Why Do I Need A Penetration Testing Company?

In today’s business world, connectivity is a prerequisite to success in many industries. Even trade industries are starting to see the value in connecting with your clients and customers with apps and online services. However, more connection means more avenues where your sensitive information may be accessed. With the increased convenience of things like online banking, payroll, VoIP phone systems and more, it’s important for business owners to increase their vigilance. A penetration testing company can help you test your business’s vulnerability to information leaks or cyber-crime.

 

What is a Penetration Test?

A penetration test enlists the help of a Certified Ethical Hacker (or CEH) through a penetration testing company. In simplest terms, they will try to hack your network in order to find potential weak points where a criminal might gain access. They don’t just find vulnerabilities, they use real world tactics to determine how easy it would be to exploit those vulnerabilities.

This doesn’t just take place on computers. Information leaks and vulnerabilities often start offline. Do your employees routinely change their passwords? Are computers easily accessed by unauthorized parties?

 

Why Do You Need Penetration Testing?

Since nothing is technically unhackable, a penetration testing company will take in real world effectiveness of someone with criminal motives actually gaining access to your information. For instance, if you’re concerned about someone breaking into your car, even with the best locks, someone can still break the window. However, if you make sure there are no visible valuables in your car, it’s less likely for a criminal to even want to break in. By taking real world motives into account, you can formulate more effective security plan.

With the help of a penetration testing company, you can determine the viability of certain avenues of attack and the number of vulnerabilities you have. Once you know your vulnerabilities you can take steps to make your information less likely to be stolen.

Why You Need Vulnerability Testing

Secure-It Why You Need Vulnerability Testing
Make It Secure!

In today’s business world, there are more ways criminals can hurt you than simply cleaning out the register. Your own website might be vulnerable to hacking and your employees might not know how to spot phishing scams. As in burglary, hackers go after the most vulnerable target. There is no sense in robbing a house that has an alarm system, cameras, and a big dog in the yard. It’s also not typically worth the effort to attempt hacking into a site with solid defenses.

One way to find out if your business is vulnerable to hacking or other online threats is to have a vulnerability test performed.

What is Vulnerability Testing?

A vulnerability test is when an expert or team of experts takes a comprehensive look at your defenses against cyber attacks. There are a variety of avenues a hacker could take in order to gain unauthorized access and a vulnerability test takes them all into considerations. Here are the following types of tests that go into a complete vulnerability test:

Network Penetration Testing

If your company has a few connected computers, your whole network might have some vulnerabilities. If someone were to gain unauthorized access, they could see and steal assets, information, and your staff’s personal information.

Wireless Penetration Testing

Unsecured or vulnerable Wi-Fi networks are one of the most common ways a business or home can be hacked. If you have weak Wi-Fi defenses, a skilled hacker just has to drive up to your building, get close enough to a wireless access point, and hack in. Then they can perform a “Man-in-the-Middle” attack (or MiTM) to intercept and alter messages between two parties who think they are only talking to each other.

Web Application Penetration Testing

If you use third party web applications to streamline your productivity, they might be points of vulnerability for your business. This test uses penetration testing techniques on your web apps to attempt to gain access via third party applications. If successful, you can identify and block vulnerabilities.

Social Engineering

One of your biggest vulnerabilities may actually be the people in your office. Employees not trained or informed about potential risks might be vulnerable to attacks like phishing emails or fraudulent phone calls. Identifying social engineering weaknesses can help you better identify fraudulent attempts to trick your employees to give up important information.

Why it’s Important

Whether you are a small business with a three-computer network or a large multinational organization with hundreds of people on staff, vulnerability testing is as important (if not more) as equipping your building with alarm systems. If criminals gain access to your company they can steal trade secrets, intercept and alter communications, steal your employees’ identities, steal client information, and perform many other harmful activates.

If left unchecked, your vulnerabilities can cause you to lose money and it could reflect poorly on your ability to secure your networks and your company as a whole. If you need to test your vulnerabilities, don’t put it off. Call today for more information!