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Penetration Testing after a New Security System is Implemented

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Any time a new security system is implemented it needs to be tested thoroughly. Part of the tests that are performed to ensure that the new or prosed system meets the goals set forth by the organization, is penetration testing. Penetration testing involves security professionals simulating “attacks by a malicious external source” (Whitman & Mattord, 2012, p. 551). These tests allow the security professionals to determine points of failure that may not have been identified in vulnerability testing, as well as the criticality of the items defined in the vulnerability tests. These tests can be performed in one of two ways, either with or without knowledge of the organizations information technology infrastructure. These two tests are known …show more content…

In this method the custodian will monitor the asset in such a way as to respect the privacy of all employees in the environment being tested, as well as providing a target asset that will not disrupt organizational function. The penetration tester will provide an attack scenario to the security officer and the asset custodian for approval before commencing the attack. During the attack the tester and target asset are monitored closely by these individuals (Dimkov, van Cleeff, Pieters, & Hartel, 2010). Dimkov and associates’ second methodology, called the “Custodian-Focused Method” (Dimkov, van Cleeff, Pieters, & Hartel, 2010) expands upon the previous method by leaving the custodian out of the loop. In this method the asset custodian and surrounding employees are completely unaware of the impending test. Only the security officer, test coordinator, and a contact person (to go between the test coordinator and the asset custodian) are aware of the test. This test involves a requirement of the contact person to be able to quickly respond to the test should the tester be caught, or if the tester is successful in obtaining the asset without the knowledge of the asset custodian. In both of these methods social engineering is used to deceive employees, and even the asset custodian into allowing an unauthorized party to access a supposedly secure asset (Dimkov, van Cleeff, Pieters, &

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