The penetration testing market is nearing commoditization, with many vendors adopting a transactional "check the box" approach. So, what distinguishes Appgate? Our Penetration Testing Service leads the field because our expert analysts prioritize hands-on detection of vulnerabilities and risks, strategically using technology to supplement their analysis. While many organizations focus on tools to discover security gaps, we find that these tools miss the sophisticated vulnerabilities that advanced threats exploit. To effectively stay ahead of malicious threat actors, organizations need this level of validation of their security posture, optimally combined with Appgate’s best-in-class Zero Trust solution. This powerful combination delivers state-of-the-art security and a robust defense-in-depth strategy, to help our clients realize both operational efficiencies and hardened cybersecurity.
A Tailored, Integrated Approach to Penetration Testing
Appgate’s Penetration Testing Service is tailored to specific customer needs and can support a comprehensive range of options, from targeted, one-time tests with clear results and recommendations to an ongoing framework for continuous improvement. As with all cybersecurity hygiene practices, consistent engagement significantly enhances the value of these assessments, enabling us to collaborate with clients to build a sustainable framework.
By integrating penetration testing with Appgate Zero Trust Network Access (Appgate ZTNA), we empower clients to better understand and mitigate their vulnerabilities. Our testing rigorously examines the identity space, verifying adherence to best practices through measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), privilege management, and the validation of machine-to-machine connections.
For devices, we confirm their expected status and compliance with organizational requirements. Where vulnerabilities are identified, we provide specific, actionable mitigations to help clients achieve their desired security posture. This includes strategies to segment less secure elements from more secure ones, and to ensure proper management, control privilege escalation, and identify potential pathways for unauthorized access by both individuals and non-person entities. This approach directly ensures that our identity validation testing drives success in a Zero Trust security implementation by effectively identifying exploitable vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
By simulating attacks on an organization's systems and networks, penetration testing can help identify areas where security measures must be strengthened or improved.
Why Penetration Testing Matters for Zero Trust
In a Zero Trust security model, access to all resources is granted based on authentication and authorization decisions made by the organization. Penetration testing is crucial for identifying weaknesses in these authentication and authorization processes that attackers could exploit to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data or systems.
Furthermore, penetration testing helps organizations uncover vulnerabilities in their network architecture and infrastructure that could serve as entry points for attacks. By simulating these attacks, organizations can take proactive measures to harden their defenses and prevent unauthorized access.
Overall, penetration testing is an invaluable tool for organizations implementing Zero Trust security models. It helps identify exploitable vulnerabilities, enabling organizations to take proactive measures to protect their resources and data.
Expertise and Methodology
When selecting the right penetration testing capability, it’s essential to consider the testers’ reliance on automated tools to accomplish their work. While these tools can help identify initial vulnerabilities, they should only be part of the assessment. Skilled human analysts are crucial for in-depth investigation of the subtle vulnerabilities that a determined attacker would exploit.
Recommendation: Use tools for their valuable initial discovery capabilities, but do not rely on them solely for identifying detailed test elements.
Appgate’s Threat Advisory Services offers expertise across the full scope of test types, including external network, internal network, web application, mobile application, hardware, protocol analysis, AI/ML, and more. Effective testing delivers actionable results aligned with established risk models such as OWASP, and CVSS. Organizations that can identify and remediate the highest risks, thereby reducing their overall risk profile, build resilience and can better adapt to emerging threats. Penetration testing aids in mapping the infrastructure, including internet-facing areas, allowing organizations to focus their remediation efforts on the areas of highest risk exposure.
A penetration test evaluates the security posture of the target and establishes the client’s risk posture. If exploitable vulnerabilities are discovered penetration testers clearly communicate the issues to the client, enabling timely remediation before real attackers can capitalize on them and compromise these systems.
A standard penetration testing engagement is typically conducted with three levels of access: Blackbox, Graybox and Whitebox:
- A Blackbox Test closely models the threat of a real-world attacker with no prior knowledge of the target systems in scope for testing other than what is publicly available (usually IPs or domain names are provided to define the scope). As a result, consultants must perform all enumeration, discovery, authentication, and other forms of information gathering to further their testing. The disadvantage of this approach is that while attackers have ample time to explore, penetration testing teams operate under strict time constraints, making comprehensive vulnerability discovery challenging. Therefore, we generally recommend Graybox or Whitebox testing for more efficient and thorough results.
- A Graybox test includes additional information provided by the client, such as credentials, roles, provisioning of access controls, and other relevant details. This information helps to expedite the initial discovery phase, enabling testers to quickly assess the environment from an authenticated or otherwise “privileged” state. Furthermore, the client can provide additional insights that are not publicly available, such as architectural and network diagrams, hostnames, firewall configurations, and demonstrations to aid the consultant while widening the potential attack surface. This approach validates external protections while still enabling a deeper assessment of the environment.
- A Whitebox test typically includes source code, configuration files, log files, direct access to the target systems and other information to maximize the consultant's ability to identify vulnerabilities. During a Whitebox penetration test, the testers will perform a prioritized source code review, focusing on vulnerabilities and code paths that could lead to critical issues. The consultants should identify areas most likely to yield significant findings for an attacker. For example, codes accessible to an external attacker (such as an API endpoint) will warrant more time and attention. While highly vulnerable code might exist within the application, it will receive less focus if malicious users cannot reach it without prior privileged access.
Across all three penetration test types, effective testing leverages both automated and manual techniques to determine the attack surface and overall risk posture. Penetration testing begins with automated tools to conduct initial analysis of the application, gather reconnaissance data, and explore all known input points. Subsequently, we manually attempt to exploit the target using various manual techniques, including attempts to: bypass input filters, interpret error messages, bypass authentication mechanisms, extract data, achieve privilege escalation, uncover information leaks, discover cross-site scripting errors, obtain a shell, gain access to mission-critical network resources, and craft custom exploits to illustrate the severity of any discovered vulnerabilities.
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