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<section  xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
    <title>Pentest Methodology</title>
    <p>During the execution of penetration tests, <company_long/> broadly follows 
    the following steps:</p>

            <ol>
                <li>Requirements Gathering and Scoping; </li>
                <li>Discovery;</li>
                <li>Validation;</li>
                <li>Information Collection;</li>
                <li>Threat and Vulnerability Analysis;</li>
                <li>Exploitation;</li>
                <li>Reporting;</li>
            </ol>
          

<p><b>Step 1: Requirements Gathering and Scoping</b> <br/>
The expectations of both parties are discussed and agreements are made regarding 
how to conduct the test(s). For example, contact details and the pentest's scope 
are documented.</p>

<p><b>Step 2: Discovery</b><br/>
As much information as possible about the target organization and target objects 
is collected. This information is passively gathered, primarily from public sources.</p>

<p><b>Step 3: Validation</b><br/>
All customer-specified systems are cross-referenced with findings from the 
Discovery step. We do this to ensure that discovered systems are legal property 
of the customer and to verify the scope with the customer.</p>

<p><b>Step 4: Information Collection</b><br/>
Information from Step 2 is now used to actively collect information about the 
system. Activities conducted during this phase may include:
Determining which parts of the various components will be investigated;
Testing for the presence of known vulnerabilities, using automated tests;
Identifying the offered services and fingerprinting the software used for them.</p>

<p><b>Step 5: Threat and Vulnerability Analysis</b><br/>
Potential threats and vulnerabilities are indexed, based upon the collected information.</p>

<p><b>Step 6: Exploitation</b><br/>
Attempt to use vulnerabilities of the various components. 
The diverse applications and components of the client's infrastructure are 
rigorously probed for frequently occurring design, configuration, and 
programming errors.</p>

<p>Note: <company_long/> uses open-source scanning tools to get its bearings, 
but generally performs most of the exploitation by hand.</p>

<p><b>Step 7: Reporting</b><br/>
After finishing the audit, a report will be delivered where the step-by-step 
approach, results, and discovered vulnerabilities are described. The report and 
results will be presented to the responsible project leader or manager at the 
client's office.</p>

<p>Steps 4-6 may be repeated multiple times per test. For example, access may be 
acquired in an external system, which serves as a stepping-stone to the internal network. 
The internal network will then be explored in Steps 4 and 5, and exploited in Step 6.</p>

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</section>
