This is the age of high-speed internet connectivity, and every one of us is a part of that network. Accessing that network through the computer was one thing, but now with smartphones, it’s entirely new experience.
These things move around with us, wherever we go, it doesn’t matter. Yet, all of that is for us individually, and the degree of vulnerability, although there, is significantly lower.
Businesses don’t matter of what size and valuation they might be, must bear the full brunt of this. That brings us to the idea of Penetration Testing, or more commonly known as the pen tests.
Penetration Testing
If I must clarify what penetration testing is, then I will have to start by defining what it isn’t?
This isn’t just another security measure that you would want to take when you have some free time at hand. A mere virus scan would suffice for that.
Penetration testing goes way beyond that and covers all aspects of the process along with it.
First, there is the analysis that the testers would have to carry out in order to uncover the problem. Or sometimes, the problems for that matter, considering the scale of the operation.
What you’ve got to understand is that you’ll not be dealing with things as linear as virus attacks.
Companies carry out penetration testing about once a year, sometimes, even more depending upon the budget. And with this, the test team recreates all the different scenarios of attack from human hackers.
That automatically brings in a lot of different variables for the testers to consider.
And another thing that I should remind you is that carrying these tests out can be rather expensive. So, why should businesses consider having a budget for this, sizeable or otherwise?
Let’s find out about it next.
12 Reasons for Businesses To Carry Out Penetration Tests Periodically
Running a penetration test can be a rather costly affair, both in terms of money and time. But have a look at all the pointers here and understand why cost shouldn’t be a deterrent in this matter.
Risk Assessment
Every business currently has IT departments that look after their technical aspects. And from there, it ties into all the different working components.
If the hacker gets access to the framework, then that will bring forth a world of trouble for you.
The first step to take here is to assess the level of risk that such a security breach might possess.
Checking The Capabilities Of Network Defenders
The network defenders form the first line of defense can safeguard your organization from attacks like these. So, by running a pen test, you’ll be able to accurately assess how these can help.
You’ll also have data on the limitations of these network defenders and for which specific cases.
Thus, after such an analysis you’ll be in a much better position to create defenses.
Assessing The Feasibility Of Attack Vectors
When it comes to taking the best measures, you can to protect your business properties against several cyber-attacks. A very critical thing is to assess the feasibility of different attack vectors.
Penetration testing is going to help you cover all bases for that, and thus, leave you in a better position.
Honoring The Legal Compliances
It depends on which industry your business serves and whether sharing critical information is involved or not.
For these cases, a good example of which would be the finance industry pen tests would be quite frequent.
There can also be certain cases, you’ll have to run pen tests at certain intervals, which legal terms would dictate.
Filling The Performance Gaps Of Automatic Scan Systems
Generally, to keep things under as much control as possible, businesses use automatic scanning systems. These form a bulwark against attacks from hackers but can be rather limited, to be honest.
That’s where carrying out a comprehensive penetration testing process will expose all of that. And thus, you’ll be a lot safer than you would’ve been otherwise.
Manage Risks In A Better Way
Manage Risks
After assessing all the possible risks, you’re going to face the next challenge. You’ll see that there will be a lot of risk factors in different parts of the framework.
You can’t deal with all of them at the same time because of technical reasons among other things.
That’s why, with all the data that you’re going to get from here, you’ll be able to prioritize properly. And thus, be a lot quicker in dealing with all these issues.
Custom Pen-test Protocols For Your Business
Every business has its own set of unique operations, which will naturally involve different frameworks.
Carrying out penetration tests with these will make the testers adopt custom protocols. And thus, will result in a much better performance.
And along with that, you’re going to have the necessary flexibility to deal with this ahead.
Finding Security Loopholes After Breach
Security Loopholes If you’ve already gone through and are recovering from an issue like this. Then running a comprehensive penetration test will allow you to figure out the problems.
Like, you’ll have information on the path of the attack chain, so that you can secure it specifically. That way, you can make sure to not repeat the same mistake all over again.
And it can also help you predict other such chains of attack that might be there.
Identifying Chain Effects
It’s not very often that you leave behind some major scope for a security breach, and problems arise from that.
With small issues coming together, there’s going to be a cumulative effect. And from this, you might have a big problem at hand, sooner or later.
Pen tests can help you prevent that by exposing all those minor issues that might add up.
Saving Money For The Long Run
Even though pen-testing costs a lot, if you look at the greater picture, and do the math. Then, you’ll find that you’ll be saving serious money on that scale.
Just consider the scenario of a serious security breach. You’re going to incur a lot of losses, in terms of lost business opportunities.
So, taking care of these issues pre-emptively by running a penetration test can help you save money.
Specific Intel Regarding Effects On Operation
No matter how many precautions you take, there’s always a chance that something might go horribly wrong. So, what would you do if something like that does ever happen to you?
Well, if you’ve got the right information about that and an optimal functional strategy, then you can take care of damage control.
Pen tests will give you all kinds of important information about that and allow you to take specific measures for that.
Drawing In More Investments In Security With Concrete Evidence
After you have all the strategies in place, it would take monetary investments to make all of that happen.
Good luck going to senior management and merely asking for it.
With focused reports and presentations on the same, you’ll be able to better negotiate for investments.
It’s not going to be the simplest thing in the world to run penetration tests like these. But, it’s for you to decide if you want to deal with all this hassle.
As if you do, then you’ll be able to really secure your business and all its assets, digital or analog whatever it is.
