Software Penetration Testing Tools and Techniques!

Software penetration testing

Penetration testing or software penetration testing is a process that helps organizations identify the security flaws in their computer systems and networks.

The goal of penetration testing is to exploit these vulnerabilities and assess the damage that could be caused if they were exploited by a malicious hacker. In order to do this, testers use a variety of tools and techniques to attempt to break into the system.

In this post, we will discuss the relevance of tools and techniques in penetration testing, as well as the pros and cons of using them.

Relevance Of Penetration Testing

In the past, penetration testing was typically performed by a company’s IT department or outsourced to another security firm. However, today many organizations are turning towards outsourcing their pentest needs due to cost savings and ease of implementation.

When choosing an organization for your next pen-testing project make sure they have experience with different types of attacks so you don’t get stuck using one toolset only!

Features Of A Good Pentesting Tool

A good pentesting tool should provide you with the ability to run multiple tests at once, as well as generate reports on each test’s results. It also needs to be able to scan all ports and services on your target system so it can identify any vulnerabilities that may exist there before an attacker does!

The best way for companies looking into outsourcing their needs is by going through reviews online or speaking directly with someone who has experience in this area (such as myself). If they don’t have any previous clients, get them to do some research on their own before deciding which business would be best for them.

Pros And Cons Of Using Penetration Tools For Pentesting

The pros include but are not limited to;

  • it is easier on resources because there aren’t as many people involved,
  • less time consuming (and expensive) than hiring someone internally who knows how these tools work in detail – which means faster results when trying out different techniques; also
  • faster access to new tools as they become available.

The cons include but are not limited to:

  • potential loss of confidentiality or data integrity due to lack of understanding by individuals running the tests – in other words, if someone does something wrong it will affect your company’s reputation; this can happen when there aren’t enough trained professionals performing these tasks which leaves room for mistakes made during testing (if you hire out-sourced testers to make sure their credentials match up with what needs doing).

What Are the Best Penetration Testing Tools?

There are many pentesting tools out there, however, some have more features than others so it’s important that you know exactly what type of attack methods might be used against your company. Some popular tools used for penetration testing include Nmap, Wireshark, Burp Suite, Metasploit Framework, and John the Ripper.

1.   Astra’s Pentest

Astra’s Pentest can help with all the pentesting needs of an organization. It tests over 3000  different types of attacks automatically with their vulnerability scanner and the team of experts can help manually with finding the vulnerabilities in your system before these vulnerabilities are exploited by hackers.

2.   nmap

nmap is a network scanning and security auditing program that can be used to discover hosts and services on a network, as well as any security problems. It can be used to scan for vulnerable open ports on systems and also includes features like OS detection and scriptable interactions.

3.   Wireshark

Wireshark is a packet analyzer that may be used to monitor traffic off of a network interface or file. This tool can be used to troubleshoot networking problems, as well as malware infections and data breaches.

4.   Burp Suite

Burp Suite is a complete security testing framework that runs on top of various platforms. It also includes many different types of web proxy, a repeater tool to replay and modify requests sent by browsers; an intruder module that can be used to send automated attacks against websites in order to find vulnerabilities (such as cross-site scripting) – this tool comes in handy when you’re testing these types of sites).

5.   Metasploit Framework

Metasploit Framework is open-source software designed for penetration testing and vulnerability assessment. You’ll need Kali Linux installed on your machine before using it though because this framework requires some specific tools like Meterpreter or Armitage which aren’t included with the default Kali distribution.

6.   John The Ripper

John The Ripper is another type of password cracking tool that uses brute-forcing techniques such as dictionary attacks or even more advanced methods like rainbow table cracking. This tool can also be used to test the strength of your passwords by trying them out against some popular databases like RockYou and LinkedIn user accounts from 2012 (these were leaked).

Conclusion

The necessity of software penetration testing is apparent in the amount of data breaches that occur each year. You can lower your chance of being hacked by using suitable tools and procedures.

All the tools mentioned above are adept at offering comprehensive pentesting services that can help you find vulnerabilities in your software system before they’re exploited by hackers.

Software penetration testing article and permission to publish here provided by Kelley Lina. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on February 22, 2022.