Advancing ESSecA: a step forward in Automated Penetration Testing

The growing importance of Information Technology (IT) services is accompanied by a surge in security challenges. While traditional security tests focus on single applications, today's interconnected systems require a broader evaluation. Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) is a method to tackle this, aiming to assess whole systems thoroughly. However, performing VAPT manually is time-consuming and costly. Therefore, there's a strong need for automating these processes. In response to these challenges, a novel methodology, named ESSecA built upon existing literature to guide the penetration testers during the assessment of a system based on threat intelligence mechanisms. This paper presents enhancements to the ESSecA methodology, including a formal Penetration Test Plan (PTP) model, a taxonomy for Penetration Test phases, and an innovative pattern match system integrated with a Tool Catalogue knowledge base used to improve the Expert System. These developments culminated in an algorithm facilitating the automatic generation of Penetration Test Plans, thus advancing the automation of security assessment processes.