Hacking: Hacking Practical Guide for Beginners

Chapter 5: Penetration Testing
Penetration testing (also called ethical hacking) is the process of attacking a network or
system to detect and fix the target’s weaknesses. Businesses are willing to shell out some
cash in order to protect their systems from black hat hackers. Because of this, penetration
testing serves as a profitable and exciting activity for ethical hackers.
This chapter will teach you the basics of penetration testing. It will explain the core
principles of “pen testing” and give you a list of tools that you must use. In addition, it
will provide you with a step-by-step plan for conducting a penetration test.

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Penetration Testing – The Basics
A penetration tester tries to breach the defenses of his target without prior access to any
username, password, or other related information. The tester will use his skills, tools, and
knowledge to obtain data related to his target and prove the existence of vulnerabilities.
When attacking a local network, a penetration test would be considered successful if the
tester successfully collects confidential information.
As you can see, penetration testing has a lot of similarities with malicious hacking. There
are two major differences between these two: permission and the hacker’s intentions. A
tester has the permission to attack his target. And his main goal is to help his clients
improve their digital security. In contrast, malicious hackers don’t ask for the target’s
permission. They simply perform attacks in order to steal information, destroy networks,
or attain other horrible goals.
Often, a tester needs to attack his target as a basic user. He must enhance his access rights
and/or collect information that other basic users cannot reach.
Some clients want the tester to focus on a single vulnerability. In most cases, however, a
tester must record each weakness that he will discover. The repeatability of the hacking
process is important. Your clients won’t believe your findings if you can’t repeat what you
did.

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