18

Penetration Testing

Test the effectiveness and resiliency of enterprise assets through identifying and exploiting weaknesses in controls (people, processes, and technology), and simulating the objectives and actions of an attacker.

Why Is This Control Critical?

A successful defensive posture requires a comprehensive program of effective policies and governance, strong technical defenses, combined with appropriate action from people. In a complex environment where technology is constantly evolving, and new attacker tradecraft appears regularly, enterprises should periodically test their controls to identify gaps and to assess their resiliency. This test may be from external network, internal network, application, system, or device perspectives. It may include social engineering of users, or physical access control bypasses.

Related Policy Templates

Safeguards (5)

ID Title Asset Type Function Implementation Groups
18.1 Establish and Maintain a Penetration Testing Program N/A Identify
IG2 IG3
18.2 Perform Periodic External Penetration Tests Network Identify
IG2 IG3
18.3 Remediate Penetration Test Findings Network Protect
IG2 IG3
18.4 Validate Security Measures Network Protect
IG3
18.5 Perform Periodic Internal Penetration Tests N/A Identify
IG3