Penetration Testing
Strengthen your security posture by identifying weaknesses that put your organization at risk.
A penetration test is a simulation of exploitive techniques used to identify what, where, and how an attacker could target your organization and how the countermeasures you have implemented would fare against such attacks. Cyberattacks manifest from any number of vantage points, in which the scope of the penetration test is determined to identify the accompanying risk.
Organizations undergo penetration testing to evaluate the posture of the security infrastructure and controls, identify gaps in their security program and operations, and meet compliance requirements.
Attack Vantages
Network Penetration Testing
Find the cracks in your network by honing in on your connected assets – physical and wireless network infrastructure, servers and systems for user productivity, and security controls – Unearthing misconfigured services, product vulnerabilities, authentication systems, access control, network protocols, and flawed implementations.
The network is the backbone of every organization. It provides access to business critical resources and ultimately allows the business to operate. It is easy to overlook one of the many moving pieces that could leave your organization vulnerable.
Penetration Testing the network identifies risk through a robust process of discovery, enumeration, vulnerability analysis, and exploitation – to not only identify, but to validate findings. This allows for the triage and prioritization of risk – focusing the remediation effort on what will have the greatest impact on the organization.
Why conduct a network penetration test?
The results of your penetration test will arm you with the knowledge and insight to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.
Rest assured that program initiatives, deployment of new systems, and changes to your critical assets maintain the level of security that you require.
Penetration testing is a requirement in order to maintain compliance with standards such as NIST, SOC2, 23 NYCRR 500 and PCI-DSS.
A penetration test will help you forecast budgetary spending for future plans and changes to improve your security program.
Application Penetration Testing
Ensure that the applications you develop represent the highest standard of practice, keep your data safe, and don’t put your customers at risk.
Application security is one of the most critical security barriers. Highly visible web and mobile applications are often the first place an attacker will look to gain a foothold in your environment and to extract information. They contain valuable data and utilize other resources within your organization intended to serve your users. For the same reasons, this makes them an attractive target for cybercriminals.
As part of your development lifecycle, an application penetration test will interrogate components of your software and the underlying technologies. It begins with a thorough analysis of the application and a comprehensive threat model; a logical mapping of all possible avenues for attack. Testing explores all possible avenues of attack to ensure that your application can be deployed securely and with confidence.
Cursive puts a human behind the wheel. Many web application assessments are highly automated. They produce a high volume of false positives, and overlook application behavior that an expert security analyst would find. We follow standardized and pragmatic testing methodologies such as OWASP, and have a firm grasp of the applicable risks associated with your application.
Why application penetration testing?
Your applications are a gateway to your most valuable asset… your data. Assessing the security of your web and mobile applications will identify security gaps that put that data at risk.
An insecure application could result in your customers being compromised. This could cost your customers time, money, and force them to find an alternative solution.
Your products and services are a representation of you as a company. Taking the proper measures to secure those products and services reduces the risk of a security incident that will change customer perception of your brand.
Assessing the security of an application should be part of your software development life cycle. It demonstrates your commitment to protecting your users as well as your brand by proactively identifying risks.
Cloud Penetration Testing
Unearth the weaknesses in your cloud environment, ensure that applications, services, and access control are preventing unwanted guests from obtaining your data.
Someone else’s infrastructure is still your obligation to protect. For all of the benefits that cloud technology offers, it is important to understand the nuances of defending your cloud environment. At different layers of the ecosystem, the cloud opens up many opportunities for your business to improve, but also provides opportunities for the bad guys to be successful – in some cases, with little effort.
Penetration testing cloud environments encompasses the following:
- Applications and Data. Application Design, Implementation
- Cloud Services. Storage, Virtualization, Containerization, Databases
- Access Control. Identity and Access Management, Single Sign-On, Organizational / Entity Trust
Cursive Security offers Cloud Penetration Testings services for the following environments: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure.
Why Cloud penetration testing?
Storing data in the cloud may seem intuitive, but the number of data leaks and exposures related to misconfigured cloud storage buckets is staggering. This is considered low-hanging fruit, highly opportunistic, and nearly impossible to detect.
Cloud services require an entirely different suite of tools to detect and respond to security threats. Identifying gaps in coverage, efficacy, and management is key to ensuring that you are protecting your cloud assets just as you would traditional data infrastructure.
Some platforms make it really easy to make mistakes; Mistakes that are costly and ultimately leave you in a vulnerable state. Validate your cloud and security ops is effectively implementing the right security and meeting expectations.
Physical Penetration Testing
Ensure your physical defenses are making a positive impact on your security posture.
Without physical security, you don’t have security. A physical penetration test aims to discover and subvert the controls you have put in place to keep the bad humans out. Cursive’s operatives are highly trained and employ covert and surreptitious entry – using methods that are minimally or entirely undetectable and that utilize anti-forensic techniques maximize their dwell time. During a physical security assessment, the team aims to gain entry into your physical locations using a number of different methods:
- Surveying Sites and Determining Physical Controls
- Determine Physical Security Vantages and Gaps Lock Picking
- Bypassing Digital Access Controls
- Social Engineering
- Tailgating
- Impersonation Attacks
- Gain Access into High Risk Locations such as Data Centers and Archive Rooms
- Blended Digital Attacks
Assessing your physical security puts your visibility, processes, and technology to the test – allowing you the opportunity to adapt before the real bad guys make their way in.
Why a Physical Security Penetration Test?
Determine what aspects of your physical defenses are effective. Whether it is instrumentation, insufficient resources, or a matter of testing new tools and processes, a physical penetration test will identify gaps in your program - giving you insight into where improvements can be made.
The results of the assessment will arm you with the information that you need to make necessary changes to your program, staffing, and control requirements.
Reinforce your physical barrier by learning of weaknesses - access controls, visibility, manpower. A physical penetration test will unearth the cracks in the fortress.