Penetration testing, also referred to as ‘Pen’ testing, is an essential part of the extensive Security of any system or an entire IT infrastructure. An organization can never be lean and flexible when it comes to its Security. So, to ensure the Security of their internal network system, Penetration testing is executed.
The concept of Penetration testing is to identify the vulnerabilities of the application system and fix them before hackers can abuse it. In simple words, Penetration testing is to determine the security loopholes of any network or system to stop them from getting exposed.
What does it take to be a Pen Tester?
Example
When we build a house, we have doors and windows. Now, to determine how possible it is for an unauthorized person to break into our house, we call the security experts. They try to intrude into our house in all possible ways and then create a report on the weak entry points. They also provide recommendations on how we can fix these.
Expectations from a Pen Tester
In a Pen Test, the responsible person who has been authorized in this field tries to break into the system or hack it to check the vulnerabilities. The tester may have to perform a huge number of tests, some of which may be unvaried. Pen Testing is very important at present with rising DDoS, phishing, ransomware, and in numerous other attacks to a Network system.
According to Sun Tzu, “If you’re ignorant of your enemy and yourself, you’re certain to be in Peril.”
A Penetration Tester should be able to determine how likely the application system is to be compromised. He should always try to break into the system from an attacker’s angle. He should then be able to fix this breakability in the system. He should know about operating systems, networks, and scripting. He should also be familiar with the popular coding languages. There are a lot of mechanized projects out there that can examine for shortcomings, but an employer will require a tester to know more than the program does. He should discover weaknesses that have no codes or references inside the framework since they haven’t been found by the programmers yet.
Who does this?
A person who is gripped to ethical hacking tasks most likely has investigative brainpower. He loves issues since unravelling them gets his psyche engaged. He is keen to intrude into the application and network systems. A Penetration tester needs:
- Curiosity for how the systems work
- a strategic mindset
- impulsive mind
- persistence to a fault
Above all, the person should be a decent communicator. He won’t go anyplace in pen testing if you cannot impart your profoundly specialized work to somebody in another field. A tester should cause his customer to comprehend what he’s found and why it is important.
Eligibility for the career
To build a career in Penetration testing and achieve expertise, you need proper training and certifications. The organizations hiring Pen Tester mandates at least a bachelor’s degree in a field related to IT or cybersecurity. There are some specific courses that you can take a look at:
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v10)
The Certified Ethical Hacker certification is a 4-hours exam with 125 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). It doesn’t have a predefined passing score. The passing score is dependent on the difficulty of questions in each exam. It would be best if you had a core understanding of Networks to pursue this certification.
EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)
EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) certification is a 4-hours exam with 150 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and a passing score of 70%. Aspirants must be 18/18+ of age. This course enhances the hacking skills of the candidates.
CompTIA PenTest+ certification is a 165-minutes exam with a maximum of 85 questions. The exam is a blend of performance-based and Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs). It has a passing score of 750. An aspiring candidate must know about Network and Security.
The specialists of the business have planned the Advanced Penetration Testing Course at InfosecTrain. EC-Council has thought of the APT Course as the follow up after the ECSA (Practical) to set up the individuals who need to challenge the Licensed Penetration Tester (Master) certification.
