Any security evaluation involves three components:

* Preparation: In this phase, a formal contract is signed between an ethical hacker and the authority of the organization that contains a non-disclosure clause as well as a legal clause to protect the ethical hacker against any prosecution that he may face during the conduct phase. The contract also outlines the infrastructure perimeter, evaluation activities, time schedules, and resources available to him.
* Conduct: In this phase, the evaluation technical report is prepared based on testing potential vulnerabilities.
* Conclusion: In this phase, the results of the evaluation are communicated to the organization and corrective advice/action, if needed, is taken.