6 Essential skills needed for Advanced Penetration Testing

Advanced penetration testing helps identify not just the vulnerabilities and security gaps in the overall IT infrastructure, but also recommends employee training and more importantly, methods to mitigate risks found. The need for ethical hacking and penetration testing arises from the fact that they are considered initial elements of a proactive cybersecurity strategy.

6 advanced pentesting skills that are in-demand by organizations 

Cybercrime is one of the fastest-growing threats with many companies reporting cyberattacks. 12news.com recently reported that a new member joined social media every 15 seconds. The Official Annual Cybercrime Report (ACR) 2019 predicted ransomware attacks on businesses every 14 seconds. Not surprisingly, more companies than before are considering cybersecurity strategies to protect themselves from cyber threats. But with many cybercriminals evolving, responding to attacks is simply not enough. Organizations should become proactive and use strategies such as advanced penetration testing. Few penetration testing skills that are in-demand are as follows –

1. Going beyond tool suites to find vulnerabilities and exploits.
2. Understanding secure web communications. From registering the web domain name to applying the same to a cloud-IP address.
3. Securing web communication by generating secure domain certificates.
4. Understanding web technologies and the need for secure web applications.
5. Ability to script or write a code.
6. Effective report writing skills.

How to acquire these skills? 

Cybersecurity is evolving continuously and with the process of penetration testing. The rising pace of cyberattacks and the enhanced techniques of attackers are demanding new and upgraded penetration testing skills. EC-Council’s Advanced Penetration Testing (APT) course prepares a penetration tester to deal with the most complex and toughest real-life scenarios. The program helps prepare you to challenge and attain the title of Licensed Penetration Tester (Master).

What is APT and why is important to attain the LPT Master:

Unique features of the Advanced Penetration Testing (APT) program of EC-Council: 

1. It is crafted by the finest

The LPT Master exam throws challenges that are based on real–life experiences. The finest penetration testers of the industry have designed the APT program to contain real penetration testing capabilities, prepping you for not just the LPT Master, but to assume real-life roles as well. The cyber ranges are designed for the skills required at a professional level to identify the target surface in a given time frame and then gain access over the machines. The objective is to make you encounter the finest targets that may or may not have a defense, to refine your penetration testing skills. 

2. It leverages industry–standard methodologies 

APT is based on the Advanced Penetration Testing Cyber Range (ECCAPT), which enhances a specific set of real-life penetration testing skills. The ECCAPT has 180 machines, 250 GB RAM, and 4000 GB storage. The entire setup is segregated in complex network ranges with various militarized and demilitarized zones. A typical range is divided into 5 to 8 subnets, and every subnet represents a different business unit and comprises semi-hardened and hardened machines having more than 15 Windows and Linux OS. 

3. It is created for real-life penetration testers

The advanced penetration testing course is created to prepare penetration testers with real-life challenges. The training is meant to encourage you to develop the skills that you have been willing to acquire to attain L|PT Master. Preparing for L|PT Master is not easy, and the exam is even worse. The exam tests your technical, intellectual, and analytical skills at the brink of your exhaustion. It expects you to demonstrate mastery of penetration testing techniques and tools along with multi-level pivoting. APT course helps individuals imbibe the required range of advance and complex penetration skills that enables you to perform at the L|PT Master training profoundly. 

4. It is 100% hands-on 

The APT program covers advanced concepts of scanning against defenses, deploying proxy chains, pivoting between networks, and using web shells. The program provides real-life scenarios concerning firewalls, operating systems, multiple network segments, demilitarized zones, web technologies, security control layers, and access control policies. The last module also includes the scope of work (SOW) for each network developed for the course. Being a combination of various ranges, the course leverages industry recognized penetration testing methodologies.

Source: eccouncil.org