What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is the exercise of assessing the security of an IT infrastructure by attempting to safely exploit vulnerabilities that may exist in operating systems, improper configurations, application errors, or end-user behavior. Penetration testing is an attempt to test the effectiveness of security measures and discover possible vulnerabilities or backdoors that may exist in computer systems; It aims to identify potential risks where hackers and cybercriminals can gain unauthorized access or perform malicious activities. Moreover, penetration testing is an advanced method to detect, analyze and adjust protective restrictions on IT infrastructure to ameliorate financial losses against malicious activities.
What is a Penetration Testing Certificate?
Penetration testing certification prepares testers for real-world projects. To become certified, each candidate must complete relevant courses and take an exam. This exam tests the candidate's knowledge of basic information security concepts and the latest penetration testing technique.
Why is Certification Important in Penetration Tests?
Verified Skills: Penetration testing certifications not only formalize the skill set an individual possesses, but also reflect that individual's current knowledge in cybersecurity. These documents verify that the individual has successfully acquired the knowledge and skills required for a particular certification. This allows employers, customers and industry stakeholders to assess the level of expertise in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity Awareness: Certification processes typically keep cybersecurity professionals up to date with the latest industry developments and threat models. These trainings enable experts to maintain a competitive advantage in the rapidly changing landscape of cybersecurity. Additionally, cybersecurity awareness helps organizations constantly update their security policies and defense strategies.
Responsibility for Cybersecurity: Certification processes emphasize that penetration testers comply with ethical rules and legal requirements. This is critical to ensure the security of customer information and maintain trust in the cyber world. It also ensures that cybersecurity professionals respect customer privacy, act within legal limits, and are sensitive to possible risks.
Standardization: Certifications ensure that cybersecurity tests are performed in accordance with a specific standard or methodology. These standards contribute to the consistency and repeatability of penetration tests. At the same time, having similar test results across the industry allows organizations to more effectively assess and improve their security levels.
Requirement: Certifications usually include requirements for compliance with a certain cybersecurity standard or regulations. This means that companies providing penetration testing services must meet certain standards and provide the necessary conditions to provide a secure service to customers. This increases customer and other stakeholders' trust in cybersecurity services and promotes reliability across the industry.
Some Penetration Testing Certification Programs
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
A certified ethical hacker is a skilled individual who can look for security weaknesses and vulnerabilities in systems. CEH uses the same tools and knowledge as a malicious hacker in a competent and legal manner. The goal is to evaluate the security posture of one or several systems.
EC Council awards the CEH certification to individuals who pass an exam that verifies their proficiency in specific vendor-neutral network security disciplines. Knowledge of hacking and malware tactics is required to pass the exam.
Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
OSCP certification verifies that individuals have the necessary skills to properly secure a network. It was created for technology professionals such as pen testers, information security experts, security experts, and network administrators.
OSCP certification includes an exam that simulates a live network over a private VPN.
GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) Certification
GPEN certification allows individuals to take a simple proctoring exam with multiple-choice questions administered by the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC). Questions cover a variety of topics, including technical issues related to penetration testing and ethical hacking, legal issues related to pentesting, and more.
TSE Penetration Test Certificate
TSE (Turkish Standards Institute) certifies the personnel and companies that will perform penetration tests within the scope of the TS 13638 standard. In this certification process, the personnel who will perform the penetration test may be entitled to receive one of 4 different certificates (Intern, Registered, Certified, Senior) depending on the theoretical and practical exam results, experience and meeting conditions such as diploma.
The company that will perform the penetration test may be entitled to receive one of the penetration test company certificates at 3 different levels (A, B and C), depending on whether it has certified expert personnel at the level and number specified in the TS 13638 standard and meets the requirements of ISO 27001.
CyberPath Ethical Pentester (CEP)
CEP Certification ensures that individuals are prepared in accordance with real-world scenarios in mobile application, web application, local network, wireless network and social engineering tests.
In order to obtain the CEP Certificate, it is necessary to complete the training videos, modules in the laboratory environment and then write a corporate penetration test report. If the written report is evaluated positively, the person is entitled to receive a certificate.
