Cloud Based Penetration Testing Archives

10 Ways Cloud Penetration Testing Can Protect Cloud Services

[email protected] / April 22, 2024

Cloud penetration testing is a specific type of penetration testing that evaluates the security measures of cloud-based systems and services. With over 92% of organizations globally using some form of cloud infrastructure, they have become a major cybercriminals target. In fact, as per IBM, victims of cloud asset data breaches spend around $5 million on average to recover. Despite cloud platforms having some sort of security features like scalable compute power, easily deployable backups, and technical support documentation, there are unique security risks associated with them that need to be addressed. In this blog, we will get an in-depth knowledge of cloud penetration testing. Additionally, we’ll discuss common risks associated with cloud infrastructure, and how penetration tests can help secure cloud services and assets. What Happens in Cloud Penetration Testing In cloud penetration testing, pen testers or ethical hackers simulate cyber attacks against the organization’s cloud-native services, applications, and APIs to find any vulnerabilities present that cybercriminals could exploit. They also test corporate cloud components such as serverless computing platforms, federated login systems, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for security gaps. A cloud penetration test provides a detailed report to the organizations that mention vulnerabilities found in their cloud infrastructure and their severity. Along with it, the report also mentions steps to remediate those vulnerabilities. By conducting regular penetration testing for cloud infrastructure, organizations can address potential cloud security risks and mitigate them before they are used for cyber attacks. The Shared Responsibility Model of Cloud Services Cloud services have 3 main models: Service Model Vendor Responsibility User Responsibility SaaS Application security Endpoints, user and network security, misconfigurations, workloads, and data PaaS Platform security, including all hardware and software Security of applications developed on the platform Endpoints, user and network security, and workloads IaaS Security of all infrastructure components Security of any application installed on the infrastructure (e.g. OS, applications, middleware) Endpoints, user and network security, workloads, and data What is the Purpose of Cloud Penetration Testing Cloud penetration testing is a security exercise, designed to check the strengths and weaknesses of cloud systems and improve their overall security posture. The main purpose of cloud pentesting is to: How Cloud Penetration Testing Secures Cloud Services More and more companies are including a wide range of applications, data, and services in their cloud. For example, public web applications, file-sharing and business productivity applications, mobile app data, system backups, network monitoring data and log files, and both employee and customer data. As a result, the cloud environment has become a primary target for attackers. Cloud penetration testing reports provide an accurate representation of the environment’s security posture, where the vulnerabilities lie, and what is its impact. Additionally, it showcases how resilient your cloud infrastructure is, against cyber attacks, unauthorized access, and data breaches. Here is How Cloud Penetration Testing Helps Secure Cloud Systems and Services: 1. Identify Vulnerabilities before Hackers Before real hackers break into your cloud system, you employ ethical hackers or cybersecurity professionals to check for potential entry points. Cloud penetration testing shows weaknesses present in your cloud infrastructure and allows you to address those security flaws before cyber attacks can exploit them. 2. Assess Cloud-Specific Risks Cloud environments have unique security risks due to their shared responsibility models, different service models (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), and complex configurations. Penetration testing services can be tailored to mitigate risks specific to cloud environments. 3. Prevent Data Breaches Cloud-based applications and services store and manage a large amount of sensitive data. This is the reason why cybercriminals are drawn toward cloud environments. Penetration testing helps find weak points through which these criminals can enter your system. thus, saving the organization from severe data breaches, 4. Comply with Regulatory Standards Many industries and jurisdictions have strict compliance rules to protect user information. For example DPR, PCI DSS, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc. Cloud penetration testing helps organizations meet these regulatory requirements and showcase their commitment to protecting user data and maintaining security controls. 5. Maintain Customer Trust and Reputation Your customers or clients using your cloud services trust their confidential data is safe with you. If a data breach occurs, not only will it result in huge time and monetary loss, but also you will lose the trust of your customer. Additionally, your reputation in the industry will go down, resulting in less business revenue. Conducting cloud pentesting can help your organization avoid all of this and even gain you more customers, given that you prioritize data safety. 6. Validate Cloud Provider Security Cloud service providers implement various security controls, but organizations need to verify these measures independently. Penetration testing is a great way to test the effectiveness of the security controls implemented by the cloud service providers. 7. Minimize Downtime and Losses By addressing vulnerabilities before cybercriminals exploit them, organizations can reduce the likelihood of system downtime, data breaches, and potential financial losses. 8. Improve Security Awareness When organizations conduct penetration testing, it shows that they prioritize cybersecurity a lot. As a result, it raises awareness among employees and stakeholders of the importance of security best practices. Additionally, it can lead to a better security-conscious culture within the organization. 9. Prioritize Risks and Allocate Resources Effectively Cloud penetration testing reports provide a clear understanding of the severity of the security risks found during the process. This allows organizations to assess what risks are more important for their business and allocate their resources and efforts to fixing the most severe vulnerabilities first. 10. Adapt to Evolving Threat Landscape The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing, with new breaching techniques being developed by hackers. Regular penetration testing on cloud infrastructure helps organizations stay one step ahead of the new threats that may emerge in the cloud. Want to protect your cloud services and the data present in them? Qualysec Technologies is a leading cloud penetration testing provider that follows a hybrid approach to find hidden vulnerabilities. Contact us now and secure your cloud environment from severe data breaches! Book a consultation call with our

