With companies becoming increasingly reliant on technology, the risk of a data breach has never been higher. A successful attack can shut businesses down, expose sensitive information and destroy customer trust.
Penetration testing services can help identify and mitigate cybersecurity risks before they are exploited by hackers. This service simulates a cyber attack on an existing IT architecture to uncover gaps, vulnerabilities and entry points that attackers could use to gain unauthorised access.
What Is Penetration Testing?
In short, penetration testing simulates a real cyberattack by testing for vulnerabilities that could be exploited by bad actors. It also helps identify the impact of an attack and prioritise remediation.
Pentesting is a valuable part of overall cybersecurity and often required by regulatory bodies and compliance standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2 and NIST SP 800-53. It can help demonstrate that an organisation takes security seriously, which may make customers or clients feel more confident entrusting their data to them.
What Are The Benefits Of Penetration Testing?
A penetration test is a valuable exercise that can help to identify vulnerabilities in your digital systems. It’s important to regularly have these tests performed by qualified professionals who know how to mimic the hacker mindset in order to identify any weaknesses that hackers could exploit.
The penetration testing process typically starts with reconnaissance and scanning. This involves identifying open entry points into the system and analysing how easy it would be for an attacker to gain access. After the scanning phase, the pen tester will then begin the actual penetration test.
What Are The Types Of Testing?
There are a number of different penetration testing services that can be used to assess an organization’s security posture. Each type of test is designed for a specific purpose.
For example, a cloud penetration test is performed to identify vulnerabilities in an organization’s cloud infrastructure and determine how effective its security measures are. This type of test is essential for companies that use the cloud because they are responsible for securing their own infrastructure.
A white box test is conducted when an organization provides all the information required to conduct a penetration test, including network maps and credentials. This method allows a tester to simulate an attacker with limited knowledge of the environment and can help reduce penetration testing costs.
What Is The Cost?
The cost of penetration testing services can vary considerably depending on what you aim to accomplish. It is important to understand the various factors that can affect pricing before committing to a test.
The goal of a penetration test should be to find and exploit vulnerabilities that could allow a bad actor to compromise your company’s information systems. This allows you to understand the impact of a potential attack and prioritize remediation efforts.
Prices can also vary based on the type of assets you want to test, such as networks, devices, applications, etc. For example, an external penetration test can be significantly cheaper than a penetration test of your internal web application.