How to Get into Black Teaming and Physical Penetration Testing
How secure is your facility? Can someone easily gain unauthorized access to sensitive areas or information? These questions are critical for any organization concerned about its security posture. If you are interested in a career in black teaming and physical penetration testing, understanding the answers to these questions is essential. But where do you start?
The best entry point into this field is by mastering physical security auditing.
The Role of Physical Security Auditing
Physical security auditing involves overtly walking through a facility to identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited during a physical penetration test or attack. Unlike a covert penetration test, where stealth is key, auditing is about being thorough and transparent. You assess every aspect of the physical security measures in place, looking for gaps that could be exploited.
Here’s why starting with auditing is crucial:
Foundational Knowledge: Auditing gives you a comprehensive understanding of physical security principles. You learn about access control systems, surveillance technologies, locks, and more.
Detail-Oriented Approach: Audits require a meticulous eye for detail. You’ll need to identify everything from poorly secured doors, incorrect setup access control systems to unmonitored blind spots and much more.
Practice & Learning: Because you are not trying to be stealthy, you can practice everything without fear of getting caught. You have time and freedom to test everything from under door tools, latch slipping, social engineering, embedded recon, and route selection all without fear that a single screw up will blow your assignment.
How to Conduct a Physical Security Audit
Conducting a thorough physical security audit involves several steps:
Initial Assessment: Start by understanding the facility’s layout and security measures in place. Gather information on entry points, security personnel, surveillance systems, and access controls.
Walkthrough: Physically walk through the facility. Check all entry points, verify the functionality of security systems, and observe the behavior of security personnel. Look for vulnerabilities like unsecured windows, doors, or unattended access points.
Evaluate Security Policies: Review the organization’s security policies and procedures. Ensure that they are being followed correctly and identify any gaps.
Test Security Measures: Without being covert, test the effectiveness of security measures. For example, attempt to access restricted areas or check if security personnel challenge unauthorized movements.
Document Findings: Create a detailed report outlining your findings, including any vulnerabilities identified and recommendations for improvement. Unfortunately for those who hate report writing this is a huge negative. Since you will be testing everything, your report will usually be huge … sorry to say there really isn’t a good way around this aspect.
Building Confidence and Skills through Auditing
Conducting physical security audits not only equips you with essential knowledge but also builds your confidence and hones critical skills that are invaluable for physical penetration testing. Here are some examples:
Lockpicking: During audits, you’ll often encounter various types of locks and security mechanisms. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses gives you practical insights that are crucial for lockpicking during penetration tests.
Alarm Bypassing: Familiarizing yourself with different alarm systems during audits helps you understand how they operate and what vulnerabilities they may have. This knowledge is critical when it comes to bypassing these systems covertly.
Social Engineering: Interacting with personnel during an audit improves your social engineering tactics. You learn how to gather information, build rapport, and exploit human factors, which are essential skills for gaining unauthorized access during a penetration test.
Access Control Systems:During auditing, you may have taken dozens of access control readers off the walls to see how they are wired and if they are vulnerable to various attacks … you will now be doing the exact same thing, but without getting caught.
Route Selection: While you will be testing everything during an audit, you should always keep an attackers mindset and think of what the most useful routes from outside to say the CEO’s office may be (or whatever your goal is). During an engagement you don’t need to disable every alarm and sensor, but only those along your route; auditing allows you to think about route selection without the fear of being wrong or getting caught.
By becoming proficient in these areas through auditing, you build a solid foundation that boosts your confidence and prepares you for the more challenging aspects of physical penetration testing. The hands-on experience and practical knowledge gained from audits directly translate to the skills needed to perform successful covert operations.
Why Most Clients Need an Audit Before a Penetration Test
Many organizations are eager to test their security with a penetration test. However, most clients actually need a comprehensive audit before jumping into a pentest. Here’s why:
Baseline Assessment: An audit provides a baseline assessment of the current security posture. It helps organizations understand where they stand and what needs improvement.
Cost-Effective: Addressing vulnerabilities found in an audit can be more cost-effective than discovering them during a penetration test, where the focus is on exploiting these vulnerabilities.
Improving Security Measures: By identifying and fixing vulnerabilities through an audit, an organization can enhance its security measures to an acceptable level before conducting a more invasive penetration test.
Regulatory Compliance: Many industries have regulatory requirements for security assessments. An audit helps ensure compliance and prepare for more rigorous testing.
Conclusion
Embarking on a career in black teaming and physical penetration testing is both challenging and rewarding. Starting with physical security auditing is the best way to build a strong foundation. By mastering the art of identifying vulnerabilities and understanding the intricacies of security measures, you can transition to more covert and complex penetration testing operations. Remember, for most clients, a thorough audit is the first critical step towards achieving robust physical security, setting the stage for successful and effective penetration testing.
Training Resources:
For individuals looking for a hands on training that includes all of the above topics, Covert Access Team (covertaccessteam.com) provides training courses focused on physical penetration testing, lockpicking, bypassing techniques, social engineering and other essential skills.
Covert Access Training - 5 day hands on course designed to train individuals and groups to become Covert Entry Specialists
Elicitation Toolbox Course - 2 day course of that primarily focuses on elicitation and social engineering as critical aspects of Black Teaming
Cyber Bootcamp for Black Teams - 2 day course designed explicitly for physical penetration testers who need vital cyber skills to add to their toolbox.
Private one on one Instruction - Book time to get private and personalized instruction on physical penetration testing