The ever-worsening cyber threat landscape has forced every business to consider offensive security measures like penetration testing. Mass attacks are gaining more and more precision and our dependency on a series of third-party software, plugins, and extensions to run our web apps or website, really helps the attacker’s cause. It is challenging to keep track of your assets, let alone vulnerabilities.
In this article, you will learn how penetration testing works, and eventually, you will have a list of the best pentest tools in India.
What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing, or pentesting, is a simulated cyber attack conducted by white-hat hackers on a computer system, application, or network to find security vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. The process involves identifying, exploiting, and reporting vulnerabilities found in the system.
Are Pentesting and Vulnerability Scanning the same thing?
No, penetration testing has its differences from vulnerability scanning. Vulnerability scanning is mainly automated and can be done without prior knowledge of the system’s internals. It only requires the IP address or URL of the system to be tested. On the other hand, penetration testing is a more manual process that requires in-depth knowledge of how the system works.
How does a pentest help your business?
A pentest helps businesses in several ways:
- It assesses the security of your system from the perspective of an actual attacker.
- It identifies vulnerabilities that automated scanning tools cannot find.
- It provides actionable recommendations to fix the identified security issues.
- It helps you prepare for compliance-related security audits.
- A manual pentest helps identify business logic errors and hacks like price manipulation.
What kind of Pentest tool should you choose?
Now that you know what a pentest is and how it can help your business, it’s time to choose the right pentesting tool for your needs. Here are a few things you would want to consider while choosing a pentest tool.
- The type of test you need (black box, white box, or gray box)
- The test scope (network penetration testing, web application penetration testing, mobile app, etc.)
- The skillset of your team
- Your budget
Penetration Testing can be a complicated procedure. It is performed under stringent regulations, and the possibility of the test interfering with the business functions is not negligible. You will be well served to choose a pentest tool and a pentest partner that aligns with your specific needs.
There are small features like zero false-positive assurance, continuous testing, and CI/CD integration that can bring value.
Top Pentest Tools in India
To help you get started, here’s a list of the best pentest tools available in India, along with their features.
Astra’s Pentest: The pentest suite by Astra Security is by far the most user-friendly pentest tool you can find in India. It has perfectly balanced self-served vulnerability assessment and manual pen testing to offer you a smooth yet comprehensive penetration testing experience. Offers a variety of services, mainly penetration testing and others like Dynamic Application Security Testing, Soc 2 penetration testing, and vulnerability scanners.
Acunetix: A fully automated web application pentesting tool that can scan for over 50,000 vulnerabilities. Acunetix has a pretty large fanbase in India, and its exhaustive nature in terms of vulnerability scanning is quite desirable.
Burp Suite: A comprehensive pentesting tool suite covering a wide range of testing needs. It is widely used by both cybercriminals and ethical hackers for invasive functions like brute-forcing, fuzzing, and customized attacks.
Fiddler: A web debugging proxy you can use to test web applications for security loopholes. It has features like traffic recording, Decryption of HTTPS requests, web session manipulation, etc.
Netsparker: A cloud-based pentest tool. It can find and exploit vulnerabilities automatically and on a large scale. It is a tool known for its scalability. It is an excellent fit if you are trying to scan a large number of applications in a short time. It also allows visibility of the security status across the enterprise.
This list could go on. However, the right tool for your business will depend on your specific needs.
Some best practices for conducting a pentest?
- Carefully define the scope of the pentest. It will help you focus on the most critical areas and avoid testing areas that are not relevant to your business.
- Choose a Pentest tool based on your needs.
- Always pay heed to the possibility of interference with business and beware of it. It will help you avoid any disruptions to your business operations.
- False positives are a real possibility, be prepared for them.
- Debriefing with the pentester post-test to ensure that all findings are addressed.
Conclusion:
A penetration test is a must for any business that wants to ensure the security of its systems. It is an essential part of your security strategy and can help you identify vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. With the right pentest tool, you can rest assured that your system is secure.
Author Bio-
Ankit Pahuja is the Marketing Lead & Evangelist at Astra Security. Ever since his adulthood (literally, he was 20 years old), he began finding vulnerabilities in websites & network infrastructures. Starting his professional career as a software engineer at one of the unicorns enables him to bring “engineering in marketing” to reality. Working actively in the cybersecurity space for more than 2 years makes him the perfect T-shaped marketing professional. Ankit is an avid speaker in the security space and has delivered various talks on top companies, early-age startups, and online events.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-pahuja/
