8 Reasons You Need A Security Penetration Test
One of the biggest challenges in IT security is determining whether the tools and configurations you have in place are giving your organization the level of security you require. Here's how penetration testing can help.
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The IT security landscape is a complex maze of technologies, architectures, and policies that can be incredibly difficult to navigate. A defense-in-depth strategy consists of any number of security tools working in conjunction to form an overall security posture. One of the biggest challenges is determining whether the tools and configurations you have in place are giving your organization the level of security you require. A penetration test, or "pen test," is one way to accomplish this.
The Pentagon recently brought in white hat hackers through a bounty penetration testing program to help it identify more than 100 security vulnerabilities in its systems. Individuals who could find security problems on Pentagon systems could be awarded up to $15,000 each. Approximately 1,400 hackers participated. It might sound like a lot, but considering the amount of damage security breaches cause these days, it's peanuts compared to letting black hat hackers breach your organization.
Part of a solid data security strategy is understanding what your weaknesses are -- and dedicating the right tools and resources to properly shore up any vulnerabilities. It's an endless game of cat and mouse that requires a unique look from the outside in. This is why penetration tests are so valuable.
[DevOps and Agile aren't synonyms. It pays to know the difference. Read Agile vs. DevOps: 10 Ways They're Different.]
Instead of implementing a bug bounty pen test program, most companies opt to hire an external firm well-versed in data security to perform penetration tests. These tests can focus on one specific part of an infrastructure, a specific application, or the network as a whole. Focused penetration tests are valuable when implementing a brand new application, cloud service, or other new feature. For most organizations, though, a pen test that validates a wide range of security tools and policies is where the real value of the practice is discovered.
It isn't good enough anymore to implement security tools and walk away. Instead, you need to put your tools through the paces of simulated breaches that mimic real-world scenarios. Doing so will help determine the value of each of your security tools, as well as reveal areas of weakness. Finding out where data security needs to be bolstered is incredibly useful for quickly eliminating high-risk areas where breaches can occur.
There are at least eight good reasons why investing in network-wide penetration testing is money well spent. Once you've reviewed these, tell us about your own pen testing strategy. Is this a practice your organization regularly undertakes? Is it something you've tried and decided you didn't need? Do you focus on a single app or service, or do you apply pen testing across a wide range of security tools? We want to hear from you in the comments section below.
Attacks directly focused on individual, enterprise-class security tools are largely unsuccessful. Attacks succeed by exploiting the gaps between different security tools. Some security tools mesh better with others, and a penetration test is one way to verify whether or not your network has significant gaps between security tools.
With all the security risks to contend with these days, it's crucial for IT decision makers to determine how to prioritize risks in order of importance, so they can be handled appropriately. There's no better way to determine priority than to use a pen test to identify areas of weakness.
Even the most well managed and robust network infrastructures contain backdoors -- often through misconfigurations. Sometimes the best way to figure out where these security holes are located is to let a third party run a penetration test. Putting fresh eyes on any network often unveils security faults that had previously gone unnoticed.
One of the great benefits of an in-depth pen test is that multiple attack vectors can be used together to identify complex vulnerabilities which often go unidentified. Many security tools prevent against a certain subset of attack vectors. Two or more security tools are then pieced together to create a defense-in-depth strategy thought to protect against a multi-vector threats. The only way to really determine whether disparate security tools can truly work together is to validate using the same multi-vector attack strategies the bad guys might use.
Let's face it, security tools are expensive. One way to confirm the value of an already implemented tool -- or to confirm more funding is needed to secure data resources -- is to leverage the results of a penetration test. Pen tests will show the (sometimes ugly) truth in regard to your security stance.
Viewing the results of a penetration test can sometimes be a sobering and stressful ordeal. But it's important to apply the knowledge gained toward a better security posture. One way to do this, with little CapEx investment, is to use the identified weaknesses and gaps to form a streamlined security response policy. Identify all the key players, their communications channels, and escalation procedures. So when a real breach does occur, you'll be better prepared to handle it in a timely fashion.
There's no way a network can be completely safe from internal and external threats. Instead, your ultimate goal should be to be secure enough that the bad guys will pass up your infrastructure in favor of a softer target. A thorough penetration test provides a great deal of useful information when you're measuring your company's overall security risk as compared with others in your industry.
Penetration testing should be thought of as multiple micro-level tests that together provide a unique macro-level view of your entire security posture. No other security test available today can provide both a granular and a global view.
The amount of useful and architecture-specific information gathered via a pen test is invaluable to IT security specialists -- and to the business as a whole. The benefits we highlighted here show how pen tests help give a high-level overview and point out areas where special attention is needed. In the end, a pen test is likely to help fix weaknesses, save money, and eventually build confidence in your overall security posture.
The amount of useful and architecture-specific information gathered via a pen test is invaluable to IT security specialists -- and to the business as a whole. The benefits we highlighted here show how pen tests help give a high-level overview and point out areas where special attention is needed. In the end, a pen test is likely to help fix weaknesses, save money, and eventually build confidence in your overall security posture.
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