Penetration Testing

We pinpoint exploitable security weaknesses using simulated attacks

Improve your cybersecurity posture by staying one step ahead of threats

Our comprehensive penetration testing service is precisely designed to identify your IT infrastructures potential security flaws before they’re discovered by malicious actors. Using the latest hacking techniques, we launch simulated attacks that reveal points of exploitation and also test end-user implementation of security controls.

What does Penetration Testing accomplish?

Uncovering real risks
Penetration testers try to exploit identified vulnerabilities. That means you see what an attacker could do in the ‘real world’. They might access sensitive data and execute operating system commands. But they might also tell you that a vulnerability that is theoretically high risk isn’t that risky at all because of the difficulty of exploitation. Only a specialist can perform that type of analysis.

Testing your cyber-defense capability
You should be able to detect attacks and respond adequately and on time. Once you detect an intrusion, you should start investigations, discover the intruders and block them. Whether they are malicious, or experts testing the effectiveness of your protection strategy. The feedback from the test will tell you if – but more likely what – actions can be taken to improve your defense.

Maintaining trust
A cyber assault or data breach negatively affects the confidence and loyalty of your customers, suppliers and partners. However, if your company is known for its strict and systematic security reviews and penetration tests, you will reassure all your stakeholders.

Precise Exploitations of Existing Vulnerabilities
Unlike Vulnerability Scanning, Penetration Testing not just identifies a vulnerability but also attempts to exploit it safely.

Thorough Recognition of Exploitability
It’s a fire drill to examine whether your security implementation is genuinely effective.

Deeper Understanding of Threats
Knowing which adversaries are most likely to target your organization will allow us to more accurately test your defenses by mimicking their specific tactics.

How we approach Penetration Testing

D2’s Penetration Test is a 5-step process specifically designed to reveal critical insights into your infrastructure, internal processes, and people. Our experts utilize tactics commonly used by hackers to locate potential flaws in your organization’s network security systems and resources. A simulated attack is launched against any identified vulnerabilities, allowing our team to determine if a malicious actor could gain access to and compromise your network. During this process, D2 exercises extreme caution to ensure that all sensitive information remains secure and confidential. Once completed, a detailed final report which outlines our findings and recommended remediation is provided.

STEP 1

Planning & Reconnaissance

This is the most time consuming stage which involves planning to simulate a malicious attack – the attack is designed in a way that helps to gather as much information on the system as possible. In this step ethical hackers inspect the system, note the vulnerabilities, and how the organization’s tech stack reacts to system breaches like including social engineering, dumpster diving, network scanning, and domain registration information retrieval.

STEP 2

Scanning

Based on the finding of the planning step, penetration testers use scanning tools to explore the system and network weaknesses. This step identifies the system weaknesses that are potentially exploited for targeted attacks. It is essential to obtain all this information correctly, as it will define the success of the following steps.

STEP 3

Gaining System Access

Having understood the system’s vulnerabilities, pen testers then infiltrate the infrastructure by exploiting security weaknesses. Next, they attempt to exploit the system further by escalating privileges to demonstrate how deep into the target environments they can go.

STEP 4

Maintaining Access

This step identifies the potential impact of a vulnerability exploit by leveraging access privileges. Once they have a foothold in a system, penetration testers should maintain access and hold the simulated attack long enough to accomplish and replicate malicious hackers’ goals.

STEP 5

Analysis & Reporting

This is the result of a penetration test. As part of the last stage, the security team prepares a detailed report describing the entire penetration testing process and play book used.