Today, businesses’ payment systems and accounting information have become an attractive target for targeted attacks. Keeping this information secure is critical both to ensure customer trust and to fulfill regulatory requirements. Penetration testing can be used as an effective tool to assess these risks and take precautions. In this article, we will explore how penetration testing helps to keep payment systems and accounting information secure.
Penetration testing, which is used to identify companies’ vulnerabilities by determining the behavior of malicious cyber attackers, also has an important place in the accounting infrastructure. Professional testers, trained to apply and mimic hackers’ thinking using a wide range of tools, prepare reports to refactor vulnerabilities.
What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is one of the important detection and planning studies that are mandatory according to international standards such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001 and by regulators such as BRSA, EPDK and CMB in Turkey. Penetration Testing is an attack simulation consisting of realistic scenarios that provide unauthorized access to targeted systems and data from the perspective of a malicious attacker such as a hacker.
Businesses should definitely benefit from penetration testing at least once a year in order to anticipate attacks from inside and outside and take precautions. Very important security measures are taken to protect financial data in the business infrastructure. However, sometimes these precautionary steps may have some vulnerabilities. Penetration tests that detect these vulnerabilities and make reports to eliminate them protect important information such as payment information from possible attacks.
How is Penetration Testing Performed?
All systems in the IT infrastructure of businesses are simulated by experts in the field through tests. Penetration testing, which constitutes the process of infiltration using tools and methods that hackers can use and reporting the vulnerability results obtained, can be applied in 3 different ways. These are; White box, black box and gray box test types.
What is the Penetration Test Process?
In the penetration testing process, the systems targeted by the test are determined by the customer. The necessary information about the systems that will be subject to the test is given to the organization conducting the test. After the necessary contracts for the test are made, customer approval is obtained and the IP address where the test will be performed is given to the customer. Thus, it can be seen whether the attacks coming to the organization from different IP addresses are tests or not. After the test is started, critical findings are shared with the customer during the test. Low-level findings are finally reported together with critical findings and the test is finalized.
What are Penetration Test Stages?
Penetration testing has an important place in protecting the accounting processes of systems. Test reports are utilized in credit card protection steps. Penetration testing applications consist of several important stages.
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Scope Determination
In the scoping process, the customer determines the target they want the test to be performed. According to test approaches such as Black Box, White Box, Gray Box, the necessary information is shared partially or completely with the company that will conduct the test. -
Information Collection
Passive (not directly interacting with the system) and active (directly interacting with the system) information gathering about the target. Information such as technologies used, application and version information, functions are the most basic examples. -
Detection of Security Vulnerabilities
The vulnerability detection process is the stage of identifying existing vulnerabilities in the light of the information collected. Systems scanned using automated tools are tested manually by experts after the scan. The service and version information detected during the information collection process is investigated to see whether the system faces a security vulnerability. -
Analyzing Information and Planning Process
Necessary research is conducted to exploit the identified vulnerabilities. Malware and tools are made ready. -
Exploitation Phase
Detected vulnerabilities are tried to be exploited from an attacker’s point of view. The effects of these vulnerabilities on the system are examined in detail. It is checked whether the attackers can make unauthorized access to the system. It is investigated whether they can stop the service. -
Authority Upgrade
After the attackers gain access to the system, their ability to increase their existing authorizations is examined. It is checked whether they can see unauthorized files. It is observed whether progress can be made using infiltrated systems. Which critical files can be accessed. The attacker’s tactics after exploitation are tried to be simulated. -
Cleaning Process
It is the process where all changes made to the tested systems are undone. All files created for testing are cleaned from the system. -
Reporting Process
All implemented steps are summarized. Information such as current or potential risks that may arise in the future and measures to be taken are reported.
PlusClouds Penetration Testing Services
At PlusClouds, we help businesses strengthen their cybersecurity strategy by offering our customers a comprehensive penetration testing service. Our specialized security team is made up of experienced cybersecurity experts and tests our clients’ systems against attacks using the latest techniques and methods. In our penetration testing process, we work rigorously to identify our clients’ security vulnerabilities, identify potential risks and recommend appropriate corrective measures. Our goal is to provide our customers with the highest level of security and offer solutions to protect their businesses against cyber threats.
If you want to have a penetration test, you can start by filling out the Penetration Test Request Form on our website.