Professional testing follows a structured methodology so results are repeatable and complete. Phases Pre-engagement: scope, rules of engagement and objectives. Reconnaissance: gathering information. Scanning and enumeration: identifying hosts, services and versions. Vulnerability analysis: identifying weaknesses. Exploitation in a controlled manner to confirm risk where permitted. Post-exploitation analysis of impact, within scope. Reporting and remediation support. […]

Reconnaissance builds a picture of the target’s attack surface. Passive reconnaissance Uses public information without interacting directly: DNS records, certificate transparency logs, public code repositories, job postings and company websites. Passive work reveals subdomains, technologies and staff naming conventions. Active reconnaissance Directly interacts with in-scope systems: host discovery, port scanning and service identification. Only perform […]

Vulnerability assessment identifies known weaknesses systematically. Scanning Authenticated scans log in to systems and give more accurate results than unauthenticated scans. Schedule scans to avoid disruption. Validating results Scanners produce false positives. Confirm findings by checking versions, configurations or safe proof-of-concept checks within scope. Prioritisation Combine severity scores with context: exposure to the internet, exploitability, […]

Web applications are a frequent target and a major focus of testing. Common weakness categories Widely referenced web risk lists include broken access control, cryptographic failures, injection, insecure design, security misconfiguration, vulnerable components, authentication failures, integrity failures, logging gaps and server-side request forgery. How testers work Testers map the application, examine requests through an intercepting […]

Internal networks Testers assess segmentation, legacy protocols, weak credentials and directory service misconfigurations that allow privilege escalation. Wireless Assess encryption settings, guest network isolation, rogue access points and pre-shared key strength. Cloud Cloud testing focuses on configuration: overly permissive identities, public storage, exposed management interfaces, unencrypted data and missing logging. Check the provider’s policy on […]

The report is the product of a test. Structure Executive summary in business language. Scope, methodology and limitations. Findings with severity, evidence, impact and remediation. Positive observations. Appendices with technical detail. Writing findings Describe the issue, how it was found, which assets are affected, the business impact and specific remediation steps. Include enough evidence to […]