Penetration testing is a crucial aspect of ensuring the security of an organization's assets and information. It is a simulated attack on a computer system, network, or web application to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the security posture. By regularly conducting penetration tests, organizations can stay ahead of potential security threats and protect themselves against data breaches, unauthorized access, and other malicious activities. Moreover, penetration testing can also help organizations comply with regulatory requirements, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By keeping the security of their systems up-to-date and identifying areas for improvement, organizations can build customer trust and maintain a secure business environment.

Penetration testing can be a complex and time-consuming process for security teams, especially with the limited resources and manpower available. However, utilizing automated penetration testing tools can help close this gap. While there are many tools to choose from, selecting the appropriate toolset for your needs can be a challenge.

A comprehensive pen test should, at a minimum, include the following types of attacks:

 1.     Port Scanning: Port scanning is a process used during the reconnaissance phase of a penetration test to gather information about the open ports and services available on a target device, such as a computer, server, or network device. A tool sends packets to specific ports on the target device and analyzes the responses received. If a port is open, the tool can determine the type of service running on that port and use that information to identify potential security weaknesses.

2.     Network Protocol Analysis: Network protocol analysis is a process used during the reconnaissance phase of a penetration test and is used to gather data about the target network's configuration, network traffic, devices, and communication protocols. This involves capturing and analyzing network packets in real-time or from a stored packet capture and can be performed using various tools, such as packet sniffers, network analyzers, and intrusion detection systems.

3.     Vulnerability scanning: It is a process used to identify security weaknesses in an environment, such as unapplied patches, vulnerable software versions, vulnerabilities in applications, and gaps in firewalls and other security controls.
Vulnerability scanning tools use databases of known vulnerabilities and can quickly identify any unpatched systems or known vulnerabilities in applications, operating systems, and network devices. The results of a vulnerability scan can be used to prioritize remediation efforts and improve the overall security posture of the environment.

4.     Packet crafting: In packet crafting, a tester creates custom packets with specific values in the header and payload fields and sends them to the target network. The responses to these packets can be used to determine the behaviour of firewalls and other security controls, identify potential security weaknesses, and determine the effectiveness of security rules.

5.     Password cracking: Password cracking can be performed using various methods, including dictionary attacks, brute force attacks, and rainbow table attacks. In a dictionary attack, the attacker tries to guess the password by using a list of commonly used passwords. In a brute force attack, the attacker tries every possible combination of characters until the correct password is found. Rainbow table attacks use pre-computed hash values to quickly crack passwords. Password cracking is an important aspect of penetration testing as it helps organizations assess the strength of their passwords and determine if they are easily guessable or crackable

6.     Exploitation:  Exploitation can be performed using various techniques, including using publicly available exploits, customizing existing exploits, or developing new exploits. The goal of exploitation is to demonstrate the potential impact of a security vulnerability on the target environment and provide actionable information to the security team for improving the organization's overall security posture.