WHAT IS PENETRATION TESTING?

Putting it in basic terms, penetration testing (often referred to as pen testing) involves a simulated real-world attack on a network or application. During the test, vulnerabilities are identified within your organizations infrastructure and recommendations are made on how best to fix those weaknesses. There are a wide range of in-depth pen tests that can look at your internal and external network, mobile apps, IOT tests and cloud service testing, to name but a few..

It is frequently possible for a pen tester to gain remote access to operating systems, application logic and database records. Through active exploitation of direct and interconnected systems, LRQA Nettitude can provide strategic guidance on risk and tailored advice on counter measures

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Why is it important for your business to have a penetration test?

The cyber landscape has evolved significantly and both businesses and individuals now consume live data around the clock. Whether it’s through 4G on-the-go or Wi-Fi networks, they interact with rich content through mobile apps, social media and general internet browsing throughout the day. These boundaries between work and personal personas are becoming increasingly blurred and, at the same time, the organization infrastructure has sprawled outside of the physical constraints of the office. Data now resides in the cloud, in apps and in the third-party supply chain.

These combined forces have intensified the need for businesses to carry out penetration testing, and making themselves aware of the potential holes in their security processes and how a cybercriminal would best gain access. Gone are the days where you could install a firewall application and just sit back hoping it will protect your data and financial assets. Now you need to test these applications, find the gaps and patch them up. Cyber-attacks are continually becoming more sophisticated and criminals are finding new ways to access your files.

Benefits of Pen Testing

Manage risk– Getting an external or internal penetration rest conducted on a regular basis allows you, as an organization to manage your risks. A penetration test identifies vulnerabilities in your environment and allows you to remediate them. Penetration tests are a very proactive approach to cyber security. Rather than just sitting back and hoping for the best, a penetration test allows you to protect yourself against the risk before it happens.
Protects clients, partners and third parties– Think about all the stakeholders within your organization, it could be your clients and their personal data, your business partners or even third parties. Penetration testing allows you to not only minimise the risk to your own business, but also to those who have some sort of involvement. Another great benefit of penetration testing is that it shows your clients that you take cyber security seriously, and it builds trust and a good reputation, that you’re doing everything you can to mitigate the risks of a cyber breach.
Allows you to understand the environment– Penetration testing has huge benefits when it comes to having a better understanding of the cyber security environment. A penetration test allows you to understand what is going on in the environment around you, and it helps you to understand the types of cyber-attacks that your organization may face. If your organization can understand the types of risks, and the fact that it’s not if it will happen, but when, then you will be much more successful in protecting yourself.
Identifies weaknesses you didn’t know where there– Penetration testing looks for the backdoors into your network. A cyber-attack won’t always be obvious to you, it looks for weaknesses and ways in that you won’t be able to spot. Penetration testing identifies these hidden weaknesses so you can patch them up.