10 Reasons to perform a Penetration Test

According to the official definition of the PCI SSC, the objective of a penetration test is to “identify ways to exploit vulnerabilities to circumvent or defeat the security features of system components.” You may know that perform a penetration test in your organization is in the interest of compliance. It will help your company focusing on its core business without worrying about the system security. Moreover, there are many other benefits. Here is a list of reasons to pen-test your infrastructure, systems, and applications.

1 – Hacking is increasing voluminously and has become an automated process:
According to 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report, 77% of organizations in the world were victims of one (or more) successful cyber-attack in 2017. Based on this fact and as hackers become more skilled and intelligent, it carries a load on the business owners to guarantee that cybersecurity systems can protect against threats.

2 – A pen test shows your security team in real-time how hackers attack the network:
If you have invested in strong cyber-defenses, you should be immune from attackers. However, you should not be overconfident. You must test your defenses by an at least one simulated cyber-attack; to know how your system will perform in a real-world attack. The truth is that it is uncommon that systems are always entirely protected; since smart hackers are continually looking for new ways to break down defenses.

3 – A pen-test brings the main vulnerabilities to light:
A just one single weakness could be everything a hacker needs to attack your system. That the more penetration tests you perform, the fewer vulnerabilities there are. Besides, it is always better to have cybersecurity testers discover your vulnerable points than a criminal hacker does.

4 – Penetration testing may assist to identify problems you did not know existed:
It is no longer a secret that hackers are developing new tricks every day. The same thing the penetration testers do to cover any gap hackers could exploit. Therefore, the checkers are always updated on what the hackers have developed, which is, of course, difficult for every security team.

5 – Pen-testing gives you a chance to prioritize your risk into low, medium, high:
Pentest-team can categorize the weaknesses in your system. After testing, you can prioritize which vulnerabilities are to fix first and which ones will take the most time and resources for the organization. Once you can recognize the weaknesses, your security team can work on avoiding the most dangerous faults.

6 – A pen-test can test your team’s capability to treat with the attack:
It is vital to check response times of available staff, i.e., the average time needed to bring the systems back up or regain access to data. Also, it informs you about the reactions of employees to threats as well as testing if the procedures in place are adequate and everyone is ready to apply them.

7 – Penetration tests support your management and leadership team with sharp and smart reports:
As a business owner, you must trust that your IT professionals have made a stable system that is as free from weaknesses as possible. However, you need to get a second expert opinion, which is supposed to solve any problem left. It supplies an outsider perspective on your protection and gives your organization and your team more belief.

8 – Penetration testing will save your money and protect your critical data:
Losing your critical data may destroy the whole future of your business. Depending on your security measures without testing it to protect this data is not a right decision.

Moreover, saving your money by a penetration test is not just, because you will be far from the threat of fines or losing your reputation among customers, but also this test can lead you in your security plan. It would be necessary to spend more money on a broader range of aspects without penetration testing to guide you.

9 – A Pentest helps you to abide by GDPR:
According to GDPR, you will face much more significant penalties and fines if your business loses personal data because of poor cybersecurity. This regulation has come into force since May 2018 and will doubtless affect any company that does business within the EU or with its citizens.

10 – Performing a penetration test provides evidence to prove the value of your current security tools:
Any company must build business confidence and to gain customer’s trust. The penetration test offers you an opportunity to renew your obligation to security and instill trust in your customers. Your clients ought to be satisfied. To know that your company takes seriously that their data is safe in your hands.

In nutshell, a secure system is not a choice. It is a mandatory for any large, mid-sized or small organization. Penetration testing is an essential part of the primary security measures. And it can help you to meet the compliance requirements.