What is Black Box, White Box and Grey Box Penetration Testing?

What is Black Box, White Box and Grey Box Penetration Testing?

Data breaches may make running a company much more onerous. You need to know everything about your clients, your code, your income, and your personnel. Regular penetration testing is essential because of this. In order to find flaws in your system, a genuine cyberattack should be carried out by a professional cyber security expert.

Black box testing, grey box testing, and white box testing are the three main methods of penetration testing. In this post, we’ll be delving further into the nitty-gritty of each type.

Black Box Testing

To conduct a black box penetration test, a hacker must have no previous knowledge of your IT security rules, architectural diagrams, source codes or any other details of your IT infrastructure. Step-by-step penetration testing simulates the operations of a real-life cyberattacker.

The organisation enables white-hat testers to assume the identity of an unprivileged black-hat attacker in the black box penetration testing approach. A cyberattack simulation is the greatest way to learn about your system’s weaknesses.

For observation and analysis, the white-hat tester produces a map of attack and all entrance points (much like a black-hat hacker).

XSS, SQL injections, server misconfigurations, and other complicated vulnerabilities may be detected using the black box penetration testing approach, which is particularly useful for spotting threats such as cross-site scripting (or XSS).

Having a basic understanding of black box penetration testing, we can now go on to the next kind of testing.

Gray Box Testing

What is, in fact, a grey box penetration test? In contrast to black box penetration testing mentioned above, the tester is familiar with your system, apps, and network. The tester obtains low-level passwords, network maps, and logical flow charts during grey box penetration testing.

This reduces the amount of time spent on different phases of penetration testing. Gray box penetration testing is advantageous since certain vulnerabilities can be discovered only by inspecting source code. In a black box penetration test, such vulnerabilities are not found.

White Box Testing

The following is a simple white box penetration testing definition: It is a method of testing in which the tester is granted access to all of your system’s data. This implies they already have access to your system’s credentials, source code, and infrastructure maps.

The white box penetration testing approach is primarily used to identify possible security flaws. This might be due to sloppy coding or a lack of adequate security measures.

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The white box technique is used by testers for high-risk systems solely because it is time consuming. Nonetheless, it effectively accomplishes the objectives of a penetration test.

Comparison Between Black Box, White Box and Gray Box Penetration Testing

So now that we’re all familiar with the different types of testing available, let us now draw comparison to the differences between black box,  grey box and white box penetration testing. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a strategy for your business. Penetration testing tools may be chosen more effectively if you are aware of these differences.

Overall Cost

  • Most affordable is the black box penetration test. However, it has a restricted set of advantages. The number of flaws found is lower, thus it’s not particularly hopeful.
  • The grey box approach of penetration testing is less costly and more effective than the black box method.
  • The white box penetration test is the most costly, but it yields the most beneficial results. This has the greatest dollar-to-vulnerability ratio of any vulnerability. However, since it takes longer, it is designated for very sensitive or urgent circumstances only.

General Accuracy

  • When doing black box penetration testing, the simulated attack is carried out in the same environment as a threat actor. It’s an excellent method of identifying and patching vulnerabilities.
  • Gray box penetration tests now rank in the centre of black box vs. grey box vs. white box penetration testing. Because hackers are provided a limited quantity of information, it is only partially accurate.
  • White box penetration is the least accurate approach since it enables testers to breach a system in an unreal environment. Thus, in contrast to the tester, a threat actor is never fully aware of all the facts.

Efficiency and Speed

  • As previously stated, black box is the quickest approach. However, it is less efficient than other approaches due to the fact that testers are not privileged. As a result, they may overlook vulnerabilities that black-hat hackers may exploit.
  • When comparing black box to the likes of. grey box penetration testing, the latter may lose some points in terms of speed, but gains in terms of efficiency. A penetration testing specialist has a modest level of privilege, which enables them to concentrate their efforts on exploiting particular weaknesses in the system.
  • When black box and grey box penetration testing are compared to white box penetration testing, white box gets all the brownie points for efficiency, but it is also the slowest approach.
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Total Coverage

  • Black box penetration testing provides the least coverage since it excludes internal elements such as code, server logic, and development processes.
  • Everything except source code and binaries is tested in grey box testing. This is due to the fact that just a limited amount of information is presented.
  • White box penetration testing is an approach that evaluates each and every branch.

Risks attached

While all testing methodologies include some risk, white box penetration testing poses the most threat to your system. Hired hackers have far more access to the tiniest vulnerabilities in your system—which they may exploit if they are untrustworthy.

Which is Right for Your Organization?

The black box technique identifies a small number of vulnerabilities and concentrates only on the login page. Although it is the least costly of the three, it may be prohibitively expensive for modest projects. Gray box penetration testing is used by SaaS organisations owing to its reasonable efficiency and accuracy. White box penetration testing is only used in severe and worrying scenarios due to its high cost and time requirements.

Therefore, if you’re deciding between black box vs. grey box vs. white box penetration testing, go for the grey box if your budget allows. For organisations of all sizes, the grey box is often the logical option. Additionally, it weighs the risks and rewards of penetration testing.

Connie Cole