Penetration Testing

Cyber threats are on every company’s radar, per KPMG’s 2021 CEO Outlook Report. Survey responses from 1,325 participating CEOs indicate that the technology, telecom, and banking industries are the most highly focused on preventing cyberattacks. However, that doesn’t mean everyone else is complacent. Cyber risks ranked #1 as the primary threat to future growth among all CEOs surveyed, and 67% plan to increase funding for threat detection and security innovation. Penetration testing as a service is one such innovation they’re turning to.

Penetration testing is one of the most robust security testing tools within any cybersecurity program. When implemented effectively, the four phases of penetration testing will help identify gaps in your IT security and bolster your cyberdefenses. Read on to learn more about the penetration testing phases.

Ongoing security testing benefits your organization in many ways. Various methods are used for testing your cyberdefenses, but penetration testing remains one of the most popular. A specific form of vulnerability assessment, the primary benefits of penetration testing include greater security insights, ongoing risk management, and the ability to meet regulatory obligations. 

If you’re considering options for pen-testing tools, open-source and managed solutions are probably amongst your top choices. Of course, there are numerous pros and cons for each, and, in some cases, there are instances that are better suited for one or the other. However, most organizations will derive more substantial benefits from using professional, managed solutions.  

One of the most essential components of any cyberdefense program is a powerful firewall configuration. Two ways to ensure your firewalls and web filters are operating at maximum capacity involve the application of robust analytics via firewall penetration testing tools and firewall security audits.

Penetration testing, also known as pen-testing, makes it easy to uncover exploitable vulnerabilities and other flaws in your network security. But with new threats emerging on a daily basis, some are left wondering: is penetration testing compulsory for my business? If so, what are the requirements for maintaining compliance? For some compliance frameworks, such as the PCI DSS, pen-testing is required. For others, it’s strongly advised.

Network penetration testing, or pen-testing, is essential for any organization that’s serious about IT security. With so many potential threats lurking just outside of your network, it’s not enough to set up a firewall and hope for the best. However, depending on your specific needs, network penetration testing costs can quickly add up.

Penetration testing is a widely-adopted, effective tool for assessing security gaps in any organization’s IT infrastructure. It involves conducting a vulnerability assessment of your IT infrastructure by “ethically hacking” systems, networks, or applications, emulating an attack to project how a real hacker would operate. When implemented using an infrastructure penetration testing checklist, or through a managed security services provider, pentesting will mitigate cybersecurity threats and help to ensure that a real attack can’t compromise your data.

The threat of cyberattacks is growing both in complexity and frequency, prompting many organizations to adopt a preventive approach to cyberdefense. Penetration testing provides your security personnel deep analytics on how attackers may target your systems, which empowers you to build commensurate protections. With the most advanced penetration testing techniques, you can optimize your security proactively rather than reactively.

One of the most impactful methods for securing networks uses offense to inform defenses. A network penetration test is a simulated attack on an organization’s network infrastructure, with the goal of anticipating how an actual cybercriminal would operate and sealing off vulnerabilities they could exploit. To get started, an organization should develop a comprehensive network penetration testing checklist, then consult it during the testing to assess its efficacy.