Your security posture and precautions are perhaps the most essential aspects of your information technology services. Protecting the integrity of your operating systems is vital for the future of your business. A data loss or breach can have severe consequences. You could lose business-critical information or your customer’s sensitive data. Either way, the fallout could be devastating to your company.
What Is Network Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is an actual simulated attack on your security measures. Security professionals act as a sort of ethical hacker to try and invade your computer systems. It is a proactive strategy to discover security vulnerabilities before the real bad guys do.
Often, penetration testers are hired in tandem with vulnerability scans. Exploitable vulnerabilities are targeted and then assaulted by a pen test. It is the closest thing you can get to real-world test without the real world consequences.
Do My Systems Need To Be Tested?
You might have invested a lot of money in your security applications, and everything could be running well, but you won’t know how those applications hold up under a real attack until one happens. Any company or organization that depends on IT services can benefit from penetration testing. The short answer is that everyone can benefit from penetration testing; you won’t know the true strength of your application security until you do.
The Benefits of Penetration Testing
- Detect And Prevent Threats: A pen tester is going to do their best to exploit your weak points and evade security controls to gain access to your most protected assets. By finding these paths of unauthorized access, a service provider like ANC Group, can close them off and secure your security posture. The post-exploitation part of the process is where threat remediation kicks in and we use all of our threat intelligence to make sure a real hacker with malicious intent invades your systems.
- Avoid Penalties And Remain Compliant: Depending on your field of business, there are likely several federal or industry standards that you must abide by. If you don’t, you could face penalties and fees. Vulnerability scans and penetration testing are often mandated across entire industries. Typically, they must be performed periodically to ensure continued protection for consumers.
The reports and documentation that come with penetration testing can be used to illustrate your security efforts and remain compliant with the appropriate regulations. You’ll be able to prove with confidence that your business is doing its’ due diligence.
- Justifies Your IT Budget: Maybe you are one of the lucky companies that have never experienced a data breach. Business leaders will sometimes start to doubt the necessity of spending money on security precautions when they have never faced a threat. A penetration test is a safe way of proving the effectiveness of your security posture and justifying your IT budget security expenses.
- Increase Uptime: The automated scans that take place with vulnerability testing are a vital and effective security measure, but penetration testing takes your precautions to another level. Recovering from a data breach or loss can cost you both time and money. Any service disruption will decrease your productivity and hurt your stream of revenue. High-level safety measures like pen testing will protect your performance and increase your overall uptime.
- Defend Your Good Name: Is there anything more valuable than a dependable name or brand loyalty? The simple failure of a single web application can result in the loss of your good reputation and the trust that you have earned among your customer base. It is nearly impossible to work out the math of how poorly the loss of your good name can be to the future of your company. It is worth to take the time, identify vulnerabilities, and test the capability of your protections.
- Display The Real Risks You Face: You might have heard about the risks you face operating any business that depends on IT services and the internet. You might have read about the dire consequences that have fallen on other companies when they didn’t take enough precautions to protect their most sensitive information. Maybe you’ve heard all these things, but you still don’t believe anyone would target your company.
A penetration test will show you the kind of fallout you could face one day if someone does target your business. We can safely present the consequences that might occur before anything bad actually happens.
- A Third-Party Perspective: We often cannot see our own mistakes or vulnerabilities until we listen to someone else’s perspective. Your own IT and security people might warn you of certain dangers, but leaders will sometimes dismiss those concerns as well. The expert opinion of a professional service provider is harder to ignore. An outsider’s perspective can have a significant impact and encourage business leaders to make a change before it is too late.
- An Opportunity For Education: Phishing scams or other forms of email attacks are one of the most common ways that a company’s cybersecurity. These assaults often require employee interaction. It is typically a lack of knowledge that lets employees fall into these traps. A pen test presents an excellent opportunity to educate your workforce on the things to watch out for and the precautions they can take. Once everyone is on board and looking out for each other, your security will be a united front.
Regular penetration testing is a vital practice for the livelihood and continued success of your company. The world of technology is always growing, and the hazard of working online will continue to grow with them. This is why pen tests are not just a one-time precaution. These are just some of the benefits that come with routine testing. Contact ANC Group today to find out how we can help protect your business with practices like vulnerability scans and penetration testing.
