Question

If a penetration test team does not have anything more than a list of IP addresses of the organization's network, what type of tests are the penetration tests conducting?

Answer 1

Black Box Penetration Test involves a test team starting with no internal knowledge of a network, working only with public-facing IP addresses to perform reconnaissance, scanning, and exploitation.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a penetration test team only possesses a list of IP addresses for an organization's network, they are conducting a Black Box Penetration Test. This type of test is akin to an external attacker's approach, where the pentesters possess no prior knowledge of the target network's internal structure. Their starting point is often a process called Reconnaissance, where they gather as much information as possible based solely on the public-facing IP addresses. They might use techniques like network scanning and enumeration to identify open ports, running services, and vulnerable systems. Subsequent phases would involve actual exploitation, maintaining access, and covering tracks.