Domenic Steinbrueck
Vulnerability Assessment vs. Penetration Test
Many security professionals, from CISOs to aspiring penetration testers, continue to debate whether to employ vulnerability assessments or penetration testing within their information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) environments. Although both actions can strengthen an organization’s security posture, they are separate practices and produce different results.
Think of the Vulnerability Assessment as discovery, while penetration testing is specifically aimed at building defenses. Vulnerability assessments indicate to what extent weaknesses may exist in systems (series of steps), but penetration testing takes advantage of these weaknesses by mimicking real attacks. Although they sound different, these complementary approaches are insightful in comprehensive analysis.
Where do both methods apply?
According to this NIST guidance, a vulnerability assessment identifies security weaknesses in a system. It can be performed manually or superficially with automated scanners or tools. The goal of this activity is to try and identify entry points within a network that may potentially be exploited. The assessment is especially worthwhile in pinpointing system weaknesses, which could be unpatched elements or other inadequacies that need to be rectified without considering the level of their exploitability or resulting impact on the organization.
On the other hand, the EC Council defines a penetration test as a time-bound exercise with certain limitations set to identify the exploitability of system vulnerabilities. A vulnerability assessment is typically performed as part of a penetration testing to discover potential starting points of an attack. Put simply, a vulnerability assessment sees whether the door is open, while a penetration test walks through the open door and demonstrates what an attacker can do to gain unauthorized access. The illustration below shows how security personnel apply penetration testing and vulnerability assessment together to test security posture in systems and networks.
Figure 1: Penetration Testing Phases (Adapted from EC-Council)
Applying both Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing
Combining a vulnerability assessment and penetration testing provides clear benefits:
- Precise remediation plans
- Priority based issue resolution
- Realistic understanding of risks
- Patch management verification
Relying on quarterly vulnerability assessments and annual penetration testing, however, is no longer sufficient to keep pace with evolving cyber threats. Pulsar Security believes the increased complexities of today’s IT infrastructure and applications often require a more targeted security approach. Many organizations need focused penetration testing as new applications are deployed or significant infrastructure is implemented, such as new business acquisitions, migrations or application upgrades.
Which service is the best for your organization?
The answer to this question should reflect your present security posture. If either leadership or technical teams are not confident in their security posture or if regular cyber processes do not exist, a more valuable approach for many organizations could be to have qualified professionals perform a vulnerability assessment. A vulnerability assessment asks: “What are our initial weaknesses, and how can we address them?” On the other hand, penetration testing looks for the answers to questions like, “Can an outsider infiltrate our system, and what can they access?”
Yet, that is not all. Vulnerability assessments and penetration tests should be routine processes as part of a Threat and Vulnerability Management program to galvanize and further enhance security. Also, although some findings might partially overlap, the testing will better reflect what an attacker would do.
The applicability of goal-based pen testing
Goal-oriented penetration testing directs the work of security experts’ adversary groups to accomplish a particular objective for your organization. Instead of offering a generic penetration test, experts craft custom attacks applicable to your industry, company, and its specific application stack.
A penetration test can be customized to suit your needs for specific scenarios:
- What is connected to our network?
- Has an executive lost his laptop?
- Are you concerned about the theft or leakage of client data?
- Are you safeguarding intellectual property?
- Have you just implemented a new security solution across your organization?
- How would you prevent an attacker from successfully initiating a ransomware attack?
- How would you secure your cloud assets?
Professional penetration testers will tailor each engagement to your objectives and expectations so that you can find hidden vulnerabilities within your organization and measure your defenses against a competent adversary.
The value of a professional vulnerability assessment
Vulnerability management services are efficient. They relieve the administrative burden of performing such time-consuming and cumbersome tasks.
- Automated services: Eliminates human errors and improves efficiency.
- Access to Technical Expertise: Employ the resources of qualified, skilled professionals to support your business’ mission-critical activities without degrading your security posture.
- Smooth Vulnerability Assessment Process: Create a platform with a single source of your security risks for easy understanding and management of those vulnerabilities.
- Continuous Monitoring: A knowledgeable team will continuously monitor your defenses and provide real-time insights to quickly find and eliminate potential security pitfalls.
Key Takeaways
Which of these two practices to leverage depends on the level of detail needed and resource availability. Automated vulnerability assessment scans provide a low-cost means of consistently detecting any potential system weaknesses, enabling early identification and prioritization based on severity.
On the other hand, penetration testing involves experts who manually exploit identified vulnerabilities and system logic flaws to provide comprehensive insight into their actual impact and likelihood of compromise. Thus, it provides deeper insight, although at higher costs.
Domenic Steinbrueck is the COO of Pulsar Security, is a team of cybersecurity professionals who deliver tailored services to large corporations, small-to-medium enterprises, and government organizations.
