Preparation

Outline of the Process

1. You’re testing how good the security is from an external location outside the network.
   • You were supplied with a scope of work and you should only test the items within the scope.
   • Are you able to compromise or break into any services from outside the network?
   • It’s OK if you can’t, because that’s not the true objective. You’re only simulating the attack as an evaluation of the security.
   • You are looking for any potential vulnerabilities, but it doesn’t mean you have to take advantage of a vulnerability.
   • Your ultimate objective is to protect the client from real world hackers who are trying to do harm to the organization.
2. Make sure you understand all the steps you need to take and things you need to do before starting.
3. Gather as much open source intelligence (OSINT) as possible and try to use it to take advantage of a service.
   • Attack any log in portals you find.
   • Connect to the network and try to escalate privileges.
4. It’s very possible that you might find and identify vulnerabilities as you make progress.
   • Maybe there is no multifactor authentication, no rate limiting on login portals, etc.
5. Go over your checklists and make sure you check on every single thing that you need to do.
6. When you are finished you have to write a report and provide all information and the highest quality of service to the client.
7. Double or triple check everything. Go over it all thoroughly even if it doesn’t mean you find a way to break in.
8. At the end you may have to debrief the client and discuss what you found.