# Penetration Testing Technology: Our Practical Experience and Tool Sharing
As a professional team in the field of cybersecurity, we have been dedicated to the research and practice of penetration testing technologies for many years. In this article, we will share our practical experience, introduce core penetration testing techniques, and the tools we most frequently use in our daily work.
## I. Overview of Penetration Testing
Penetration Testing is an indispensable part of our cybersecurity defense system. By simulating the behavior of malicious attackers, we proactively identify security vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications, helping clients fix these issues before real attacks occur.
In our practice, penetration testing typically consists of five phases:
1. Information gathering and reconnaissance
2. Vulnerability analysis
3. Vulnerability exploitation
4. Privilege escalation and persistence
5. Report writing and trace removal
## II. Core Technical Methods
### 1. Information Gathering Techniques
We use various techniques for target information collection:
- **Passive reconnaissance**: Obtaining information through public channels without directly interacting with the target system
- **Active reconnaissance**: Directly interacting with the target system to obtain more details
- **Network mapping**: Identifying network topology and open ports
"Information gathering often determines the success or failure of the entire penetration test," is a common saying in our team. "An overlooked subdomain could become the entry point for the entire system."
### 2. Vulnerability Scanning and Analysis
Our commonly used vulnerability scanning methods include:
- **Automated scanning**: Using tools to quickly identify known vulnerabilities
- **Manual verification**: In-depth analysis of automated scanning results to reduce false positives
- **Customized probing**: Writing specialized detection scripts for specific systems
### 3. Vulnerability Exploitation Techniques
Depending on the target system, we select appropriate exploitation techniques:
- **Web application attacks**: SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, file inclusion, etc.
- **System-level attacks**: Buffer overflow, privilege escalation vulnerability exploitation
- **Network attacks**: Man-in-the-middle attacks, ARP spoofing, etc.
## III. Our Toolkit
### 1. Comprehensive Penetration Testing Platforms
**Kali Linux** is our foundational working environment, integrating hundreds of security tools. We particularly rely on:
- **Metasploit Framework**: Vulnerability exploitation development and execution platform
- **Burp Suite**: The Swiss Army knife of web application security testing
- **Nmap**: Essential tool for network discovery and security auditing
### 2. Information Gathering Tools
- **theHarvester**: Collects emails, subdomains, and other information
- **Maltego**: Visual intelligence gathering tool
- **Shodan**: Search engine for IoT devices
### 3. Web Application Testing Tools
In addition to Burp Suite, we frequently use:
- **OWASP ZAP**: Open-source web application security scanner
- **SQLmap**: Automated SQL injection tool
- **XSStrike**: Advanced XSS detection and exploitation tool
### 4. Password Attack Tools
- **Hashcat**: Powerful password recovery tool
- **John the Ripper**: Flexible password cracking program
- **Hydra**: Network service login cracking tool
## IV. Sharing Our Practical Experience
During a penetration test of a banking system, we successfully gained system control through the following steps:
1. Discovered a forgotten test system using subdomain enumeration tools
2. Gained initial foothold through known vulnerabilities in this system
3. Progressively escalated privileges using internal network lateral movement techniques
4. Ultimately obtained access to the core database
This experience reinforced our belief that security is holistic—the weakest link often determines the security of the entire system.
## V. Future Development of Penetration Testing
We observe that penetration testing technology is evolving in the following directions:
- **Cloud environment penetration testing**: With the popularity of cloud computing, cloud security testing demand is surging
- **AI-assisted testing**: Machine learning technologies are being applied to vulnerability discovery and exploitation
- **Normalization of red team/blue team exercises**: Continuous security assessments are replacing traditional one-time penetration tests
As practitioners, we continuously learn new technologies and update our toolkit to adapt to the ever-changing threat landscape.
## Conclusion
Penetration testing is an art that requires constant learning and practice. By sharing our experience and techniques, we hope to help more people understand the importance of cybersecurity. Remember, our goal is not destruction but building a more secure digital world by discovering vulnerabilities.
In our future work, we will continue to refine our technical system to provide clients with more comprehensive and in-depth security assessment services. Security is no small matter—we are always on the journey.