The Good Side of Hacking?
Hacking is often viewed quite negatively in most online business spaces – and it’s hard not to see why.
These days, hacking horror stories seem to be cropping up left and right. We hear constant news about popular influencers getting their high-profile accounts hacked into, or even whole corporations losing important data, profits, and even ‘secure’ customer personal information to unknown parties. Hacking seems to be done with all sorts of ill-intent and malicious purposes, and it’s pretty safe to say that there are no upsides to the practice – or are there?
Contrary to popular belief, however, not all hacking practices are done with malice in mind. And occasionally, some forms of hacking may be done less to steal data and more to prevent future nefarious attempts at hacking into your database.
Or in other words – penetration testing.
What Is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is also known as ethical hacking, and is basically what it says on the tin – a form of hacking that is safe, non-malicious, and actually conducive to most business practices. Basically, the gist of penetration testing is that it is a simulated hacking attempt on your business’s online defences, to therefore identify any weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your cybersecurity.
While it may seem counterintuitive to use hacking to prevent hacking, the results do speak for themselves. For example: a business may buff and add to their cyberdefences all they want, but without actual testing, there’s no accurate way to gauge it’s effectiveness or weaknesses outside an actual cyber attack. And there’s no denying that testing is better done in a safe, controlled pen-testing environment – rather than an actual malicious attempt at your data!
Basically, pen-testing is the good side of hacking – a means to check the security of your network, identify chinks in the armor, and patch them up before things actually go sour. And for those seeking pen-testing in Malaysia? You’ll be happy to know we have no shortage of cybersecurity companies, here to offer you all types of pen-testing for an all-around security network!
So here are 5 types of penetration testing you can get in Malaysia, and where to find them!
1. Network Penetration Testing
Network penetration testing is perhaps the most common type of penetration testing out there. As per what it’s name suggests, this penetration testing often involves the hacking and testing of your network itself, to gauge for potential weaknesses that could be exploited by outside parties to gain access.
Network penetration testing can either be internal (from the perspective of a hacker who has already gained network access) or external (from the perspective of a hacker who has not yet gained access but is trying to).
e-Lock Corporation Sdn Bhd
e-Lock Corporation Sdn Bhd is among Malaysia’s leading penetration testing experts. With 22 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry, they provide a comprehensive assessment of your network security through both internal and external means, and ensure that important network applications such as your firewall are regularly reviewed for potential weakness. Their pen-testing approaches include black-box testing.
On top of network pen testing, e-Lock corporation also offers security assessment for web applications, mobile applications, and phishing among more.
In short:
- 22 years experience in cybersecurity
- External and Internal penetration testing
- Blackbox approach
- Security assessment for web apps, mobile apps, and phishing
2. Wireless Penetration Testing
Wireless penetration testing tests the security of any wireless devices your business may have hooked up to your wireless network. Again, this form of penetration testing checks for any weakness in the wireless connection, in order to better secure and minimize the possibility of unauthorized access through the wireless communications channel.
Common wireless devices include smartphones, laptops, tablets, and IoT devices in the workspace.
LGMS Penetration Testing Expert
LGMS Penetration Testing Expert prides itself on being the first cybersecurity company in Malaysia to be rewarded the UK CREST-accreditation, and therefore excels in the field of penetration testing. Of their wireless pen testing services, they carry out processes such as low-level assessment of public area wireless network AP configuration, rogue access point discovery, and emulations of denial of service and brute force attacks on your wireless network.
Not to mention, LGMS also provides compliance services for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), and also offers pen testing in avenues such as web apps, mobile apps, and intelligence led pen testing among others.
In short:
- CREST-accredited
- Public wireless network AP configuration assessment (low-level)
- Rogue access point discovery
- Emulation of denial of service and brute force attack on wireless network
- Compliance services for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)
- Also offers web app, mobile app, and intelligence led pen testing
3. Social Engineering Penetration Testing
Unlike most of the pen testing types on this list, social engineering penetration testing is distinct in that it tests the effectiveness of human actors in the cybersecurity network. In other words, social engineering pen testing sometimes involves having the hackers engage with human employees, and induce them through certain surreptitious and/or manipulative means to give up sensitive business information.
