What is a Penetration Test?
It is a security testing methodology that gives us an insight into the strength of the Cloud network security by simulating an attack from unknown malicious source. It involves an active analysis of the cloud service for potential vulnerabilities due to incorrect system configuration, hardware / software flaws, or operating system level weaknesses. This analysis is carried out from the perspective of a potential hacker and can involve active exploitation of security vulnerabilities. The intent of this test is to proactively determine the feasibility of a hack attack and also try to determine the extent of damage to the business.
Why is Penetration Testing needed on the Cloud?
Cloud Penetration Testing has become a necessity today. The evolution of the cloud technology has focused on the ease of use from an operational perspective with an exponential increase in the complexity of the computing resources! Also, skills needed to hack into systems have steadily decreased with so much knowledge available online. Add to that, the number of network and cloud based applications have increased many fold. And lastly, a security breach on enterprise assets can be a huge detrimental issue to the goodwill and the image of an enterprise!
How is Penetration Testing carried out?
It is usually carried out within a "Black Box" - without any knowledge of the infrastructure to be tested. At a basic level, there are 3 phases in a Penetration Test.
There are a variety of tools & techniques that can be used to conduct Penetration Testing on Cloud Systems. Tools like Whois, Nslookup, Traceroute, VisualRoute, SmartWhois, SamSpade can help gather information about the target network.
References: Cloud Security - Ronald L.Krutz & Russell Dean Vines
Also posted on BMC Communities blog - Cloud-n-more
It is a security testing methodology that gives us an insight into the strength of the Cloud network security by simulating an attack from unknown malicious source. It involves an active analysis of the cloud service for potential vulnerabilities due to incorrect system configuration, hardware / software flaws, or operating system level weaknesses. This analysis is carried out from the perspective of a potential hacker and can involve active exploitation of security vulnerabilities. The intent of this test is to proactively determine the feasibility of a hack attack and also try to determine the extent of damage to the business.
Why is Penetration Testing needed on the Cloud?
Cloud Penetration Testing has become a necessity today. The evolution of the cloud technology has focused on the ease of use from an operational perspective with an exponential increase in the complexity of the computing resources! Also, skills needed to hack into systems have steadily decreased with so much knowledge available online. Add to that, the number of network and cloud based applications have increased many fold. And lastly, a security breach on enterprise assets can be a huge detrimental issue to the goodwill and the image of an enterprise!
How is Penetration Testing carried out?
It is usually carried out within a "Black Box" - without any knowledge of the infrastructure to be tested. At a basic level, there are 3 phases in a Penetration Test.
- Preparation - This is the planning phase where formal non-disclosure agreements are signed and ensures legal protection for both the tester and the client. It should list the IP addresses to be tested along with the timeline at a minimum.
- Execution - The test is executed and potential vulnerabilities are exposed. The test should address vulnerabilities, risks to applications, remote access systems, VoIP, wireless networks
- Delivery - Results of the test are communicated to the client and corrective action is advised.
There are a variety of tools & techniques that can be used to conduct Penetration Testing on Cloud Systems. Tools like Whois, Nslookup, Traceroute, VisualRoute, SmartWhois, SamSpade can help gather information about the target network.
- Whois gets you the domain's registrant, administrative & technical contacts, addresses, phone numbers & domain servers.
- Nslookup gets you the Internet domain servers, information about DNS infrastructure, MX records, IP of the mail servers etc.
- Traceroute exploits the Time To Live (TTL) feature of the Internet Protocol and gets you the path the IP packets traverse between two systems by sending out consecutive User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets with ever increasing TTL's. This utility reveals the DNS names, network affiliations & geographic locations.
- VisualRoute from VisualWare gets you traceroute, ping tests, DNS & Whois lookups and displays the actual route of connections and IP address locations visually on a global map.
- SmartWhois gives you comprehensive information regarding the IP address, hostnames, domain names, country, state, city, network provider, contact information etc.
- Sam Spade is a freeware tool to track down spammers and comes with many useful network tools including ping, Nslookup, Whois, IP block Whois, traceroute, finger, SMTP, VRFY, SMTP relay check etc.
References: Cloud Security - Ronald L.Krutz & Russell Dean Vines
Also posted on BMC Communities blog - Cloud-n-more
