Safeguarding Your Data Through Advanced Vulnerability and Penetration Testing for Robust Security

Overview

A Vulnerability Assessment (VA) involves automated scans of your network infrastructure, providing a comprehensive view of your system’s security status by identifying known vulnerabilities. The primary objective is to conduct detailed configuration checks on every system/application, pinpointing potential vulnerabilities. However, the use of automated tools has limitations, as they focus on specific vulnerabilities predefined by the tool. To assess real-world threats, an attacker would need to exploit vulnerabilities beyond the tool’s scope.

Penetration Testing (PT) takes security to the next level by simulating intrusions through various attack scenarios. This process combines manual techniques with automated tools to evaluate system resilience and identify potential weaknesses.

Methodology

SphereNet’s Internal Network Penetration Test is a meticulously crafted and meticulously executed assault on your systems and applications. Our objective is to unearth hidden threats and vulnerabilities, empowering you to take swift action.

Our team of highly skilled cybersecurity experts and penetration testers meticulously plan and execute a comprehensive series of simulated attacks against your systems and applications. We adopt the perspective of potential intruders, ranging from thrill-seeking teenagers to highly skilled adversaries. Rapidly identifying probable attack vectors, we establish a robust and mutually agreed-upon document that outlines the rules of engagement, covering the schedule and location of testing, scope of attack, entry and exit strategies, and other essential guidelines.

We delve into thorough research on your employees, examining users through Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) sources such as social networking sites and online trade journals. This process allows us to gather valuable information like potential usernames, passwords, roles-based privileges, and other details crucial for identifying vulnerabilities. It may sound intimidating, but understanding and acting like the bad actors is essential for comprehensive security.

Our approach includes a clearly defined level of effort, aligning with the significance of the systems, the system owner’s risk tolerance, or the anticipated motivations of potential adversaries.

We leverage both automated tools and human intelligence to conduct hand-crafted penetration attempts, utilizing results from tools and research. Our security experts, including Fuzail Al Arabia analysts, possess proficiency in penetration testing, with expertise in exploitation and reverse engineering, making them unparalleled in their domain.

The culmination of our efforts results in thoroughly documented reports and actionable suggestions. We provide comprehensive details on the types of tests conducted, their success or failure status, any identified issues, prioritized resultant risks, and recommended remediation efforts. Our methodology aligns with industry standards and guidance from reputable organizations such as OWASP (Open Web Applications Security Project), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM).”

What We Evaluate?

Internal Network Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VA/PT):

1. **Information Gathering:** Comprehensive collection, classification, and analysis of all target system-related information. This includes details such as the web server version, modules in use, programming platform, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and access points to the application.

2. **Enumeration and Vulnerability Scanning:** Utilization of intrusive methods and techniques to identify potential vulnerabilities. Special scanners, fault-injection proxies, and manual verification are employed to scan for weaknesses.

3. **Vulnerability Verification:** Application of security scans to detect existing vulnerabilities in services identified during TCP/UDP port scanning.

4. **Penetration Attempts:** Efforts to exploit available vulnerabilities and address insufficient configurations. This phase involves attempting to penetrate other systems and devices, escalating user rights, and gaining access to resources.

5. **Exploitation of Vulnerabilities:** Deliberate attempts to gain access using vulnerabilities identified in previous testing phases. Customized scripts and exploit methodologies are employed to achieve user access or privileged (Administrator) access to the application or operating system.

6. **Mail Server Testing:** Beyond screening for known vulnerabilities, detailed SMTP tests are conducted to identify any relaying issues with Exchange Servers. The assessment also covers potential abuse of SMTP servers by spammers and the server’s resistance to potential Denial of Service (DOS) attacks. Additionally, vulnerabilities and weaknesses in anti-virus and anti-spam implementations that could be exploited are identified.

7. **DNS Zone Testing:** In addition to evaluating known vulnerabilities in the DNS server implementation, tests ensure the consistency of all zones across DNS servers. Checks include assessing the possibility of public zone transfers and vulnerabilities related to DNS caching attacks.”

Internal Network Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VA/PT):

**Network Scanning:** Utilizing diverse methods such as SYN scans, UDP scans, and ACK scans to comprehensively explore the network.

**Vulnerability Scanning:** Identifying numerous low-hanging vulnerabilities through specialized scans.

**Protocol-Specific Scanning:** Conducting targeted network scans for specific protocols like SIP, IPMI, and SNMP.

For an impactful Penetration Test, we execute a range of manual tests to simulate real-world attacker scenarios, including but not limited to:

**Man-in-the-Middle Attacks:** Uncovering vulnerabilities related to unauthorized interception of communication.

**Exploitation of Unhardened Software:** Demonstrating the exploitation of software that lacks proper hardening or secure configuration.

**Demonstration of Known Vulnerabilities:** Exploiting and demonstrating vulnerabilities identified during network scanning to ensure they are not just detected but also verified.

**Pass-the-Hash (PtH) Attacks, Lateral Movements, NTLM Offline Brute Force, Credential Dumping, etc.:** Assessing security against advanced attacks involving credential manipulation, lateral movements, and offline brute force attempts.

**Default or Weak Credentials:** Identifying risks associated with the use of default or weak credentials.

**Network Access Control and Segmentation:** Assessing the adequacy of network access control measures and the effectiveness of network segmentation.

**Bypassing or Abusing Security Solutions:** Evaluating potential weaknesses that may allow the bypass or abuse of existing security solutions.

**Identification of Obvious Security Issues:** Discovering and addressing apparent security issues within the target software, focusing on low-hanging fruit that might be easily exploited.”

Positive Outcomes

Proactively mitigates costly downtime and thwarts data theft by delivering early warning security intelligence. Empowers your organization to stay ahead in thwarting potential attacks, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Tailored reports facilitate informed strategic and tactical decision-making.