Social engineering penetration testing, in it’s testing of human actors, provides a more comprehensive penetration testing to your overall business security by taking into account external defensive factors and access points outside of cyberspace.
Wizlynx
The Wizlynx group is a well-established cybersecurity company that operates across the Asia Pacific, and boasts a CREST accreditation as well as numerous other certifications. Their social engineering pen testing service covers a wide variety of possible access points, and helps you comprehensively determine weaknesses in your social security network.
Of these access points, Wizlynx’s pen testing encompasses email (attachments, website mirroring, hyperlinks, file download) and voice phishing, staff impersonation, and USB drops – all conducted via a three-phase process of careful research and execution.
In short:
- CREST-accredited and -certified
- Email (Attachments, Website Mirroring, Hyperlinks, File Download) & Call Phishing
- Staff Impersonation
- USB Drop
- Three-phase Social Engineering Pen-Testing (Reconnaisance & Planning. Execution, Reporting)
- Also offers pen testing in web applications, network, mobile applications, and wireless networks.
4. Web Application Penetration Testing
Web application penetration testing involves breaking in and testing the security of web applications. Web app pen testing often checks for weaknesses in pontentially poorly developed web applications, such as potential data leaks, faulty authentication and access, or other such vulnerabilities that may be exploited by hackers to gain access to sensitive information.
Considering the popularity of day-to-day web apps, such as Google Apps and even social media like Facebook, preserving the security of business web applications therefore becomes an important priority.
Condition Zebra
Condition Zebra is an award-winning cybersecurity company in Malaysia, with official accreditation from CREST and 14 years of expertise in the industry. Their web application pen testing helps distinguish vulnerabilities in web software, and tests areas such as user authentication, cross-site scripting, web browser configurations, and web- and server database security to ensure adequate web app security is maintained.
In addition to their web app pen testing, Condition Zebra also provides penetration testing services for networks, wireless devices, thick client, host assessment, mobile, and database.
In short:
- CREST-accredited
- 14 years of experience in IT
- Testing for user authentication, cross-site scripting, web browser configurations, and web- and server database security
- Also provides pen testing for network, wireless, thick client, host assessment, mobile, and database
5. Mobile Application Penetration Testing
Mobile application penetration testing concerns the security testing of certain mobile apps. Much like web applications, mobile applications may be quite susceptible to malicious hacking and tampering due to faults in development, or even the nefarious goals of the developers themselves. Either way, these can leave users and their data particularly vulnerable to cyber attack.
In this sense, mobile application penetration testing is crucial to determining the security of the mobile application, identifying weaknesses, and ensuring all users are as safe in cyberspace as they can be.
iFactory Solutions Sdn Bhd
Leveraging 13 years of experience in the industry, iFactory Solutions is a local IT company with specializations in system development, testing services, and mobile apps and web service. Among their large array of relevant development and testing services, they provide mobile application penetration testing to determine the reliability of well-used mobile applications, including apps in Android, iOS, and Windows.
Specifically, their mobile app pen testing assesses areas such as data leakage and storage, authentication, endpoint security, and much more.
In short:
- 13 years of experience
- System development and testing services in mobile applications and web service
- Pen testing for data leakage and storage, authentication, and endpoint security among more.
- Assesses mobile apps in Android, iOS, and Windows
- Pen testing services for web application as well
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that penetration testing is an invaluable aspect of cybersecurity, able to determine the security of our databases and identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited. But penetration testing comes in various types for various areas, and to truly ensure the security of your networks, it becomes important to check various avenues in network, wireless, social engineering, web and mobile apps to ensure a comprehensive test of online business security.
Thankfully, there are various penetration testing companies in Malaysia that offer various types of penetration tests, which are committed to helping you do just that!
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