Are you interested in cybersecurity? I heard about penetration testing and bug bounties and wondered what the differences are between the two. Well, you have come to the right place. This article reviews penetration testing and bug bounties so you have a better understanding when you start learning the network engineer trade.
What is Penetration Testing in Cybersecurity?
Penetration testing tries to break into a company’s system through hacker techniques but with the company’s consent. Ethical hackers use black hat tools to replicate how criminals might break into the company’s servers. They document the success of the penetration techniques and report vulnerabilities to the clients.
Everything connected to the Internet (of Things) will have vulnerabilities; it is up to the cybersecurity specialist to find them before bad actors do. Bad actors have tools and scripts that can warn the hackers when they have discovered these vulnerabilities. It is up to the cybersecurity specialist to identify the vulnerabilities before the hacker and report them to the company. This allows the company to secure the servers before the vulnerability is exploited. One of the ways an ethical hacker identifies these vulnerabilities is with penetration testing. Penetration testing includes:
Network Vulnerability – these are unauthorized pathways into the system or server. For example, a virus infects a computer and replicates itself across the network, giving a hacker access to the system. Antivirus software is a good deterrent for viruses because it reviews everything an employee downloads and quarantines any suspicious programs.
Operating System Vulnerability – vulnerability in the operating system that gives a hacker access.
Human Vulnerability – Human users accidentally share passwords when falling for phishing scams. For example, employees download a keylogger that records their keystrokes. When that employee logs into the system, the hacker will have the password to enter as well.
Process Vulnerability – exploitation of weak passwords, phishing, and poor physical security. For example, a malicious actor might access admin account privileges by running password-cracking software. It can be hacked quickly if the password is not at least eight characters long and has proper uppercase, lowercase, and symbols.
Internal Penetration Testing
An internal penetration test focuses on the company’s employees, vendors, and others with access. It is common for employees to leave passwords on their desks, use pet names, or trust a phishing attempt that looks like it comes from within an organization. A cybersecurity specialist must identify this vulnerability so that the company’s systems are not breached.
A cybersecurity specialist will use hacker tools to penetrate the system and gain access to internal confidential systems, networks, and sensitive information. Once the hacker has access, they can release a virus or malware to access confidential information. The cybersecurity specialist needs to set proper security protocols to keep systems safe.
After the cybersecurity specialist tries to penetrate the internal systems, they will write a report so the company knows its internal vulnerabilities. This allows the company to revise security protocols and offer updated training on safeguarding systems.
External Penetration Testing
External penetration testing focuses on compromising networks and systems to access sensitive information outside the company’s infrastructure. The hacker simulates security issues to look for vulnerabilities. The external penetration test identifies the vulnerabilities, a review is completed on how they can be exploited, and the cybersecurity specialist determines the business impact of the vulnerability.
The cybersecurity specialist uses hacker procedures to find vulnerabilities: SQL injection, password crackers, and brute force penetration. Whether the network, firewall, FTC services, API, or user accounts can be compromised, the cybersecurity specialist identifies ways to breach the system, steal passwords, and exploit vulnerabilities. A cybersecurity specialist may even look for credentials on external websites like social media and report the findings to the client.
Physical Location Penetration Testing
Physical location penetration tests focus on the building and physical infrastructure of the secure servers, confidential rooms, and sensitive data. A cybersecurity specialist will travel to the company’s location, get to know employees, or walk through the front door. They will duplicate entry cards and gain onsite passwords to access sensitive areas. Once the facility is breached, the cybersecurity specialist can access anything in the facility, look for passwords on the desk, or pose as a janitor to gain access to sensitive areas. The cybersecurity specialist will report the potential issues to the company so they can secure the facility.
What is a Bug Bounty?
A bug bounty is compensation given to an ethical hacker for hire for discovering and reporting bugs to the company. Companies use bug bounty programs to leverage the ethical hacker community to improve network security.
The ethical hacker identifies a bug and then fills out a disclosure report explaining how the bug affects the application and the severity of the risk. They will detail the bug so the company can recreate it and validate its risk. The company reviews them and then pays the bug bounty hacker for their services.
What are Some Bug Bounty Programs?
A few bug bounty programs bring companies and ethical hackers together. They include:
Bugcrowd
Bugcrowd connects bug specialists to companies and their applications to identify bugs and vulnerabilities before bad actors do. They use a crowdsourcing model to identify bugs and secure clients’ networks.
HackerOne
HackerOne is a collective of hackers that helps safeguard applications and supports companies’ cybersecurity. Companies can offer different bounty amounts depending on how thorough they would like the bug bounty program to be.
Which is Better Bug Bounty Programs or Penetration Testing?
The company must ask themselves a few questions. Does it have a big budget to pay the cybersecurity specialist to perform a penetration test, or is it only willing to pay if a bug is found? Can the IT department perform the penetration test discreetly? Does the company want to allow the public to find bugs in the applications? Is this confidential? After answering these and many more questions, the company can decide which cybersecurity path to traverse.
Want to Learn More?
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Ready to start a rewarding and challenging career in IT as a cybersecurity specialist? The Cybersecurity Specialist Program at CyberTex prepares you for advanced computer networking and security jobs. You will learn the skills and abilities to set up, install, configure, repair, and manage modern computer networks and their security.
Contact us today to learn more about our Cybersecurity specialist program.
