applications:

  • Static analysis (decompile, inspect APK/IPA)
  • Dynamic testing on real or emulated devices
  • Common tools: MobSF, Frida, Burp Mobile Assistant, OWASP MASVS
  • Areas tested:
    • API calls
    • Local data storage
    • SSL pinning, root detection
    • Code obfuscation

What Reports to Expect after concluding a pentest on a mobile application:

  • Findings tied to OWASP MASVS or MASTG
  • Screenshots or intercepted traffic
  • Recommendations:
    • Secure storage (e.g., Keychain/Keystore)
    • Implementing root detection, code obfuscation
    • Fixing insecure API usage

Finally, API penetration testing:

The main Purpose & Objectives for pentesting APIs:

  • Test authorization, authentication, and rate-limiting controls.
  • Identify exposed endpoints, parameter tampering, and data leakage.
  • Validate secure usage of tokens and headers.

API Penetration Testing Methodology:

  • Swagger/OpenAPI review (if available)
  • Manual fuzzing and logic testing using Burp Suite or Postman
  • Attacks:
    • Mass assignment
    • IDOR
    • Rate-limiting bypass
    • Token reuse / JWT tampering

Reporting Expectations:

  • Endpoint-specific findings
  • Example requests/responses for repro
  • Risk to data confidentiality or integrity
  • Secure design recommendations (e.g., scoping tokens, using HMAC validation)

In the end, the final verdict about penetration testing is this …

… As a seasoned cybersecurity professional, you know that there is no one methodology or scope that fits all cases. Not many organizations have in-house resources to perform the necessary periodic tests. In which case, usually an external entity is commissioned to perform the tests and submit the reports. Afterwards, the internal team handles the required action in terms of patching or configuration.

You might have heard of automated penetration testing tools. These tools can be great for SMBs or SMEs who just need a guiding assessment on their current posture. And while such tools have some limitations or shortcomings, they are still a great go-to if your organization is not looking for a test report for compliance purposes. Keeping in mind that some technical knowledge is required to ensure optimal operation of such automated penetration testing tools.

MHE offer penetration testing as a one-off service or as part of an ongoing as-a-Service model. In the latter case, the tests are performed multiple times throughout the year, which can be particularly useful for organizations with ongoing development operations.

After reading this article, if you see that there are areas of penetration tests where you still have blind spots, don’t hesitate to contact us or drop us an e-mail on info@mh-enterprise.com and our team will gladly help you further understand when to perform a penetration test, what to ask the service provider for, and how to ensure an insightful test result. And more importantly, a penetration test is meant to unveil vulnerabilities and security gaps, hence, the post-test actions are just as important as the test results themselves. Which takes us to the final topic in this blog post …

Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS)

The difference between traditional penetration testing and PTaaS

Many organizations now explore PTaaS. It represents a fundamental shift in how to approach security testing, moving from periodic checks to a continuous state of vigilance. While traditional penetration testing will likely retain its place for specific, high-stakes scenarios, PTaaS is undeniably the future for maintaining a robust and adaptive security posture in our increasingly dynamic digital world, offering clear budgetary advantages and risk reduction benefits across organizations of all sizes. Here is a table comparing traditional vs. as-a-Service models:

FeatureTraditional PentestingPTaaS
Delivery ModelProject-based, point-in-time assessment.Subscription-based, continuous, and on-demand assessment. Combines human expertise with intelligent automation via a cloud platform.
FrequencyTypically annual, semi-annual, or on-demand for specific projects.Continuous (daily, weekly, after every code push), on-demand, or aligned with agile development cycles.
Feedback LoopSlow; reports delivered days or weeks after test completion.Real-time insights and findings via dashboards. Enables immediate collaboration and faster remediation.
Vulnerability DiscoveryDeep, customized manual testing by expert ethical hackers; excels at complex, chained vulnerabilities.Hybrid approach: automated scanning for efficiency combined with expert human testing for deep, context-aware vulnerability discovery and business logic flaws.
ScopeFixed and defined for each engagement.Flexible and adaptable; can easily scale up or down to meet evolving security needs.
IntegrationLimited direct integration with development workflows.Seamlessly integrates with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps/DevSecOps workflows, and vulnerability management tools.
CollaborationPrimarily asynchronous (reports, scheduled calls).Real-time collaboration between security teams, developers, and testers through the platform.
ReportingStatic PDF reports.Dynamic dashboards with real-time updates, detailed remediation guidance, and often integrates with ticketing systems.
Remediation SpeedSlower; delays in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities.Faster; immediate notification of findings allows for rapid remediation, significantly reducing the window of exposure.
AgilityLess agile; requires significant planning and scheduling for each test.Highly agile; tests can be initiated on demand, adapting to rapid code changes and evolving threat landscapes.
ComplianceGood for meeting point-in-time compliance checkboxes.Supports continuous compliance and demonstrates a proactive security posture. Can align with evolving regulatory requirements that emphasize ongoing security validation.
Resource DependencyRequires internal management of discrete projects and vendor selection for each test.Offloads much of the operational burden of managing security testing to the PTaaS provider; provides access to expert resources without large in-house teams.