Cloud Penetration Testing, Cyber Crime, Penetration Testing

Cloud Penetration Testing: The Complete Guide

[email protected] / April 15, 2024

An essential process for identifying possible security holes in cloud-based infrastructure and applications is cloud penetration testing. Over the past ten years, cloud computing adoption has become increasingly popular in IT companies. When compared to equivalent on-premises infrastructure, cloud infrastructure offers higher productivity and lower costs due to its improved operational efficiency and productivity. It is essential to secure cloud assets against both internal and external threats considering the importance of cloud systems and data. According to recorded breaches, 30,578,031,872 known data was breached in 8,839 publicly revealed incidents. We’ll talk about the advantages and methodology of cloud pen testing in this blog. Additionally, it will also reveal the typical flaws in cloud security as well as the best practices in cloud pen testing. What is Cloud Penetration Testing? Cloud Penetration Testing replicates actual cyberattacks on cloud-native services and applications, corporate components, APIs, and the cloud infrastructure of an organization. Federated login systems, serverless computing platforms, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) are examples of this. In addition, cloud pen testing is an innovative approach developed to tackle the risks, weaknesses, and threats related to cloud infrastructure and cloud-native services. The primary objective of cloud security testing is to protect digital infrastructure from a constantly evolving variety of threats. Additionally, it provides enterprises with the highest level of IT security assurance which is necessary to meet their risk requirements. Benefits of Cloud Penetration Testing Cloud penetration testing helps enterprises that store crucial data on the cloud along with cloud service providers. A majority of cloud providers have implemented a shared responsibility model between themselves and their clients, which is maintained by the following: Aids in identifying weak points: Testing for cloud penetration guarantees that vulnerabilities are quickly fixed once they are found. The thorough scanners can detect even the smallest weaknesses. Hence, this is important because it aids in the quick remediation of the vulnerability before hackers take use of it. Improves application and cloud security: The continuous update of security mechanisms is another advantage of cloud penetration testing. In addition to that, if any security holes are discovered in existing security mechanisms, it helps improve them. Enhances dependability between suppliers and consumers: Frequent execution of pen tests on cloud infrastructure might enhance the dependability and credibility attributed to cloud service providers. This can retain existing customers at ease with the degree of protection offered for their data while gaining new ones because of the cloud provider’s security-consciousness. Supports the preservation of compliance: Conducting cloud pen tests is beneficial in identifying areas of non-compliance with different regulatory standards and vulnerabilities. As a result, the detected areas can be fixed to fulfill compliance standards and prevent penalties for non-compliance. Methodology of Cloud Penetration Testing The following steps must be taken when conducting Cloud pen testing, including: 1. Information Gathering Information gathering is the first step in cloud penetration testing. Here is where the penetration testing team can obtain important documents from the organization. They employ several techniques and instruments together with the data to fully utilize the technical insights. Testers can operate more efficiently and rapidly when they have a thorough understanding of the application and facts. 2. Planning The pen testers established their objectives and aims by delving deeply into the web application’s complex technicalities and abilities. The testers adapt their strategy and study to target certain vulnerabilities and malware within the application. 3. Automation Scanning Here, automated cloud-based pen testing tools are utilized to scan for surface-level vulnerabilities and expose them before an actual hacker does. 4. Manual Testing In this step, pen testers manually navigate the application and execute tests to eliminate the weaknesses discovered. 5. Reporting During this phase, pen testers create a comprehensive and developer-friendly report that includes every detail about the vulnerability discovered and how to address it. Want to see how the pen test report looks? You may obtain a sample report by clicking here. Latest Penetration Testing Report Download 6. Consultation This phase occurs when the developer requires assistance in resolving the issue, and the testers are prepared for a consultation call. 7. Retest During this step, testers re-test the application to see whether any issues remain after the developer’s remediation. Common Cloud Vulnerabilities Here are some of the most common vulnerabilities among the many attack methods that may result in different kinds of damaging incidents of your cloud Security services: 1. Insecure Coding Techniques Most companies try to develop their cloud infrastructure as cheaply as possible. Because of poor development practices, such software often has issues such as SQL, XSS, and CSRF. Furthermore, these vulnerabilities are at the root of most cloud web service intrusions. 2. Out-of-date Software Outdated software contains serious security weaknesses that may harm your cloud penetration testing services. Furthermore, most software vendors do not use an intuitive updating method, and users can individually refuse automatic upgrades. This makes cloud services obsolete, which hackers identify using automated scanners. As a result, numerous cloud services relying on old software are prone to vulnerability. 3. Insecure APIs APIs are commonly used in cloud services to transfer data across different applications. However, unsecured APIs can cause large-scale data leaks. Improper use of HTTP methods such as PUT, POST, and vanish in APIs might allow hackers to transfer malware or erase data from your server. Improper access control and a lack of input sanitization are other major sources of API compromise, as discovered during cloud penetration testing. 4. Weak credentials Using popular or weak passwords leaves your cloud accounts vulnerable to hacking attempts. The attacker can utilize automated programs to make guesses, gaining access to your account using that login information. The consequences could be harmful resulting in a full account takeover. These assaults are very prevalent since people tend to reuse passwords and use passwords that are easy to remember. This truth can be proven by cloud penetration testing. Cloud Penetration Testing Best Practices Cloud penetration testing needs thorough planning, execution, and consideration of cloud-specific issues. Here are the best practices