Pen tests aren't cheap. Even basic ones are ~$20k. There's only 2 types of companies that bother with them: ones that care about cybersecurity and ones that have to do it for compliance (PCI/CMMC/etc). Both will have some kind of IDS and a SIEM.
Most folks dgaf about certs, and I agree with them. Certs are BS. I only have certs because employers paid for them and in tech (especially security) there's a LOT of free time if you know what you're doing. Certs only prove you can pass a test.
Bold of you to assume most companies have intrusion detection systems and that their monitoring isn't muted half the time.
Findings come from an automated report generated by a scanner that does literally all the work.
OP post is really not that far off. It's an easy gig.
I'm pretty lazy, but I'd at least run a port scan so I have something to submit in a report. That takes a few minutes to run and can be scheduled to run daily so there's something in their logs.
That said, our audits always turn up something new (usually benign), so I'd be very suspicious of an "all clear" result.
Also, even without a prior pentest the admins should have a rough idea where problems areas are (or maybe even know them for a fact but cannot completely patch/disable them to not lock out legacy systems or so). A completely empty report would definitely raise suspicions
or like a detailed report. I bet you could make a standard report and just change a few things and maybe pull the scam sometimes. The hardest part I think would be getting someone to accept from a cold call. Would need to be pretty stupid to do that to begin with.
The reports list your hardware on them generally. They need access into your network.
The truth is that instead of faking it, you just do an actual pentest. It is generally a mix of FOSS tools like kali, metasploit, nmap, etc and pay tools like nessus. These can all be automated.
>get sued a week later when a real hacker breaks into their system and the IT department notices a security flaw that would easily be addressed by first few staps in pen testing
Points out where working with me give no security guarantees, that they accept when agreeing to allow me to hack them, either in person, writing, or electronic communications, along with allowing the terms to change at any time, for any reason, without notice.
LOL. I wish it was that easy. Also, if you say you did a pen test bjt didn't, then the client gets hit through an exploit you said you checked or should have checked for, you and your company are done.
Not how that works. They will go after the company and individuals. You can bet that fraud charges will be filed with the police and don't think that wire fraud with the feds is out of the question.
At least do some auto scans with WebCheck, Shodan, nmap + vulnerability scans and some basic OSINT on their boss so you can report something and at least spook them a little bit.