Determining multiple ways for compromising a network node in a penetration testing campaign

Abstract

Methods and systems for penetration testing of a networked system involve assigning network nodes to disjoint classes based on current information about the compromisability of the network nodes. The classes distinguish between nodes not currently known to be compromisable, nodes that only recently have become known to be compromisable, e.g., by a first method of a attack, and nodes that have been known for a longer time to be compromisable. Nodes that only recently have become known to be compromisable can be re-targeted by the penetration testing system to determine whether such nodes can be compromised using multiple methods of attack and not just using the first method of attack.