A Tactical Overview of Penetration Testing: From Recon to Reporting

Penetration testing — or pentesting — is not just an ethical hack. It's a structured simulation of real-world attacks, conducted to uncover vulnerabilities before adversaries do. This post outlines the lifecycle of a typical pentest engagement, along with tools and tactics at each stage. 1. Reconnaissance (Passive & Active) Objective: Gather intel without alerting the target. Passive: WHOIS, DNS records, public repos, social profiles Active: Port scanning, service enumeration Tools: whois example.com nmap -sV -p- target.ip 2. Scanning & Enumeration Map the attack surface and identify open services, software versions, and potential misconfigurations. nmap -A -T4 target.ip nikto -h http://target 3. Exploitation Leverage known vulnerabilities to gain access. Targets can include web apps, network services, weak credentials, or outdated software. Example: CVE exploitation via Metasploit msfconsole use exploit/windows/smb/ms17_010_eternalblue Or custom scripts for targeted payloads. 4. Privilege Escalation Once inside, escalate to root or admin to access sensitive data or full control. Check for misconfigured sudoers Inspect running services Scan for known kernel exploits Toolkits: LinPEAS winPEAS GTFOBins 5. Persistence & Lateral Movement Simulate real-world adversaries by maintaining access and pivoting across systems. Add new users, cronjobs SSH keys Tunneling via SSH or reverse shells 6. Reporting Deliver a clear, actionable, and technically precise report. Sections: Executive summary Vulnerability breakdown (CVSS) Proof-of-concept evidence Mitigation strategies Final Thoughts Pentesting is a blend of engineering, psychology, and discipline. It’s not about chaos — it's about clarity. Know your tools, document your steps, and always respect the scope. In future posts, we’ll deep-dive into each stage with real-world examples and lab exercises.

Mar 30, 2025 - 13:39

A Tactical Overview of Penetration Testing: From Recon to Reporting

Penetration testing — or pentesting — is not just an ethical hack.

It's a structured simulation of real-world attacks, conducted to uncover vulnerabilities before adversaries do.

This post outlines the lifecycle of a typical pentest engagement, along with tools and tactics at each stage.

1. Reconnaissance (Passive & Active)

Objective: Gather intel without alerting the target.

Passive: WHOIS, DNS records, public repos, social profiles
Active: Port scanning, service enumeration

Tools:

whois example.com
nmap -sV -p- target.ip

2. Scanning & Enumeration

Map the attack surface and identify open services, software versions, and potential misconfigurations.

nmap -A -T4 target.ip
nikto -h http://target

3. Exploitation

Leverage known vulnerabilities to gain access.

Targets can include web apps, network services, weak credentials, or outdated software.

Example: CVE exploitation via Metasploit

msfconsole
use exploit/windows/smb/ms17_010_eternalblue

Or custom scripts for targeted payloads.

4. Privilege Escalation

Once inside, escalate to root or admin to access sensitive data or full control.

Check for misconfigured sudoers
Inspect running services
Scan for known kernel exploits

Toolkits:

LinPEAS
winPEAS
GTFOBins

5. Persistence & Lateral Movement

Simulate real-world adversaries by maintaining access and pivoting across systems.

Add new users, cronjobs
SSH keys
Tunneling via SSH or reverse shells

6. Reporting

Deliver a clear, actionable, and technically precise report.

Sections:

Executive summary
Vulnerability breakdown (CVSS)
Proof-of-concept evidence
Mitigation strategies

Final Thoughts

Pentesting is a blend of engineering, psychology, and discipline.

It’s not about chaos — it's about clarity.

Know your tools, document your steps, and always respect the scope.

In future posts, we’ll deep-dive into each stage with real-world examples and lab exercises.