AllThatYouNeedtoKnowAboutVAPTProcess
VulnerabilityAssessmentandPenetrationTesting,popularlyknownasVAPTisaimed atassessinganorganization’sITenvironment.Itinvolvesemployingmultipletoolsto assessthesecuritystateandcompliancepostureofafirmalongwithdetectingways thatattackerscanexploitthepotentialvulnerabilities.Theassessmentofthreats, bothinternalaswellasexternal,isthekeyexpectationfromaVAPTprocessBy employingVAPTmethodsandtechniques,afirmcanstayawareofwebapplication securityissues,operatingsystem(OS)weaknesses,servermisconfiguration,and otherthreats
SomeunarguableperksofhiringanagencyofferingVAPTprocessservicesinclude thefollowing:
CostSavings:ByputtingVAPTinplace,afirmsavesbucksbytackling probabledowntimewhichalsocallsforhugeITsupportcosts
AidforITStaff:VAPTprocessservicesassuresthattheinternalITstaffcan focusonsolvingmorestrategicissueswhiletheday-to-daychecksarebeing takencareof
Assuringcompliance:Forafirm,itisimportanttomeetthecompliance requirementssuchasHIPAAorPCIDSSstandardsSuchserviceshelpa businesstacklesecurityvulnerabilitiesandstayontopofitsgamewhenit comestocomplyingwithregulatorymandates.
Overallsecurityenhancement:Byreducingtheoverallattacksurface,the VAPTserviceimprovesoverallsecuritybyidentifyingcriticaloperational issuesandvulnerabilitiesinrealtimeThishasthusprovidedmaximum benefittothebusinessalongwithmanagingriskexposure.
PhasesfollowedbyVAPTServiceProvider
VAPserviceprovidertypicallyworkswithasetmethodologythatcoversthe followingtopfivephases:
Reconnaissance:ThisisthefirstphaseofVAPT,whereinanattacker identifiestoolstoidentifylivehostsonanetworkInthisphase,itis importanttomapoutdevicesthatarerunningandtodiscoverIPaddresses thatareactiveandspanningoutsidetheorganization’sperimeter
Casetestbuilding:Inthenextphase,theVAPTserviceprovidercreatestest casestohighlightknownvulnerabilitieswhichcanbeexploitedbyattackers forinvadingtheITenvironmentofafirmThegoalistofindsuchgapsin existingdefensesandsafeguardthesameagainstsecurityincidents.
Scannerdeployment:Inthenextphase,theVAPTserviceproviderwill deployscannersandruntestcasesforathoroughanalysistoidentify vulnerabilitiesviamanualtesting.Thiswillhelpinsettingapriorityorderfor resolvingtheidentifiedissues
PenetrationTestingManual:Thisphaseinvolvesemployingmanual exploitationactivitiestovalidateallthespottedvulnerabilitiesandtoknow howanattackercanusetheseweaknessestobreachcriticaldata.
ReportGeneration:InthisphaseofVAPT,areportisgeneratedthatcarries allthefindingsfrompreviousstepswhicharethenforwardedtothesenior managementfortheirperusal.Thissummarycomeswithfindingsand recommendationswhichhelptheorganizationinaddressingthe vulnerabilitiesaspertheorderoftheirthreatscale.
GS2cybersecurityisaleadingproviderofVAPTservicesthathasatrackrecordof helpingfirmstoidentifythreatsandmakeinformeddecisions.