5 Benefits Of Regular Penetration Testing

Network technology is constantly evolving at a very fast rate. What is considered a breakthrough today could be old news after a month or two. As the features of applications evolve, there is a greater risk in network security.

News of hacking is all too common these days. There are way too many people doing such malicious acts and succeeding. This is why penetration testing is more important than ever.

What is penetration Testing?

Penetration testing an authorized process in which an IT infrastructure’s security is tested for vulnerabilities. This will greatly help in determining which area needs to be improved. An operating system is tested if it has been compromised with bugs, they test for service errors, misconfigurations, and even the behavior of users. Security procedures are then improved based on the results of the test.

Benefits of Penetration Testing

There are various benefits to your security when you do penetration testing regularly. Here are some of the most important ones according to Alpine Security Penetration Testing Training:

1. Detect and identify security risks.

   A breach of your security is a nightmare. Penetration testing evaluates internal and external networks, users, and applications. It gives you a better understanding of security controls and the necessity of improving the system to avoid unauthorized access to sensitive information.

   Prioritizing the identification of risks also gives you the advantage of preventing malicious attacks from occurring. You will also get a report on the activities of your employees that could lead to security breaches.

2. Prevention of hacking.

   There have been reports of hacking from several companies the past couple of years and the companies that were hacked suffered great financial losses. Performing penetration testing is like having a real-life hacker that will hack your systems to see if there are holes in them.

   Your network security will be breached real-time and you will see how hard or easy they can crack your system. This will give you the opportunity to correct faults, if there are any, in the system before an actual hacking takes place.

3. Test system defense capabilities.

   Penetration testing includes hacking as stated above. The next step is to see if your defense capabilities are adequate enough should there be a breach in the system. When you are notified by the system that there has been an intrusion, a series of procedures are performed.

   You will follow your standard operating procedure by investigating the breach, locating it, and, ultimately, blocking it. The test will show where your defense failed, so your cyber team can come up with solutions.

   Keep in mind that hacking techniques also improve when technology upgrades. Hackers love their craft and would like nothing more than to break your codes. With regular penetration testing, you will test your cyber defense against the most current hacking techniques. The report will show you which part is good enough and which parts of the system need to be upgraded.

4. Avoid loss of business due to cyber breach and system downtime.

   Whenever a company has had a cyber breach, the reputation is somewhat damaged, stocks plummet, and there is a loss in revenue. The integrity of your brand needs to be protected and that includes your network security. You do not want to lose the trust of your clients because when you do, they will no longer do business with you.

   Almost the same can be said for system downtime. Downtime can be avoided when you perform a regular penetration test because your system will be up-to-date with the latest protocols wherein there is no need to shut your system off just to deal with network issues. The longer the system downtime, the more money you are going to lose.

5. Comply with industry regulations and standards.

   Penetration testing helps you pass industry regulations and keep up with the standards required. You need to follow regulations from the PCI, FISMA, and ISO 27002. When you do, your business operations will carry on without fear of the consequences.

Conclusion:

If you have done penetration testing in the past, you need to know that you have to perform this regularly and not just once a year. Technology evolves and people will never stop finding ways to crack the newest one.  But it is understandable that you would want to save money because penetration testing does not come cheap.

However, if you make computations and factor your losses if you have a cyber breach or do not pass the standards, you will arrive at a conclusion that employing penetration testing will save you a ton of money.